Supporting SMEs to access exceptional Imperial talent
The SME Internship Scheme helps small and medium-sized businesses across Greater London hire talented Imperial students and recent graduates for paid, project-based summer internships.
The scheme is designed for organisations looking to bring fresh ideas, specialist skills and additional capacity into their teams while providing meaningful, paid experience for Imperial students.
In addition to connecting employers with Imperial’s diverse talent pool, the scheme offers a £1,000 contribution towards intern salary costs, helping SMEs access high-calibre talent while keeping recruitment costs manageable.
Whether you’re a growing start-up, scaling SME or innovation-focused organisation, the scheme provides a simple and supported route to engage Imperial talent and progress important projects over the summer months.
Key details:
- Internships should be a minimum of 160 hours (full or part-time)
- Imperial offers a £1,000 contribution towards intern salary costs
- Interns must be paid at least the Real London Living Wage (£14.80/hour)
- Full support from the Imperial Careers Service with project scoping, advertising, shortlisting and funding administration
For queries about the fund, please contact the Placement and Internship Unit at internship.unit@imperial.ac.uk.
SME Internship Scheme Tabs
Submissions for the SME Internship Scheme open Thursday 12 March 2026.
If you have a summer internship project you would like to advertise exclusively to Imperial students or recent graduates, please complete the online project proposal form. Approved projects will be promoted through Imperial’s careers portal and granted £1,000 towards the intern's salary.
Funding is limited and proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis until Friday 15 May 2026, so we encourage organisations to apply early. Advertising earlier in the spring also tends to attract larger and more competitive candidate pools.
The project proposal form takes around 10–15 minutes to complete and includes:
- Company summary and contact details
- Your business need and project overview
- Key skills, knowledge and attributes you are seeking
- What the intern will gain from the experience
This scheme is funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund and delivered by the Imperial College London Careers Service. If you have any questions, please contact the Placement and Internship Unit.
Hosting an intern through the scheme offers organisations a unique opportunity to access top talent, drive innovation and build valuable connections with Imperial College London.
Whether you’re looking for fresh insights, additional project support or a pipeline for future hires, the scheme delivers a wide range of benefits:
- Access high-calibre STEMB talent from Imperial College London
- Bring fresh perspectives, new ideas and specialist skills into your team
- Increase capacity during busy periods or critical development stages
- Utilise cost-effective, short-term project support with co-funding from Imperial
- Build a strong future talent pipeline and assess potential graduate hires
- Raise awareness of your organisation across the Imperial student community
- Benefit from recruitment and administrative support from the Imperial Careers Service
- Gain insights that can inform your graduate recruitment and attraction strategy
- Achieve real measurable impact and business growth.
1. Project registration
Interested organisations submit a Project Registration Form (open early Spring). Projects are reviewed against the scheme criteria and funding is allocated on a rolling basis until the deadline (mid May).
2. Project scoping
If selected, we will work with you to refine the project, confirm the skills required and finalise the job description before advertising.
3. Advertising
Your internship will be advertised via the Exclusive Opportunities section of Imperial's online jobs portal, JobsLive, for a minimum of two weeks. The Placement and Internship Unit promotes the internship to eligible students and graduates through targeted marketing and internal channels.
4. Shortlisting (optional)
You can shortlist candidates yourself or request support from the Placement and Internship Unit, who will identify the most suitable candidates based on your criteria.
5. Interviews and selection
You arrange interviews directly with your preferred candidates and notify the Placement and Internship Unit once an intern has been selected.
6. Funding agreement
Once details are confirmed with your intern (start date, hours and salary), Imperial issues a Funding Agreement to the host organisation. This confirms the funding contribution from Imperial and sits alongside your separate employment agreement with the intern.
7. Salary payment and invoicing
The host organisation pays the intern directly through payroll and submits an invoice to Imperial for the scheme's funding contribution (usually paid within the first two weeks of the internship starting).
Organisation eligibility
Your organisation must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the SME Internship Scheme support;
- Registered and based in the UK
- SME (250 employees or less)
- Annual turnover of less than £1 million
If you are a member business or charity based in Scale Space, I-HUB or Old Oak Common, please visit the White City and Old Oak Internship Scheme webpage for alternative support.
Internship requirements
In order to be eligible for the scheme, the proposed internship must be;
- Minimum of 160 hours of work (either as a full or part-time role)
- Delivered between July-September (flexible for Master's/PhD hires)
- Paid at least the Real London Living Wage
- Offered to an Imperial student or graduate
- Suitable for STEM disciplines or and Business School courses (view full list of departments)
A strong internship project will
- Align with Imperial student's academic strengths and interests
- Provide challenging and meaningful graduate-level experience
- Deliver tangible outcomes for both the host organisation and the intern
- Include clear supervision and support