Key Skills

Job Description

Internship | 6 months | 32 h/week | On-site, Rotterdam | €550/month | Start: October 2026 (or as soon as possible) Please read before applying: this internship is open to students currently enrolled at a Dutch or EU university or university of applied sciences (HBO) who already live in the Netherlands. Your institution must be able to sign an internship agreement. We cannot offer visa sponsorship or relocation support. About the internship Fooditive is a Rotterdam food-biotech company developing ingredients through precision fermentation. Our R&D runs through a network of specialist laboratories, CDMOs and manufacturing partners. As our intern, you will sit at the centre of that work. You'll review partner data, compare technical options, prepare experimental plans and help decide the next step in development. This is not a bench-lab internship. What you get instead is rare at student level: a full view of how an industrial fermentation process moves from strain design to scale-up, and direct exposure to the partners who run it. What you will work on Strain engineering and molecular biology Review and organise strain-development work: DNA sequences, plasmid maps, constructs and expression systems Help prepare experimental plans and technical instructions for partner laboratories Fermentation Compare fermentation conditions, media, process parameters and results across runs Summarise partner fermentation data into clear performance overviews Downstream processing and analytics Review clarification, separation, purification and concentration steps Compare recovery, yield and purity; interpret SDS-PAGE, ELISA and protein-concentration data Documentation and coordination Run focused literature searches and write concise technical summaries Keep clear records of experiments, decisions and open questions Track partner activities, sample movements and project milestones Who we are looking for Enrolled in an MSc or final-year BSc/HBO programme in Biotechnology, Bioprocess or Biochemical Engineering, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Food Biotechnology or a related field Solid grounding in recombinant protein expression, fermentation and downstream processing Comfortable reading scientific reports and working carefully with experimental data Someone who takes ownership, works well without supervision and flags early when stuck Fluent in English A plus: experience with E. coli expression systems, SDS-PAGE, ELISA, protein purification or bioprocess development. What we offer Real R&D responsibility on live projects, not a side project Exposure to specialist labs, CDMOs and manufacturing partners Regular scientific supervision and feedback €550 monthly allowance, a certificate of completion and, where earned, a personal recommendation How to apply Apply with your CV and a short cover letter (max. 150 words) on which part of the process interests you most and why. Tell us your programme, your institution and when you can start. Fooditive is an equal-opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from every background and are happy to discuss adjustments to the application process.

Core Responsibilities

The intern will support the R&D team by reviewing partner data, preparing experimental plans, and coordinating project milestones across a network of laboratories. They will also summarize technical fermentation and downstream processing data to assist in decision-making for industrial scale-up.

Requirements

Candidates must be currently enrolled in an MSc or final-year BSc/HBO program in a relevant scientific field and reside in the Netherlands. Proficiency in English and a solid understanding of recombinant protein expression and bioprocessing are required.

Benefits

• Monthly allowance
• Certificate of completion
• Personal recommendation