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Summer Internships

The 2023 Graduate School Summer Internship Program has closed (June 30th)

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Through the Summer Internship Program, The Cyprus Institute Graduate School aims to expose young talented students and scholars to an international research experience and to encourage and inspire them in the pursuit of a scientific career. Interns will have a unique opportunity to carry out research at the institute's state-of-the-art facilities supervised by a mentor and to be introduced to the use of the latest methods and techniques.  Many of the projects will be offered remotely, if necessary. See each project below for details.

This year, the summer internship program will be open for administration positions as well. 

During the application process, students will have the option to either: 

(1) select one project from the table below or
(2) suggest a project of interest*
*students who propose their own suggested project must note that this will be considered, provided that the institute has the capacity in terms of supervision and facilities 

Applications are welcome from candidates worldwide with a keen interest and a relevant scientific background. 

Students who are accepted to the program will be assigned to one project. 

All applicants will be asked to justify their selection in a 300-word statement on the online application form.

 
Summer Internship Projects

 

Thematic Domain Digital Media and Communications
Project Title Digital Media and Communications at The Cyprus Institute Graduate School
Remote Option  This can be offered on-site exclusively or a combination of on-site and remotely as agreed with the Mentor
Start Date Flexible start date (ASAP) - Full- time 
Duration Approximately 2 months
Project Objective Assisting in the development of communications materials for social media. This task may include content creation, brainstorming social media campaigns, and identifying best practices across platforms.

Contributing to the management of the School’s social media platforms.


Help with managing and cataloging the GS’s digital asset archives with close attention to tags, permissions, and accessibility


In collaboration with the Senior Web & Social Media Administrator the successful intern will contribute to the advancement of the ‘Education’ page on the CyI website taking into consideration website accessibility and new ways to engage our audience.


Contributing to the improvement of the GS schools’ dissemination strategies and its dissemination material.

Requirements to be eligible to apply Studies in Digital Media and Communications, Marketing, Digital content management, or other related fields

Experience/interest in photo/video/writing/editing

Experience in Social Media management will be considered as an advantage

Excellent knowledge of the English language both verbal and writing. Knowledge of Greek will be considered an advantage.

High interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team

Strong organizational skills
Project Mentor Dr. Chrysanthia Leontiou
Other CyI staff involved Communications Office
Financial Aid available No

Thematic domain Bioarchaeology / Archaeological Science
Project title  Graeco-Roman Bioarchaeology
Remote option Combination of on-site and remote: the literature review and databases can be developed remotely; hands-on lab activities have to take place on site
Start date 15 May (with end date of 15 July). The start and end dates can be flexible so long as the internship is completed by the end of July.
Duration 8 weeks
Project objectives

The intern will contribute to multiple activities focused on Graeco-Roman bioarchaeology. In particular, he/she will help update Bi(bli)oArch (https://www.biblioarch.com/), an open access bibliographic database for human bioarchaeological studies in the region, as well as help develop a similar database for zooarchaeological studies (ZooBi(bli)oArch). In addition, the intern will join our team in the compilation of published bioarchaeological data and their organization in a new database (Graeco-Roman Bioarch). Finally, the intern will gain hands-on experience in human osteoarchaeology while contributing to the study of human skeletal remains currently analyzed at our facilities, as well as in digitization methods while assisting in the 3D documentation of selected remains, which will then form part of our in-house reference collections. 

