Archives at the National Centre for Biological Sciences

Internship Programme

The Archives at NCBS is a public collecting centre for the history of science in contemporary India. It aims to be a living, breathing place to make better sense of our intertwined histories and the moving frontiers of science. The physical and digital archive opened to the public in February 2019. 

The Archives is seeking student interns to work with the archiving team. To archive is to collect, sort and make sense of history. The task of setting up a new physical and digital archive is an opportunity to think about the links between journalism, storytelling using archival material, web annotations, scientific research, IT law and classification of information. This is also an opportunity to think of ways to spread awareness about the archival material, through design narratives and artwork.

We are not necessarily looking for students specializing in the sciences. We invite senior school students and undergraduate/postgraduate students from across disciplines -- sciences, engineering, history, sociology, art, design, law, archival/library/museum studies, theater -- to get a feel of an upcoming archive, in both the physical and digital space. Depending on their background, the range of work will change.

The records are primary research material – administrative records, annotated manuscripts, maps, architectural drawings, lab notes, photographs, negatives, slides, oral histories and other electronic audio/visual material. The student is expected to be part of a team that is helping build a new approach to physical and digital archives in the sciences. Future work will include a systematic approach to collecting more archival material under guidance of the archives team at NCBS, in the form of both conducting interviews and sourcing primary documents from other institutions.

Please keep in mind that this is NOT an internship in biology or any of the sciences. And this is not an entry point into scientific research at NCBS.

Making sense of history - internship programme

Period: Flexible, rolling
Duration: 6-12 weeks
Compensation: Nominal stipend will be offered to cover expenses
Contact: Venkat Srinivasan - archives@ncbs.res.in
Details