Scientific Research Community Manager

IMPORTANT — PLEASE READ BEFORE APPLYING

This is a fully unpaid internship. BioDrishti is a pre-revenue early-stage startup. There is no stipend, no honorarium, and no payment of any kind involved in this role. If you are looking for a paid opportunity, this role is not the right fit for you at this time. Please do not apply if compensation is a requirement. We are fully transparent about this upfront and appreciate your understanding.

BioDrishti is a research mentorship platform for life sciences students across India, built by active scientists to help students validate ideas, design better studies, and publish their first paper.

We are looking for a driven Scientific Research Community Manager Intern to help us build institutional partnerships with universities, autonomous colleges, and research departments across India. This is a founding-stage opportunity. The pipeline you build will directly shape BioDrishti's growth.

ROLE: Scientific Research Community Manager Intern

Location: Fully Remote

Duration: 3 Months (Extendable based on performance)

Time Commitment: 8 to 10 hours per week (Part-time, flexible)

Stipend: Unpaid

ELIGIBILITY — WHO CAN APPLY

Academic Background:

• A Master's degree (MSc, MTech Biotech, MBA with science undergraduate, or equivalent) is strongly preferred. Final year Master's students actively pursuing their degree are eligible to apply.
• Candidates currently enrolled in or recently graduated from a Bachelor's program in Life Sciences with demonstrable communication experience may also be considered.

Communication Skills:

• Exceptional written English is non-negotiable. You will be writing emails that represent BioDrishti to Heads of Departments, Deans of Research, and senior academics across India. Poor grammar, informal language, or unclear writing will disqualify your application immediately.
• You must be comfortable writing professional, formal emails from scratch without relying on templates for every situation.
• Strong reading comprehension — you will be researching institutions, reading NAAC reports, faculty pages, and department websites and extracting relevant information accurately.

Technical Skills:

• Proficiency in Google Sheets is required. You will be maintaining and updating structured databases and CRM trackers daily.
• Comfort with Gmail, LinkedIn, and basic internet research is expected.
• Prior experience with any CRM tool (even a basic one) is a bonus but not required.

Personal Attributes:

• Self-directed and able to work independently without daily supervision. You will receive clear briefs but will be expected to execute without hand-holding.
• Resilient and persistent. Cold outreach involves a high rate of non-response. You must be someone who follows up professionally and does not get discouraged.
• Detail-oriented to the point of precision. A wrong name, a wrong designation, or a wrong email in an outreach database wastes everyone's time and damages credibility.
• Reliable and consistent. You must be able to commit 8 to 10 hours per week for the full 2 month duration without dropping off mid-internship.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES — IN DETAIL

Database Research and Building:

• Identify and compile a structured list of target institutions across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and other states as directed, focusing specifically on colleges and universities with active life sciences, biotechnology, biomedical engineering, and related departments.
• For each institution, research and record the following: institution name, type (private deemed, state university, autonomous college), city, NAAC accreditation grade, NIRF ranking if available, relevant department name, Head of Department name and designation, Dean of Research name and designation, Research Coordinator name and designation where applicable, official department email, and any publicly available direct contact email for the relevant faculty.
• Verify all information before entering it into the database. Do not enter unverified or assumed data. If information is not publicly available, note it as such rather than guessing.
• Continuously expand and update the database as new states and institutions are added to the outreach scope.
• Research each institution's research activity — number of funded projects, publications, patents, and ongoing research programs — to assess outreach priority and inform the pitch angle.

Outreach Execution:

• Draft and send personalised outreach emails to HODs, Deans of Research, and Research Coordinators on behalf of BioDrishti using email templates and guidelines provided by the founding team.
• Personalise each email based on the specific institution — reference their department, research programs, or recent activity where relevant. Generic copy-paste emails are not acceptable.
• Send outreach in structured batches as directed, maintaining a consistent weekly volume.
• Manage a professional follow-up sequence for each contact — first follow-up at 5 to 7 days, second follow-up at 10 to 14 days, and final follow-up at 21 days. All follow-ups must be polite, brief, and add a small amount of new value rather than simply repeating the original email.

CRM and Tracker Management:

• Maintain a live CRM-style Google Sheets tracker covering every institution contacted. Each entry must include: institution name, contact person, designation, email used, date of first outreach, follow-up dates, response status, response summary, and recommended next step.
• Update the tracker within 24 hours of every email sent or response received. An outdated tracker is an unusable tracker.
• Flag warm responses immediately to the founding team so discovery calls can be scheduled without delay.
• Generate a short weekly progress note every Friday summarising: number of new contacts added, number of emails sent, number of follow-ups sent, number of responses received (positive, negative, neutral), and any notable observations or patterns.

Discovery Call Coordination:

• Once a positive response is received from an institution, coordinate scheduling of a 20 to 30 minute discovery call between the institutional contact and the BioDrishti founding team.
• Send calendar invites or scheduling links, confirm the call, and send a reminder 24 hours before. Ensure the founding team has all relevant context about the institution and contact person before the call.

Research and Intelligence:

• Stay updated on developments in Indian higher education, NAAC accreditation cycles, new research funding announcements from DBT, DST, ICMR, and SERB, and any policy changes affecting college research programs. Flag anything relevant to the founding team.
• Identify new channels, communities, or networks where BioDrishti can reach research coordinators and faculty — LinkedIn groups, ResearchGate communities, academic WhatsApp groups, and similar.

WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE

• Official BioDrishti Internship Certificate, signed and dated, specifying your role and duration.
• A dedicated LinkedIn post on the BioDrishti page publicly crediting your name and contribution, visible to our network of scientists, researchers, professors, and institutions across India.
• A LinkedIn recommendation from the BioDrishti founding team, written specifically for your role and contributions, usable for PhD applications, job applications, or further internships.
• Direct exposure to how an early-stage science-focused startup builds its institutional pipeline from zero — a practical skill most people never get to learn.
• Priority consideration for a paid Business Development role as BioDrishti moves into its revenue phase.

WHAT A TYPICAL WEEK LOOKS LIKE

• 3 to 4 hours: Researching institutions and adding verified contacts to the outreach database
• 2 to 3 hours: Drafting and sending personalised outreach emails
• 1 to 2 hours: Following up on previous outreach cycles
• 1 hour: Updating the CRM tracker and submitting the weekly progress note.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply via LinkedIn Easy Apply or Email [email protected] with the subject line: Scientific Research Community Manager Intern Application

Include the following:

• Your updated resume in PDF format
• Your full name, current course, year of study, and institution name
• One short paragraph explaining why BioDrishti's mission interests you and why you are the right person for this role

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. We are looking to onboard within the next 7 days. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.