Internships for Undergraduate & Masters Students - Fall 2025

ICFO offers the opportunity to undertake a Final Degree Project / Masters Thesis or to participate in a Research Stay with one of our Research Groups.

In this call we offer the following fellowships, which cover funding for up to 12-months.

• Up to 6 x Student Research Fellowships
• Up to 3 x SPIE@ICFO María Yzuel Fellowship Awards
  An activity of the SPIE@ICFO Chair for Diversity in Photonic Sciences to attract, retain and promote talented women*.

Candidates will be considered for all fellowships for which they are eligible. 

Projects may be undertaken with any Research Group. Research lines include, but are not limited to:

• Atto-Science, Ultrafast Optics & Nonlinear Optics
• Optical Sensing & Optoelectronics
• NanoPhotonics & NanoMechanics
• Ultracold Quantum Gases
• Quantum and Low-Dimensional Materials
• Quantum Communications, Sensing & Simulation
• Quantum Optics & Quantum Information
• Nanophotonics, Condensed Matter Physics & Light-Matter Interactions

Interested students should browse the different research group profiles available on the ICFO website, https://www.icfo.eu/lang/research, to identify the groups that best match their interests.

Selected students will participate in ICFO’s rich scientific life, benefit from the experience of ICFO researchers, cutting edge facilities, industrial projects, the institute’s stimulating and interdisciplinary environment, and as receive high-level training as well as extensive admin and tech support. They will collaborate with scientists on research assignments tailored from available projects at ICFO, and will also acquire skills for communicating their research results.

In addition, internal Undergraduate and Master student opportunities might become available, for which we may retain candidates applying to this present call.

*We welcome cis and trans women

1st step: Submit your application
To apply for a fellowship, suitable candidates are requested to submit the following documents (in English):

• A presentation/motivation letter stating research group (s) of interest and specific requests in terms of period and duration of the internship and answering the question: why this fellowship will benefit your career?
• A Curriculum Vitae, including contact details, in English.
• A scanned copy of the academic transcripts for the undergraduate degree and master degree (if applicable), in English.
• Name and contact details of one potential referee who we may contact, should it be necessary.

The deadline for submission of the application material, is November 06, 2025.

It is the candidate’s responsibility to make sure all required application material (see above), is complete by the time of deadline, in order to be considered.

2nd step: Review process: ICFO Student Research Fellowships

In a first revision stage, applications will first be reviewed to assure that they meet the eligibility requirements and conditions and candidates will be notified accordingly.

Eligible applications will be evaluated and ranked by the Selection Committee.

Top-ranked candidates will then pass to a matching stage, in which h/she is invited to discuss their research interests and suitability for a potential project with ICFO Group Leader(s), as well as duration of the stay and other particular conditions. An interview, either in person or online, is a fundamental part of the procedure.

If the candidate and ICFO Group Leader(s) agree to a match, the candidate will receive an official fellowship offer from ICFO.

All applicants will be notified the decision in their case by the end of December 2025, at the latest.

2nd step: Review process: SPIE@ICFO María Yzuel Fellowship Awards

In a first revision stage, applications will first be reviewed to assure that they meet the eligibility requirements and conditions and candidates will be notified accordingly by mid-November 2025, at the latest.

In the second step of the selection procedure, shortlisted candidates will receive invitations for videoconference interviews with the selection committee and ICFO Group Leaders, planned to take place by the end of November 2025.

Top ranked-candidates following the selection committee interviews will receive an official fellowship offer from ICFO, provided that the candidate and ICFO Group Leader(s) agree to a match.

Fellowship offers will be made to the successful candidates shortly after the interviews, by the end of December 2025, at the latest.

At all stages of the process, candidates may contact ICFO Human Resources and Education via jobs@icfo.eu.