Expected results The intern will gain a strong background regarding the state of the art in bioarchaeology (human osteoarchaeology and zooarchaeology) in the EMME. In addition, he/she will develop skills in data management and open data sharing best practices. 
Project mentor Dr. Efthymia Nikita
Other CyI staff involved Antonio Caruso, Mahmoud Mardini, Gkampriella Selempa, Angelos Hadjikoumis
Background requirements Basic knowledge of archaeological sciences (osteology and/or archaeological materials)

Ability to work in a team
Financial aid available No

Thematic domain Zooarchaeology
Project title  Curation of faunal collections and production of 3D models (via photogrammetry) of animal skeletons for research and public outreach applications
Remote option This project cannot be offered remotely as it is a heavily practical project and thus requires physical presence in the lab.
Start date June 10 (until July 28). There is flexibility in the project dates. One could also start early in May and even continue in September. Please get in touch with the poject Mentor Dr Angelos Hadjikoumis to discuss the specific dates.
Duration Flexible as per above 
Project objectives

1) Digitisation (3D) of as many comparative specimens as possible

2) Curation of comparative reference collection (adding new specimens, marking and documenting them)

3) Cleaning archaeological collections
Expected results

1) Digital (3D) replicas of most commonly used specimens (sheep, goat, pig, dog)

2) Expansion of comparative reference collection

3) Zooarchaeological data collection
Project mentor Dr. Angelos Hadjikoumis
Other CyI staff involved Evi Margaritis (as overall supervisor of project SACHROFICS)
Background requirements Any level archaeology students with an interest in zooarchaeology
Financial aid available No

Thematic domain Archaeological Science- Archaeobotany
Project title  Food Production and Consumption in Cyprus in Antiquity
Remote option No. This project will be offered on-site.
Start date Applications for this project will be accepted only until May 31.  The start date should be ideally in early June and the project must end by end of July.
Duration 2 weeks to 2 months
Project objectives

Training in the field in the recovery of organic remains

Training in the laboratory in archaeobotany

Expected results

Acquire of knowledge of field methods (not known to most) and basic training in archaeobotanical research (sorting of samples and basic identification)

Project mentor Evi Margaritis
Other CyI staff involved Kyriaki Tsirtsi
Background requirements  -
Financial aid available No

Thematic domain Computational Science & Engineering
Project title  Multiscale Mechanical Model for the Effective Interphase of Polymer-based Nanostructured Materials 
Remote option No. This project is offered on-site.
Start date The proposed program will take place during the time period 1 June and 30 September (for 8 weeks). The dates are flexible within this time period. 
Duration 8 weeks
Project objectives

In this Internship, a multiscale model fully representing mechanical deformation will be developed for the identification of geometrical and mechanical properties of the interfacial layer in polymer nanocomposite (PNC) with nanoparticle (NP) filler. The mechanical properties of PNC will be derived using atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Through the analysis of strain energy and its distribution inside the nanocomposite unit cell, the polymer layer at the vicinity of the NP surface (interphase) will be revealed. Taking account of this unusual reinforcing effect using a finite element (FE) model or homogenization approach, we will implicitly solve for the size and mechanical properties of the effective interphase, which has an equivalent strain energy around the NP, as well as the global elastic stiffness of the nanocomposite that is equivalent to the corresponding value from MD simulations. The equivalent continuum model thus properly predicts the local stress distribution at the adsorbed polymer-NP interface as well as the overall mechanical properties of nanocomposite. For the latter a methodology involving machine learning (ML) algorithms could be used.  

The overarching goal is to compute the rigidity of the interphase surrounding the nanoparticles by combining atomistic simulations, continuum (finite element) models and data-driven algorithms. 

Expected results Training of the student in computational methods (simulations and machine learning algorithms) for studying complex materials

Predicting the heterogeneous mechanical properties of polymer-based nanostructured materials by combining atomistic simulations, continuum (finite element) models and data-driven algorithms.
Project mentor Prof. Vangelis Harmandaris 
Other CyI staff involved  Dr. Hilal Reda 
Background requirements The applicant need to have a solid background in mathematics or/and physics and must be at least in the last year of her/his Bachelor studies. A basic knowledge of a programming language, such as “C” or “python”, and in machine learning methodologies is recommended. 
Financial aid available A small stipend may be offered

Thematic domain Thermal Desalination
Project title  Testing of the Thermal Desalination Unit(s) at PROTEAS Facility
Remote option No
Start date June 1
Duration 8 Weeks
Project objectives The objectives of the program is to perform experiments for evaluating the performance of the desalination unit (s)
Expected results Documentation with the results obtained during the experiments.
Project mentor Dr. Marios C. Georgiou
Other CyI staff involved PROTEAS Staff (controls, technicians)
Background requirements Applicant must be a mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or physicist student, preferably in their final year of their Bachelor's degree. Applicants with additional qualifications are welcome to apply.
Financial aid available Only in exceptional cases. 

