Location: 21 Albemarle Street, London (hybrid working available for these internships)
Contract Type: 3-month, full-time internships for PhD students - 35 hours per week. Payment by stipend from university, Doctoral Training Programme, Research Council. Please check funding with your DTP before applying and state your preferred start date in your application
Duration: x1 placement, Jan/Feb to Mar/April 2025
About the role
About the team
At the Ri, we see digital as a way to bring thought-provoking science and our rich heritage to millions of people online. As digital media intern, you will help support the Ri’s digital content production and platforms.
Through our YouTube channel, we have already established ourselves as a world-leader in in-depth, longform science video. Our monthly podcasts are growing fast, and we are working to develop our online communities to reach new audiences across all our digital platforms.
Every day will be different, but tasks may include creating and promoting science engagement content for our social media platforms, creating and editing content for our website, working on our social media and digital offer for the CHRISTMAS LECTURES, helping to film our events and short films for our YouTube channel, and helping to create podcasts.
The role of the Digital Media Intern
Working closely with all members of the Digital Team, the Digital Media Intern will help support the Ri’s digital content production and platforms.
There is some flexibility in the role, depending on the successful candidate’s interests and experience, and the time of year of the internship. We will provide some basic training in audio and video production.
Every day will be different, but potential tasks and responsibilities may include:
- Creating science engagement content for our social media platforms
- Helping film and livestream events
- Helping manage our YouTube channel
- Helping to develop our podcasts
- Marketing and promotion of our digital content
- Creating and editing content for the Ri’s new website
- Writing for our website and social media channels
- Monitoring our YouTube and podcast statistics and using this to make recommendations on how we can grow and develop our audiences
- Identifying under-performing content and finding ways for them to reach new audiences
- Helping develop new ideas for digital science engagement content
- Working on our social media and digital offer around the CHRISTMAS LECTURES
- Being involved in all aspects of video production
- Helping to test and evaluate our digital content
- Assisting with digital marketing campaigns
Who are we looking for?
This placement would be ideal for anyone interested in learning more about digital media and discovering the potential for using digital media to communicate science to diverse and global audiences, whilst working collaboratively in a small and creative digital team.
There is no need to have any formal experience, but a passion for digital media would be ideal.
The following experience and personal attributes are also highly desirable, and when applying you should demonstrate how you meet them in your supporting statement:
- A strong understanding of how online science content can encourage an audience to ‘think more deeply about science and its place in our lives’
- Ability to develop engaging content for a non-academic audience
- An understanding of the needs and requirements of website and digital users
- Ability to work collaboratively in a creative team with a passion for science communication
About the Ri
The purpose of the Royal Institution is to connect as many people as possible with science. We've been doing it for well over 200 years and have an international reach, working with world-leading scientists, from Hannah Fry to Carlo Rovelli.
We talk, and listen, to the public. We help scientists talk, and listen, to the public. We develop critical thinking and a spirit of exploration in young people through our educational work.
In our historic Grade I listed building in Mayfair, discoveries were made that literally changed the world. Today it acts as a base for the Ri team and tenants as well as a busy and vibrant event space for private and corporate events.
Find out more at https://www.rigb.org/ and The Royal Institution - YouTube
Interested?
To apply, please send your CV and a supporting statement, (of no more than 500 words) to recruitment@ri.ac.uk, explaining which internship you are interested in, and why. Please also state your preferred start date.
The closing date for applications is: 9am Wednesday 15 Jan.
We will be interviewing candidates as applications come in.
Read a blog from one of our previous PhD interns here: Being a Digital Media Intern at the Ri | Royal Institution (rigb.org)
Eligibility
This opportunity is only open to PhD students who are eligible to undertake an internship as part of their studentship and receive a stipend from their Doctoral Training Programme (DTP). Please check with your university/DTP to ensure funding is available before applying for this internship.
Participating Research Councils include (but may not be exclusive to): BBSRC, NERC, MRC, AHRC, EPSRC.
Please note there is no formal agreement in place between RI and UKRI, and each placement will be reviewed by the grant holder and approved at their discretion.
You will need to obtain the grant holder’s written permission to undertake the placement, outlining any funding arrangements, before a position can be offered.
Please note, the Ri is unable to assist with accommodation costs; applicants need to be able to arrange accommodation in London or the South East for the duration of the 3 months. Some assistance with travel costs may be available.
Safeguarding is of paramount importance to the Ri; we expect all those who work with us to share our commitment to safeguarding children and adults at risk, prioritising their welfare and protecting them from harm. Interns will be given appropriate safeguarding training and may be required to undergo DBS checks upon appointment, depending on their role.
We ask applicants to complete and return the recruitment monitoring form along with their application. The Ri is committed to equality of opportunity at all stages of the recruitment process. The information supplied in this form will be treated in strict confidence and not form part of the selection process. You may choose not to disclose some or all of the information requested in the form, and this will not affect your application in any way.