On-Campus NeuroMorpho.Org Intern

The Center for Neural Informatics, Structures, and Plasticity (CN3), Bioengineering Department 

“On-Campus NeuroMorpho.Org Intern” 

Overview of Office/Unit: The Center for Neural Informatics, Structures, and Plasticity (CN3) is a multidisciplinary research team devoted to the study of neuroscience. We are specifically interested in quantifying nerve cell morphology and connectivity, and investigating the relationship between network structure and function. In the long term, we seek to create large-scale, anatomically plausible spiking neural networks to model entire portions of a mammalian brain, such as the hippocampus. 

Overview of Internship: Interns will support the development of a neuroscience database. NeuroMorpho.Org is a centrally curated database of digitally reconstructed neurons associated with peer-reviewed publications. The goal of NeuroMorpho.Org is to provide dense coverage of available reconstruction data for the neuroscience community.  

Internship Start Date: 08/24/2026 

Internship End Date: 12/16/2026 

# Hours/Week: 10 hours/week 

Pay: $13/hour 

Qualifications 

Required 

The student should be an undergrad, currently enrolled, and remain enrolled during the position with majors in Neuroscience, Biology, or Bioengineering.  

The student should have basic knowledge of neuroscience. Understand basic terminology like neurons, soma, axons, and dendrites. 

The student should show interest in the cellular architecture of the brain, brain regions, cell types, and molecular markers. 

The student should have the ability to work and interact efficiently in a professional environment with other members of the team. 

The student should be able to multitask, attention to details, and organized. 

Preferred 

The student is recommended to have research experience. 

The student is recommended to have data organization and data analytic skills. 

Internship Goals and Objectives   

CN3 is committed to the professional development of the intern and to structuring the internship experience in a way that enables the student to achieve stated goals and objectives while, at the same time, making a meaningful contribution to the mission of the unit. We have designated a single site mentor/supervisor for the intern.    

During this internship you will gain hands-on experience on digital reconstructions of neuronal and glial morphology, learn how to use different software tools to edit 3D tracing data, and increase your neuroscience knowledge regarding cell types, brain regions, imaging techniques, labeling methods, and cellular markers, across multiple animal species. 

The internship will provide exposure and professional experience in:   

Neural morphology 

Metadata filtering and annotation 

Data organization 

Data sharing standards 

Data analysis 

The learning goals for this internship are: 

Intern will develop better understanding of anatomical brain regions and corresponding local and projection cell types via literature mining and metadata annotation. 

Intern will correlate specific cell types and known molecular markers. 

Intern will recognize multiple labeling techniques for single cell reconstruction, population targeting, and nonspecific staining.  

Intern will understand the difference between various electrophysiological parameters and spiking patterns.  

Intern will be familiar with morphological measurements and how to compute them.  

Intern will have experience with data organization by working with multiple file types and formats. 

Intern will clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives inside and outside of an organization  

Intern will identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and logical analysis of relevant information.   

Intern will understand and demonstrate effective work habits, and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.  

Intern will understand and leverage technologies ethically to enhance efficiencies, complete tasks, and accomplish goals. 

The responsibilities/duties of the intern are: 

Evaluating potential articles describing neuronal/glia reconstruction data. 

Editing/converting neuronal reconstructions files with different tracing systems to a common format (SWC). 

Annotating metadata associated with each reconstruction to be included in NeuroMorpho.Org. 

Providing written weekly updates. 

Meeting every week with the supervisor and team. 

On-campus Internship Program Requirements and Evaluation Activities 

This on-campus internship is supported in partnership with University Life (UL) and is managed by University Career Services (UCS). Participation in the program requires completion of the following professional development activities by the deadlines specified each semester by UCS. These deadlines will be communicated directly to both interns and supervisors. Interns are required to:  

Work the agreed-upon number of hours (min of 10 hrs.) within the agreed upon internship time period.  

Participate in a structured review process, including a self-evaluation of career readiness skills, followed by a one-on-one professional development conversation with their supervisor. 

Complete a video-recorded practice interview and review feedback provided by UCS at the end of the internship. 

Submit an end-of-semester survey to reflect on their experience and contribute to program improvement.