Across the six sites in the Science Museum Group, our interns and trainees have brought fresh ideas, curiosity, and creativity – from exploring our collection in new ways to helping shape how we reach audiences both online and in person.
Our Early Career Programmes help create meaningful pathways into the cultural and heritage sector and beyond. Through partnerships with the 10,000 Interns Foundation and other organisations, we’ve continued to remove barriers to entry and widen opportunities in our workforce.
Our 2025 Internship programme welcomed 12 interns across four of our museums, with placements in teams including: Fundraising, Curatorial, Communications, and Brand Licensing, as well as supporting the upcoming exhibition: Manchester Cotton and Transatlantic Slavery.
We’ve also continued to grow our Traineeship Programme, offering paid placements of up to a year. The programme provides participants the chance to take those all-important first steps in their careers, building skills and confidence in a supportive environment. Together, these programmes are helping us build a more inclusive, representative and skilled future workforce.
What our 2025 interns achieved
From their first day, last year’s interns made a genuine difference across our sites and many of their ideas continue to influence work that has continued beyond their placements.
A few highlights include:
- Helping shape the National Science and Media Museum’s TikTok strategy and content creation
- Working with community researchers to inform future exhibitions and shine a light on Black Mancunian histories
- Supporting our ICT team in analysing cybersecurity risks
- Identifying new sales routes for SMG’s licensed products
- Conducting curatorial research and revealing how the Merkhet, an ancient Egyptian astronomical device used for timekeeping and surveying, and other ideas from early civilisations influenced science today.
Spotlight on Ester: From Exhibitions Intern to Talent Acquisition Coordinator
Ester joined SMG in 2024 as an Exhibitions and Interpretation Intern, driven by a curiosity to explore how her background in neuroscience could connect with creative communication activities. During her placement, she developed accessible interpretation panels and exhibition content, sharpening her storytelling, project management and audience engagement skills. This experience sparked a lasting interest in inclusive design and how museums can create meaningful, accessible visitor experiences.
Following her internship, Ester secured a 12-month traineeship within the same team, where she was key to the delivery of the Young Railway Photographer of the Year competition at the National Railway Museum in York. Ester helped coordinate multiple partners, judges and creative contributors to deliver a vibrant celebration of young creative talent.
Ester now works within our museum group as a Talent Acquisition Coordinator, supporting how we attract new people to work at our six sites.
Reflecting on her journey over the last 15 months, Ester shared: ‘At first, I was a bit apprehensive, I wasn’t sure how my scientific background would translate into the creative world. But I quickly discovered that those skills were not only relevant, but they were also incredibly valuable. I’ve moved from communicating dense neuroscientific ideas to designing accessible interpretation panels, to now fulfilling a personal passion of mine, championing meaningful opportunities for underrepresented groups.
In a short time, I’ve established new career options that I didn’t know was possible. What’s made the biggest difference for me is the encouragement to be curious and authentic; that’s what helped me grow, and it’s what I hope to pass on to others.’
Broader impact
The impact of our Early Career Programmes extends far beyond just our six sites:
- A 2023 Curatorial Intern turned Trainee is now a freelance curator working across the Arts and Culture sector. In their new capacity, they are working with us as a member of the Advisory Panel for the Science and Industry Museum’s Manchester Cotton and Transatlantic Slavery Exhibition (in partnership with the Scott Trust).
- Two Finance Interns who met on our programme in 2023, have co-founded Flair Financials, a business supporting young footballers with financial education.
- Ten individuals have since gone on to roles across the cultural, creative and public sectors – including at the MET in New York, and at Christie’s, Oxford University, the Old Vic, and Somerset House in the UK.
What’s next?
Creating equitable, supported routes into the culture sector enriches our people and museums. We’re proud to celebrate not just achievements of our Early Careers participants, but also the people (from line managers to mentors) and partners who helped make these achievements possible.
Through building on the success of past programmes, we’re excited to continue to expand opportunities across our sites, ensuring that the emerging culture professionals who join our museums have the chance to thrive.
Evelyn Robson is the Science Museum Group’s Emerging Talent Manager. The wonderful images featured in this blog post were taken by Rachael Simoes, who participated in our 2023 Digital Curators of Tomorrow programme and now works in the Science Museum Group’s Digital team.