Thematic domain Characterization of Thermal Energy Storage Tanks
Project title  Efficiency of Thermal Energy Storage Tank
Remote option No
Start date June 1
Duration 8 Weeks
Project objectives The objectives of the program is to perform experiments in the Teslab and PROTEAS Facilities for the documentation and characterization of the efficiency of a single tank for thermal energy storage.
Expected results Documentation with the comparison between the energy losses and the electrical consumption.
Project mentor Dr. Marios C. Georgiou
Other CyI staff involved PROTEAS Staff (controls, technicians)
Background requirements Applicant must be a mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or physicist student, preferably in their final year of their Bachelor's degree. Applicants with additional qualifications are welcome to apply.
Financial aid available Only in exceptional cases. 

Thematic domain Concentrating Solar Power and Desalination Plant 
Project title  Hands on experience and participation in experiments implemented in the PROTEAS facility
Remote option Since this is a hands-on experience, it is preferable to offer it with physical presence
Start date June 1 (this start date is flexible as long as it takes place between June 1 and Sept 30)
Duration 8 weeks
Project objectives The objectives of the program is to engage new people to the operation and testing procedure of Concentrating Solar Power and Desalination. This unique experience will be offered in the biggest research laboratory in Cyprus, the PROTEAS Facility
Expected results Gain experience in experimental campaigns. Gain experience in testing components and validating them.
Project mentor Dr. Marios C Georgiou
Other CyI staff involved Marios Constantinou, Martha Kourouyianni, Sean Gallagher
Background requirements Applicant must be a mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or physicist student, preferably in their final year of their Bachelor's degree. Applicants with additional qualifications are welcome to apply.
Financial aid available Only in exceptional cases

Thematic Domain  Thermal Desalination 
Project Title Heat Transfer Coefficient in Plate Heat Exchangers
Remote Option This project cannot be offered remotely
Start Date June 1 (flexible within the summer period of June through September)
Duration  8 weeks
Project Objectives The objectives of the program is to perform experiments in the Desalination Lab for the characterization of the heat transfer coefficient  in single phase, and phase change
Expected Results Comparison between the single phase and phase change heat transfer coefficient in innovative Plate Heat Exchangers
Project Mentor Dr Marios C Georgiou
Other Cyprus Institute staff involved Marios Constantinou
Background Requirements  Applicant must be a mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or physicist student, preferably in their final year of their Bachelor's degree. Applicants with additional qualifications are welcome to apply.
Financial Aid Available Only in exceptional cases

Thematic Domain  Machine Learning
 
Project Title  Machine Learning Engineer Internship
Remote Option A combination of both, on-site and remote, but interns should be expected to meet their mentors on-site regularly
Start Date May 1
Duration 8 weeks but with possibility of longer-term internship (up to 6 months)
Project Objectives For the interns to learn key skills, which they can use in their future academic studies, or later in their careers. 

We are looking for an intern who will apply Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques to big-data problems.

Under the supervision and guidance of their mentor, as well as the cooperation of other research engineers, they will learn new and invaluable skills. By using predictive models, experimental design methods, and optimization techniques, the intern will be working on the research and development of various projects.

Expected Results

We expect for interns to be committed to their internship and to be keen to learn as much as they can from their mentors.

