White City and Old Oak Internship Scheme

Submissions for the 2026 White City and Old Oak Internship Scheme are now open!

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 considered for the scheme’s 50% salary funding.

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
• Accelerate research, product development and innovation projects over the summer
• 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
• Strengthen links with Imperial and the wider WestTech London ecosystem
• Support diversity, social impact and meaningful paid student opportunities
• Benefit from recruitment and administrative support from the Imperial Careers Service
• Gain insights that can inform your graduate recruitment and attraction strategy
• Organisations consistently tell us the scheme delivers real, measurable impact.

What previous hosts say about the scheme and the interns they hired:

“The interns increased our research and strategic capacity during a critical stage of development and accelerated workstreams that would otherwise have been delayed.”

“They introduced new experimental approaches and built automated data analysis workflows that continue to benefit the team beyond the internship.”

“Their work strengthened our market insight, marketing materials and commercial positioning at a critical early stage.”

“The funding makes it far more feasible for early-stage companies to onboard talented interns and accelerate development.”

“One of the interns was hired shortly after completing the placement, highlighting the programme’s value in building strong connections with Imperial talent.”

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 be registered with a physical office or lab space within;

• Scale Space or I-HUB at White City
• OR Imperial's Old Oak Innovation Cluster

If you do not meet this eligibility criteria, please visit the SME Internship Scheme webpage for alternative support. 

Internship requirements
In order to be eligible, internships must be;

• Minimum 8 weeks in duration
• Minimum 15 hours per week
• Delivered between July - September (flexible for Master's/PhD hires)
• Paid at least the Real London Living Wage 
• Offered to an Imperial student or recent graduate 
• Suitable for STEM disciplines or Business School students (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