Internship - Computational Drug Discovery

About the Department                                                                                                                                               

Our Boston Research & Development hub, anchored in the greater Boston area, brings together the best minds in life science innovation. The teams located in facilities in Lexington, Watertown and Cambridge reflect the full R&D continuum, from early research through late-stage clinical development. Here, we are building for the future, creating a distinct R&D community based on collaboration, partnerships, and cutting-edge research across multiple modalities and therapeutic areas. We recognize that improving human health starts here and that patients rely on us. Our greater Boston R&D hub merges biotech speed and agility with large pharmaceutical company quality, resources, and stability, uniting the best of both worlds to develop new medicines for patients. 
 
The team is comprised of collaborative, diverse and passionate people who have a true sense of pride in their work and are committed to helping others grow and develop their careers. You’ll also have a platform to engage with key stakeholders on a global scale throughout the entire pipeline process. And while changing the future of diabetes, obesity and MASH treatment is no easy task, we also recognize the importance of an enjoyable workplace, which is why we’ve cultivated a culture of fun, ingenuity and innovation. And our competitive compensation package and support of a healthy work-life balance all add to a best-in-class employee experience. We are changing lives for a living. Are you ready to make a difference? 

The Program

At Novo Nordisk, interns will have the opportunity to work closely with experienced industry professionals and gain valuable, hands-on, full-time work experience. For ten working weeks, interns will be immersed in the environment of a global pharmaceutical company and contribute to the line of business by providing sustainable and meaningful project work. Our internship program also includes instructor led trainings, a leadership engagement series, and a guided mentorship program to offer professional and personal development.

Program Start: June 2nd, 2025

Program End: August 15th, 2025

Scope of Position

The focus of this internship is to improve the prediction of properties important for drug discovery, specifically binding affinity, physicochemical properties, and ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion) properties. The role involves applying advanced computational methods to property prediction, aiming to extrapolate to out-of-support (OOS) property values, which fall outside the known distribution.

The Computation Drug Discovery intern will work on learning from known structure-activity relationships (SAR) exposed at a different property range in the training set. This approach aims to achieve more accurate predictions and enhance the identification of materials and molecules with property values beyond the known distribution. Responsibilities include data preprocessing, model design, training, and evaluation of results in the context of tasks relevant for drug discovery.

This internship provides practical experience in applying machine learning methods to real-world challenges in drug discovery, with a focus on extrapolating to OOS property values.

Physical Requirements

0% overnight travel required.

Qualifications

• Must be a current student enrolled at an accredited college or university pursuing at least a bachelor’s degree
• An in progress doctoral degree in Machine Learning, Deep Learning, or a related discipline preferred
• Strong academic record with a preferred cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Conscientious self-starter with good organizational skills, project management skills and attention to detail
• Ability to balance multiple projects and priorities, must be able to multi-task
• Strong interpersonal communication and ability to collaborate with teams; must effectively operate independently, across functional lines, and with internal customers
• Demonstrated personal initiative, self-motivation, flexibility, adaptability and willingness to learn
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Tools including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in. Together, we’re life changing.

Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.

If you are interested in applying to Novo Nordisk and need special assistance or an accommodation to apply, please call us at 1-855-411-5290. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.