Project Mentor Christos Christodoulou, Charalambos Chrysostomou, Pantelis Georgiades, Mihalis Nicolaou
Other CyI Staff Involved Nikolas Theodosiou
Background Requirements  Interns should be students of a relative field of study such as Computer Science and other fields from STEM which have computational aspects in the studies. They should be in the final or penultimate year of their BSC degree studies. We will also be accepting post graduate students (MSc and PhD students) as well as PostDocs who would want to learn new skills at CaSToRC through their internship.
Financial Aid Available A stipend may be offered.

Thematic Domain  Data Science
Project Title Data Science Engineer Internship
Remote Option  A combination of both, on-site and remote, but interns should be expected to meet their mentors on-site regularly
Start Date May 1
Duration 8 weeks but with possibility of longer-term internship (up to 6 months)
Project Objectives

For the interns to learn key skills, which they can use in their future academic studies, or later in their careers. 

We are looking for an intern who will apply Data Science techniques to big-data problems.

Under the supervision and guidance of their mentor, as well as the cooperation of other research engineers, they will learn new and invaluable skills to be able to implement:

  • Automation: Developing innovative solutions for automating data handling and analytics processes using Python or similar programming languages
  • Data engineering: Exploring efficiencies in data flow from various sources of data to analysis ready data sets
  • Data analytics: Developing code for processing or exploration of data, potentially aggregating with other datasets, in order to uncover insights from the data
Expected Results

We expect for interns to be committed to their internship and to be keen to learn as much as they can from their mentors.

Project Mentor Christos Christodoulou, Charalambos Chrysostomou, Pantelis Georgiades, Mihalis Nicolaou
Other CyI Staff Involved Nikolas Theodosiou
Background Requirements Interns should be students of a relative field of study such as Computer Science and other fields from STEM which have computational aspects in the studies. They should be in the final or penultimate year of their BSC degree studies. We will also be accepting post graduate students (MSc and PhD students) as well as PostDocs who would want to learn new skills at CaSToRC through their internship.
Financial Aid Available  A stipend may be offered.

Thematic Domain  High Performance Computing Operations
Project Title High Performance Computing Infrastructure Engineer Internship
Remote Option A combination of both, on-site and remote, but interns should be expected to meet their mentors on-site regularly
Start Date  May 1
Duration  8 weeks but with possibility of longer-term internship (up to 6 months)
Project Objectives

For the interns to learn key skills, which they can use in their future academic studies, or later in their careers.

We are looking for an intern who will apply system administration skills towards the operation of a High Performance Computing Infrastructure.

Under the supervision and guidance of their mentor, as well as the cooperation of other system engineers, they will work together to support and maintain the infrastructure. The intern will learn key skills to achieve this, including:

  • Installing, configuring and maintaining HPC hardware and software
  • Monitoring system performance and identifying potential issues
  • Providing technical support to HPC users – across various levels of difficulty
Expected Results

We expect for interns to be committed to their internship and to be keen to learn as much as they can from their mentors.

Project Mentor George Tsouloupas
Other CyI Staff Involved Pantelis Georgiades, Nikolas Theodosiou, Charalambos Chrysostomou
Background Requirements Interns should be students of a relative field of study such as Computer Science and other fields from STEM which have computational aspects in the studies. We will also be accepting post graduate students (MSc and PhD students) as well as PostDocs who would want to learn new skills at CaSToRC through their internship.
Financial Aid Available  A stipend may be offered.

Thematic Domain Scientific High Performance Computing Programming
Project Title Scientific HPC Programming Internship
Remote Option  A combination of both, on-site and remote, but interns should be expected to meet their mentors on-site regularly
Start Date May 1
Duration  8 weeks but with possibility of longer-term internship (up to 6 months)
Project Objectives

For the interns to learn key skills, which they can use in their future academic studies, or later in their careers.

