Data Science & Business Intelligence Internship

Internship Assignment

We are seeking a motivated Data Science and Business‑oriented MSc student to continue the development of an existing business development intelligence tool.

A previous intern has already built a strong foundation. During this internship, you will expand and improve the tool’s capabilities, transforming it into a more powerful and scalable system that supports our business developers in their day‑to‑day work.

The tool is designed to:

• Map relevant biotech, pharma, and research organizations by geography and technology focus
• Link news items, press releases, and publications to companies
• Detect relevance and potential business opportunities for business development
• Monitor industry trends, emerging technologies, and relevant conferences

This internship combines technical development with real‑world application, bridging data science and strategic decision‑making in the biotech and pharma ecosystem.

About Nikon BioImaging Lab

Nikon BioImaging Lab (NBIL) in Leiden is a contract research organization (CRO) specializing in advanced microscopy, 3D cell models, and image‑based assay development. We collaborate with academic groups, biotech startups, and pharmaceutical companies to support innovation in drug discovery and life‑science research.

To strengthen our outreach and strategic focus, we are investing in data‑driven business development tools that help our team better understand the market, identify relevant partners, and monitor emerging trends in the life sciences.

Key Activities

Depending on your background and interests, your work may include:

• Expanding and structuring databases of companies, technologies, and market segments
• Integrating multiple data sources (e.g. company websites, news feeds, conference listings)
• Applying natural language processing (NLP) to match news and content to companies
• Developing relevance scoring or classification methods for business development use cases
• Identifying trends and signals in fast‑moving life‑science domains
• Improving usability and interpretability of outputs for non‑technical users
• Presenting insights and recommendations to the NBIL team

You will work closely with both business development and scientific colleagues, ensuring that your technical work creates immediate business value.

Your Profile

• You are a MSc student in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, or a related field
• You are enrolled at a Dutch university for the duration of the internship
• You have experience with Python and data analysis (PowerBI is a plus)
• You have basic knowledge of machine learning and/or NLP (from coursework or projects)
• You enjoy working with real‑world, unstructured data
• Affinity with life sciences is a plus (but not required)
• You can communicate clearly with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders
• You are proactive and enjoy improving and extending existing systems

• Work together in a small and close team of professionals
• Learn to develop a real-world project
• Mentorship from experienced business development and scientific professional   
• Flexible working hours

• A high‑impact data science internship with real users and real data
• The opportunity to build upon an existing, working tool rather than a demo project
• Exposure to the biotech and pharmaceutical innovation landscape
• A collaborative and international working environment
• Insight into how data science directly supports strategic business decisions

• You are a MSc student in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, or a related field
• You are enrolled at a Dutch university for the duration of the internship