The ACCESS-NRI Internship program: bridging research and industry

The ACCESS-NRI Internship program: bridging research and industry

In 2024, ACCESS-NRI launched the trial phase of the PhD Internship Program, an initiative designed to provide PhD students with an immersive experience in the world of Australia’s climate simulator, ACCESS-NRI. This program is crafted for students passionate about understanding the intricacies of climate models and interested in developing critical skills in scientific software development and High-Performance Computing (HPC). The program is still in its trial phase, which was open to local ANU students, but will be extended to include other Australian universities when the full program launches later this year. 

Paige Martin, team leader of the ACCESS-NRI User Training Team and coordinator of the internship program, says that “this program offers PhD students a unique opportunity to experience what it means to be a research software engineer. Interns join an ACCESS-NRI team, where they learn to develop scientific software collaboratively and work within the dynamic, hands-on environment of climate model development. Along the way, they gain deeper insight into climate models, build experience with advanced computational tools, and make meaningful contributions to Australia’s climate research landscape.”

Lindsey Oberhelmen and Paula Boubel were the first two ANU students to join ACCESS-NRI through this trial program.

Below are two windows into their journeys with us:

Paula Boubel:

Lindsey Oberhelmen’s Internship Journey: from simulating the Universe to simulating our planet

Paula Boubel’s internship journey at ACCESS-NRI: Galaxies to GutHub