We are looking for interns with a challenging computational project to be run on High Performance Computing Systems.
Under the supervision and guidance of their mentor, as well as the cooperation of other researchers, they will work on developing and optimising their code, so they can run faster and more efficiently on a supercomputing system. To achieve this, the intern will learn key skills, including:

  • Designing and implementing parallel algorithms or using software libraries for scientific simulations
  • Benchmarking and profiling code performance to identify bottlenecks and parts of code which can be made more efficient
  • Code debugging and reviewing to ensure software is of a required quality and performance.
  • Application of advanced numerical techniques, such as machine learning and state-of-the-art algorithms

The interested applicants should provide a brief description of their research project from a scientific and computational point of view.

Expected Results

We expect for interns to be committed to their internship and to be keen to learn as much as they can from their mentors.

Project Mentor Andreas Athenodorou, Simone Bacchio, Giannis Koutsou
Other CyI Staff Involved Pantelis Georgiades, Nikolas Theodosiou, Charalambos Chrysostomou
Background Requirements Interns should be students of a relative field of study such as Computer Science and other fields from STEM which have computational aspects in the studies. They should be in the final or penultimate year of their BSC degree studies. We will also be accepting post graduate students (MSc and PhD students) as well as PostDocs who would want to learn new skills at CaSToRC through their internship.
Financial Aid Available  A stipend may be offered.

Thematic Domain Health and Safety Focus on Chemicals
Project Title Occupational Health and Safety: Risk assessment and substitution of chemicals (up to 50 substances)
Remote Option  Yes
Start Date

June 1

Duration 8 weeks (until July 28)
Project Objectives Knowing legislation on health and safety-related to chemicals and standard procedures.
Learning to read a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).
Learning to conduct a risk assessment on hazardous chemicals,
Analyzing to replace hazardous substances with others with minor risk.
Expected Results Being able of carrying out a risk assessment of a set of chemicals.
Delivering the risk assessments of a given set of chemicals.
Increased knowledge about chemicals.
Update on current legislation on chemicals.
Approach to the activities of a PhD student.
Project Mentor Natascia Manderioli
Other CyI Staff Involved   - 
Background Requirements Student pursuing their higher education, knowledge in chemicals or health and safety.
Financial Aid Available No

Thematic Domain Health and Safety in a Machine Shop 
Project Title Occupational Health and Safety in a Machine Shop environment: Risk Assessment of equipment and COSHH of chemicals
Remote Option  1 week of work on-site is suggested. This will allow the student to listen, see and experience procedures, processes, and equipment first-hand.
Start Date 01.06.2023 (to 28.07.2023)
01.09.2023 (to 29.09.2023)
Duration  Flexible, no work in August
Project Objectives Obtain knowledge on health and safety related legislation of chemicals and standard procedures.
Learn how to read and utilize a Safety Data Sheet (SDS).
Learn how to conduct a risk assessment on equipment, procedures and chemicals.
Analyze and potentially replace hazardous substances and procedures with less risky.
Expected Results Familiarization with the procedure for assessing hazards in the machine shop.
Be able to carry out risk assessments of equipment, procedures and chemicals.
Increase knowledge about machinery and chemicals used in a machine shop.
Increase knowledge on 3D Printing processes such as Fused Deposition Modeling and Stereolithography. The intern will experience the printing of custom-made parts with printing hours ranging from a few minutes to a few days. Most parts will be designed by us in the machine shop and are part of EU funded projects.
Project Mentor Harris Chrysanthou
Other CyI Staff Involved Natascia Manderioli
Background Requirements University student in one of the following specialties:
  • Industrial engineering
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Health and Safety
  • Environmental engineering
  • Materials engineering

The student should be familiar with basic computer software (e.g., Word, excel or similar).

Financial Aid Available No

Thamatic Domain  Health and Safety focus on plans in Proteas Facility
Project Title  Risk assessment, Standard Operating Procedures and maintenance plan of a new prototype of receiver to be installed in Proteas facility
Remote Option This is not an option for this project
Start Date June 1
Duration 8 weeks 
Project Objectives Obtain knowledge on health and safety related legislation of chemicals and standard procedures.

