Throughout the summer of 2024, SeRP directly hosted four interns and supported others across research projects on SeRP’s infrastructure as part of the Population Data Science Summer Internship Programme.
The programme welcomed 16 interns from June to August 2024, providing them with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and contribute to the advancement of ground-breaking research and development projects. As part of the programme, interns were invited to visit the Welsh Government’s Senedd, hosted by Administrative Data Research Wales, to gain valuable insight into how research infrastructure can enable researchers to inform policymaking in Wales.
Commenting on the visit, SeRP intern Thomas Fricker said, “The depth of information and insight the tour provided was eye-opening. I was inspired by the people that we met and the real-world impact of their work. As a second year student, the experience was invaluable in helping me understand my career path options. Thank you for the amazing opportunity.”
The programme culminated with the Population Data Science Summer Intern Showcase event, where interns were given the opportunity to present their work to a multi-disciplinary audience of attendees, including Population Data Science staff, members of the public, leaders and experts in the field data science, senior academics and research infrastructure technologists.
What did SeRP interns say about their experiences?
Samina Josefsberg (Website development)
“I am building a website for the MAGENTA project on WordPress. Right from the start I have been given a lot of creative freedom on the look and feel of the site, which is amazing. I have already learned heaps in the first three weeks, and I look forward to designing more websites for other social and environmental research projects throughout the summer. I am eager to learn as much as possible, become proficient in creating impactful WordPress sites and develop my CSS, HTML and JavaScript skills.”
Thomas Fricker (Software development)
“I am currently working on a project called Loading Bay. Its purpose is to provide DBAs (DataBase Administrators) with an easy-to-use interface to load big data into Trusted Research Environments. It’s a conglomeration of previous projects to create one system that is sleek, smart and efficient. This does mean as an intern, I’ve spent a lot of time understanding past projects and how to work with parts of them, but I see the time spent as invaluable; I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity: immersing myself in how professionals structure their systems, why they make certain decisions due to feasibility, how to deal with compromises because of extensive data and other ideas I wouldn’t have considered has been enriching.”
Muslima Karimova (Software engineering)
“I am currently transforming a project from a traditional .net framework to React. This transformation aims to enhance the website’s interactivity and visual appeal, making it more user-friendly and efficient. The project has been a great way to apply my skills in a practical setting, and I am excited about the improvements we are making. I am particularly focused on mastering advanced web development techniques using ASP .Net, React, and TypeScript. By the end of the internship, I hope to have significantly enhanced my technical skill set and contributed to a successful project launch.”
Leighton Katus (Software development)
“I am working on a forms collection tool for patient reported data for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Data collected is then analysed, allowing a further understanding of what living with MS is like. I did my final year project in keylogger detection, which involved system data collection. With this internship I can learn new skills and techniques to more effectively and professionally work with sensitive data.”
Where are last year’s SeRP interns now?
Kellie Robinson
“During my summer internship (2023), I worked with the Secure e Research Platform (SERP) DevOps team. I was then offered a part-time role with the team. After graduation, I became a full-time developer of the team. I was grateful to have secured a full-time position at Swansea with the SERP team at Population Data Science. I do hope to do a PhD in Computational Linguistics.”
Rowan Dash
“I worked on several internal technical and development projects, mainly focussing on updating the CI/CD pipelines (automated builds and deployments of software). It was a great experience, working on the technical side of things and making real contributions. I was lucky to have the opportunity to continue working in the same role part-time following my internship during my final year of study for my Software Engineering degree. It provided a great transition from university to professional work. I picked up lots of practical skills and experience, including in DevOps, Kubernetes and Docker.”
Samuel Marshall
Samuel worked “to develop web applications in C# that allow data to be viewed and edited in a way that is easy for users to understand. I have just finished my third year of studying Computer Science at Swansea University. Data science is a fascinating field, so I was excited at the possibility of applying my programming skills to such an impactful domain.” Since Samuel’s internship in 2023, he has recently joined SeRP’s development team.
What impact have SeRP interns had?
Michael Bale is the IT Development Lead for SeRP, who have welcomed SeRP interns in to work on projects within their team for the past five years. Here, Michael talks about SeRP’s experience of being involved in the programme.
“Initially we were interested in working with the programme as we knew we had exciting opportunities to showcase what we do, but we needed extra hands to help get some smaller projects off the ground. But we’ve had an exceptional group of candidates work with us over the years which has spurred us on to continue to support the programme.
We’ve been fortunate to have gone on to hire a number of our interns once they have finished their studies, and there’s a great mutual benefit in them having had the initial experience working with us.
The area in which we work, and the types of products we develop can be difficult to understand, so for them to already have that understanding and rapport with the team allows them to seamlessly move into a full-time position with us. It’s also been a great opportunity for members of our team to get experience mentoring others.
Our interns get great hands-on experience working with a very knowledgeable and multi-disciplined team, where they have an opportunity to develop real products and get exposure to new technologies. They have also gained experience working in an Agile environment with the Scrum framework, which is invaluable to hiring managers and without doubt elevates our intern’s CVs.
Our team have most certainly benefitted from being involved in the Population Data Science Summer Internship programme over the past five years. Our interns have had a really positive impact on helping the team deliver on SeRP innovations. Having additional staff on some of the projects has helped broaden our capacity and alleviate some strains. Expanding the programme to allow anyone to apply, not just students local to the university, has also really broadened the talent pool and allowed us to hire interns with different skills and backgrounds to work on an even wider range of projects.”
For further information on the Population Data Science Summer Internship Programme, click here.