Two Penn State graduate students participated in a six-week internship at QIAGEN’s research and development facility in Hilden, Germany, during the summer of 2025, according to an April 14 announcement. The opportunity was made possible through a partnership between the Huck Institutes’ One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC) and QIAGEN LLC.
The program is intended to provide hands-on training for graduate students while exposing them to new career options in industry. Such opportunities are significant as they allow students to bridge academic research with commercial science and product development pipelines.
Samantha Seibel, a doctoral student in the Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Biosciences intercollege graduate degree program, and Naomi Huntley, a doctoral student in biology, both took part in the internship. They received training on advanced technologies such as digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR), which is used for quantifying nucleic acids. Seibel said dPCR was “the biggest highlight” of her experience and added that “it was awesome to be allowed to not only work with the machinery but also have a team on site that understood the machinery to such an impressive degree. I was thankful for that experience and am potentially going to work on a project with that technology here at the University.”
Huntley said her time at QIAGEN helped clarify her career direction: “I applied for the internship because I’ve really been trying to decide whether I wanted to go into academia or industry once I’m done with my Ph.D. Going to QIAGEN, I learned that industry is something that is probably at the top of my list. Even if you’re not sure about industry, it’s a valuable experience. It helps you understand what’s on the other side of product development and how these technologies work.”
OHMC Director Seth Bordenstein said: “QIAGEN and the One Health Microbiome Center have set the highest standards for graduate student training in the cutting edge of microbiome sciences. By bridging the gap between industry and academia with this summer internship opportunity, our students are superbly positioned to shape the future of biotechnology and its formative capacities to lead the way in microbiome-based solutions.” He also said: “While many graduate programs emphasize research and publication, few offer structured opportunities to gain hands-on experience in commercial science or product development pipelines. This internship opens new avenues for career exploration by exposing trainees to translational potential of microbiome science.”
Applications for next year’s summer internship will open near late 2026 via OHMC’s website or newsletter.
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