Obtain some knowledge on a Solar Research Facility.

Learn how to conduct a risk assessment on equipment, procedures and chemicals (if needed).

Prepare the risk assessment of the development of an experimental installation for the co-generation of electricity from concentrated solar power (CSP)

Prepare the standard operating procedure the experimental installation for the co-generation of electricity from concentrated solar power (CSP)
Expected Results Familiarization with the development of an experimental installation for the co-generation of electricity from concentrated solar power (CSP)

Be able to carry out risk assessments of equipment, procedures and chemicals (if needed).

Increase knowledge about machinery and complex installations such as concentrated solar power (CSP)
Project Mentor Natascia Manderioli and Harris Chrysanthou
Other CyI Staff Involved Marios C. Georgiou and Sean Gallager
Background Requirements

The applicant must be a university student in one of the following specialties:

  • Industrial engineering
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Health and Safety
  • Environmental engineering

The student should be familiar with basic computer software (e.g., Word, excel or similar).

Financial Aid Available No

Thematic Domain Climate Change and Health
Project Title Heat wave effects on human morbidity for Cyprus 
Remote Option  Both on-site and remote work (combination)
Start Date May 29 (the dates are flexible and can start any time in May)
Duration 8 weeks
Project Objective This project is about understanding the impact of heat waves on human health for Cyprus, and how this is likely to change in the future. Statistical/machine learning methods will be utilised to quantify associations between mortality/morbidity data with weather observations and reanalysis data. In particular, established heat stress indices such as the Universal Thermal Climate Index will be computed and linked to mortality/morbidity rates for Cyprus.
Expected Results Risk estimates of morbidity as a function of heat indices
Project Mentor Dr. Theo Economou
Other CyI Staff Involved Dr. Georgia Lazoglou
Background Requirements Holder of BSc in environmental sciences or a quantitative subject
Financial Aid Available No

Additional projects may be added to the above table periodically 

 

Program Length

The internships will be of approximately 8 weeks duration. Students may have the option to change the duration of the program in consultation with the project mentor.  


Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must:

Be undergraduate or graduate students or recent graduates with an excellent academic background and a strong interest in research (prior lab or modelling experience is considered an advantage)
Have strong communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to adapt to a multicultural/multinational environment
Have good knowledge of oral and written English
See possible additional requirements under each project 

Application Process

Applications should be submitted through the online internship application.  The following supporting documents must be uploaded when filling out the online application:

Copy of national ID or passport
Curriculum Vitae 
University transcripts. All transcripts to date should be included.
English Language Proficiency Certificate. This may either be a letter from the student’s university verifying that their degree program is offered in English, or if the degree is not offered at an English- medium institution, students should provide a certificate verifying English language proficiency (e.g. TOEFL, IELTS, GCSE/IGCSE etc.).  If applicants have not taken any tests demonstrating English language proficiency and have not studied/ are not studying at an English- medium institution, they may state it on the application.


Students will need to write a 300- word statement in the online application justifying their choice of project selected by stating why their background and qualifications are a good match for the project they are applying for. Students will be assigned to one project.

If, for any serious reason, the applicant needs to attend a shorter or longer program, they should explain why in the justification.


Application Deadline

Applications for the summer internship program are open until June 30th (with the exception of some projects which may close earlier- please see each project individually for details). Projects will be listed as closed once spaces are filled.


Application Form

Click here to access the Internship Application Form


Financial Aid

The Cyprus Institute Graduate School Summer Internship program focuses on providing students a unique training experience through bespoke projects related to applicant’s field of study and research interests thus are not considered to be job placements and do not come with compensation.

A limited number of the projects may provide a small stipend based on merit and availability of funds. This information is available under each project listing.  


Contact

For more information, please contact the Office of Graduate Studies at tel: +357 22 208614 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


 

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