Students: Register ahead for NASW’s Virtual Internship Fair on Feb. 11

NASW student members looking for great internships or one-on-one conversation with editors or news and science organizations looking for top interns or the chance to meet up-and-coming science journalists should plan to attend the 2023 Virtual NASW Internship Fair. The event will be held online, 1-5 p.m. Eastern, Saturday, Feb. 11.

NASW Internship Fair details

NASW student members are invited to meet with editors from top magazines, research institutes, national labs and other science communication outlets during a speed-dating style internship fair and editor meet & greet. Regular recruiters include Science, Nature, Science News, Scientific American, Chemical & Engineering News, Reuters Health, the European Molecular Biological Laboratory, and Fermilab, which also recruits for CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.

  • Sign up: Students must pre-register. Only pre-registered students will be able to participate. Pre-register by Feb. 6 at 11:59 PM ET (Sign up instructions for editors are below)
  • Day: Saturday, Feb. 11 (NOTE: You must pre-register by Feb. 6 at 11:59 PM ET)
  • Time: 1-5 p.m. Eastern. All participating students should be logged in at or before 1 p.m. Those who arrive after this time cannot be accommodated.
  • Place: Zoom virtual meeting platform; Access details will be sent to all participants via email.
  • Recruiters: See a list of past recruiters here. (List will be updated in early February)

To be eligible to participate in the fair, students must pre-register at the link above AND be current NASW members or submit a membership application by Feb. 6, 2023, i.e. your complete, paid applications for NASW membership at the student or regular membership level must be received by that date. Visit nasw.org/join for information on joining NASW. Tip: Signing up to view free guest content on nasw.org is not the same as joining NASW. Please double-check your membership status before the day of the event.

STUDENTS: Attendance at the internship fair and editor meet & greet is limited to current students. You must pre-register. Registered participants will receive additional information about the format of the event and platform access instructions via email. A reminder that you must log into the fair at or before 1 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Feb. 11, to be eligible to participate.

Please come prepared: Do some background reading on the publications with which you wish to meet and look at their social media feeds, think about how you will encapsulate your goals and experience, think ahead about questions you want to ask, and dress professionally, as you would for a job interview. Keep in mind that the fair is intended to be an opportunity for NASW student members to learn about various organizations’ offerings and introduce themselves to editors to make a quick first impression. You will have just five minutes with each editor.

Editors may identify prospective interns at the fair, but internships are generally not offered on the spot. Because of time constraints, you might not be able to meet with all editors.

EDITORS: If your organization has a paid internship for which you are seeking excellent candidates, or if you don't have an internship but would like to meet with students, please contact fair coordinator Berly McCoy at kimberly.mccoy@westernalum.org to reserve your place. On the day of the event, please log in 10-15 minutes before the scheduled start time, so any technical issues can be sorted out before the event. Come prepared to describe available opportunities within your organization, and remuneration. Consider having two people work the fair so they can allow each other to take a break, while still accommodating all the students seeking internships or wishing to speak with editors. NASW volunteers will be on hand to help editors and students as much as possible. Editors do not need to be NASW members.

See you in February!


Questions? Contact NASW Education Committee Co-Chairs Czerne Reid and Ashley Yeager and Internship Fair Coordinator Berly McCoy at education@nasw.org. Thank you to Czerne, Ashley, Berly, and other NASW member volunteers who spearhead our student programming year after year. And tag #SciWriStudent in your social media posts to join the conversation.


NASW student programming is organized by the National Association of Science Writers, and is not a program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. However, NASW extends its thanks to AAAS for its partnership over the years for providing meeting spaces during past Annual Meetings for NASW student programming. For more information, share our announcement: https://www.nasw.org/article/nasw-science-writers-annual-journalism-internship-fair-and-mentoring-opportunities-student-early-career-members

Founded in 1934 with a mission to fight for the free flow of science news, NASW is an organization of more than 3,000 professional journalists, authors, editors, producers, public information officers, students and people who write and produce material intended to inform the public about science, health, engineering, and technology. To learn more, visit www.nasw.org