View the 2020 GSICE Course Syllabus
The Internships and Experiential Learning class (formerly known as Graduate Student Internships for Career Exploration Program (GSICE)) is a program at UCSF that supports graduate students and postdocs pursuing various kinds of experiential learning, including internships, outside of academic research. The goal of the program is to provide students and postdocs with hands-on experience in appropriate career environments in order to help them make informed decisions about which of the many career paths to pursue post graduation. The program consists of two main components: the class, and support finding and succeeding in an experiential learning opportunity after the class.
Quick Facts about the Class
- What is the class?
- The Internships and Experiential Learning class is a program offered by UCSF's Office of Career and Professional Development. It supports graduate students and postdocs in pursuing hands-on experience outside of academic research.
- The class consists of 6 workshops that are approximately 2 hours in length.
- Full-time internships are one kind of experiential learning, and we support students and postdocs who are able to pursue such internships.
- We also support students and postdocs who are unable to pursue full-time internships, but would like to seek out another kind of experiential learning (such as a part-time job at UCSF; a leadership role in a student- or postdoc-run organization; a week-long consulting workshop; or a day-long job shadowing experience.)
- Eligibility for the class
- The Internships and Experiential Learning class is open to all UCSF PhD candidates and postdocs. (*Note: The curriculum was originally developed for UCSF biomedical scientists. Course content draws heavily from the perspectives of researchers in the basic life sciences.)
- Students must have passed their qualifying exams.
- About part-time experiential learning
- Part-time experiential learning opportunities can take as little as one day (for job-shadowing) and as much as 10 hours per week.
- Some part-time experiential learning opportunities are paid; others are unpaid. If paid, these payments are in addition to, rather than replacing, a grad student or postdoc's regular stipend.
- We require students and postdocs to have the approval of their P.I./Thesis Advisor to participate in a part-time experiential learning opportunity, if it will impact their regular participation in academic activities in any way.
- International students should consult with an advisor in the International Students and Scholars Office to determine their specific situation with regards to pursing an experiential learning opportunity.
- About full-time internships
- Full-time internships typically last a period of 3 months and typically occur during one academic quarter (during training or after graduation).
- For the quarter that the student is on the internship, UCSF requires students to ensure that they have their graduate stipend covered by the internship site. Additionally, the student should be provided with enough extra remuneration to buy into UCSF student health coverage for the quarter. (Graduated students should be provided with an equivalent monetary amount as is provided to current students but they will be responsible for finding their own insurance and health care provider.) The PI is not required to be financially responsible for the student at this time.
- We require students and postdocs in our program to have the approval of their P.I./Thesis Advisor and Graduate Program Director to participate in an internship.
- The Thesis Advisor and the Graduate Program Director have the ultimate discretion in deciding if an internship is appropriate for a student. Advisors are not required to let their students pursue an internship.
- International students should consult with an advisor in the International Students and Scholars Office to determine their specific situation with regards to pursing an internship.
Questions?
View our frequently asked questions, or contact us.
