Internships & Research

There is no better way to learn chemistry than to do chemistry — and Coe offers many ways to really “do” chemistry.

One of the advantages of being at a school like Coe is the opportunity to do research with one of your professors. This can take place during the academic year — as an independent study — or during the summer. Keep in mind that summer positions at Coe include pay, free housing and option for a course credit. While Coe's Research Experience for Undergraduate site funds students from across the nation to come and do research at Coe, it also is open to Coe students.

Off-Campus Opportunities

Downtown Cedar Rapids at night

Coe's location in Cedar Rapids allows students the opportunity to explore careers that use chemistry in industry. Coe chemistry students have held internships or part-time jobs at these local businesses:

Cargill — an international provider of food and agricultural products and services with 124,000 employees in 59 countries.
Rockwell-Collins — one of the largest manufacturers of avionics equipment in the world.
ADM — one of the world’s largest processors of corn, soybeans and wheat.

Students interested in health-related careers can take advantage of the proximity of Cedar Rapids’ two hospitals, Mercy and St. Luke's, as well as literally dozens of medical offices within a 10-block radius of campus. A May Term course, Internships in Health and Science, offers additional opportunities for students to explore career opportunities.

There also are a number of possibilities for students to do research off campus. The Oak Ridge Science Semester offers the opportunity to carry out research at a national laboratory during the fall term of the junior or senior year. While Coe has its own Research Experience for Undergraduate site to which Coe students may apply, there also are many other sites at research universities across the nation. You can search the sites for areas of interest and begin applying midway through the fall term.