ISTA Scientific Internships (Austria)

ISTA Scientific Internships place bachelor’s and master’s students inside the research groups of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, a rapidly rising institute on a campus near Vienna, for salaried research stays of up to a year. Interns work across biology, neuroscience, physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and data science with access to professional-grade shared facilities.

Applications run year round by emailing a well-matched group leader directly with your CV and dates at least two months ahead. Note that ISTA’s separate ISTernship summer fellowship is paused for 2026 with a 2027 decision expected late in 2026, which makes this direct route the live path into ISTA right now.

• Students pursuing or holding a bachelor's or master's degree in the natural sciences, computer science, mathematics or a related discipline.
• Students whose degree program requires a research project or internship as part of the curriculum are also welcome.
• A research profile that genuinely matches one of ISTA's research groups, which you must identify before contacting anyone.
• Availability for a start date at least two months after you first reach out, since appointments take time to process.
• Applicants from any country, with one exception: students enrolled at universities in Russia are currently ineligible under suspended mobility rules.
• Note that ISTA's separate centralized summer fellowship (the ISTernship) is paused for 2026, with news about a 2027 edition expected late in 2026; this direct scientific internship route remains fully open year round.
• Appointments depend on the group having funding and capacity, so strong, targeted applications win.

• Conduct research inside an ISTA group across biology, neuroscience, physics, chemistry and materials, mathematics, computer science, or data science and scientific computing.
• Work with state-of-the-art shared facilities, from bioimaging and nanofabrication to scientific computing clusters.
• Contribute experiments, code or analysis to the group's active projects under the group leader's supervision.
• Participate in group meetings, seminars and campus scientific life on the Klosterneuburg campus near Vienna.
• Build results that can seed a thesis, a publication or a PhD application.
• Intern for anywhere up to a full year depending on the project and funding.

• A salaried appointment as a scientific intern rather than an unpaid visit, subject to the group's funds.
• Research at one of Europe's fastest-rising institutes, whose PhD program is fully funded and famous for its rotation model.
• Access to ISTA's professional Scientific Service Units, a level of infrastructure few universities offer interns.
• A campus community of scientists from dozens of countries just outside Vienna.
• A proven springboard: interns regularly return as ISTA PhD students.
• Flexible timing year round instead of one narrow annual deadline.

• Study the ISTA research group pages and shortlist groups whose work matches your background; irrelevant applications are discarded.
• Email the group leader or staff scientist directly with a short introduction, your motivation for their group specifically, an attached PDF CV, and possible internship dates (starting at least two months out).
• If the group is interested, they will move you into ISTA's application portal for the formal steps.
• Complete the portal application with transcripts and any documents the group requests.
• Only complete, well-matched applications are processed, and due to volume only selected candidates get replies, so contact several suitable groups.
• Once appointed, ISTA guides you on the visa, housing options and arrival formalities.