2027 Future Talent Program - Discovery Oncology - Co-op (South San Francisco, CA)

About the role

The Future Talent Program features Cooperative (Co-op) education that lasts up to 6 months and will include one or more projects. These opportunities in our Research and Development Division can provide you with great development and a chance to see if we are the right company for your long-term goals.

Our Company's Discovery Oncology team is seeking a highly motivated and technically skilled student majoring in the biological or pharmaceutical sciences for a co-op opportunity. The applicant should have a strong interest in cancer research and learning about oncology drug discovery. Successful candidates will be able to work independently and will be expected to proactively collaborate with colleagues.

The co-op will work with a scientific mentor to develop and carry out biochemical, and/or cell-based assays to characterize new therapeutics targets and potential therapeutic molecules. Techniques used will include cancer cell line culture, proliferation assays, genomic perturbation techniques and flow cytometry.

Responsibilities of the oncology discovery intern may include

• Design, execution, interpretation, and reporting of in vitro experiments.
• Assist in developing, executing, and troubleshooting new cell based assays.
• Communicate data clearly and concisely to teams and stakeholders.
• Monitor, review, and critically interpret published work to guide your own research.
• Collaborate with members from other functional areas, including medicinal chemistry, in vivo and in vitro pharmacology and genetics.

Required Education and Skills

• Candidates must be currently enrolled in a minimum of a BS/BA degree in biological sciences or a related discipline.
• Candidates must be available to work full-time for up to (6) consecutive months beginning in early to mid-2027.
• Candidates must be enrolled in a co-op program through their college or university
• Candidates must have a strong desire to develop knowledge of oncology drug discovery.
• Candidates must have experience with basic lab procedures: pipetting, solution preparation, plate assays.
• Candidates must have experience with basic mammalian cell culture.
• Candidates must have demonstrated ability to perform accurate data analysis.
• Demonstrated experience in bioinformatics data analysis and extraction, integration, and interpretation of data from biological databases

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Biomedical Sciences, with experience combining wet-lab and computational approaches to solve biological research questions.
• Candidates should have excellent oral and written communication skills, including preparation of lab reports and presentations.
• Candidates should have strong attention to detail.
• Candidates should have prior research experience.

Additional information

Please note that this position may be closed before the posted end date or may remain open longer, at the discretion of the company.

Salary range

The salary range for this role is $39,108 through $111,111.

FTP2027

RL2027

Preferred Skills

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• Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

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Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company.

• No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place.
• Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific.
• Please, no phone calls or emails.

• Employee Status: Intern/Co-op (Fixed Term)
• Relocation: No relocation
• VISA Sponsorship: No

Travel Requirements

• No Travel Required
• Flexible Work Arrangements: Not Applicable
• Shift: 1st - Day
• Valid Driving License: No
• Hazardous Material(s): Yes
• Job Posting End Date: 11/20/2026

Additional information

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.