Marine Mammals Graduate Internship
| Posting date: | 22 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £12.60 per hour |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 16 January 2026 |
| Location: | Oban, Argyll & Bute |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 2 days per week |
| Company: | Scottish Association for Marine Science |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: | D18/25.DR |
Summary
- Location: SAMS, Oban
- Contract Type: Fixed Term – 8 weeks
- Working Pattern: Full Time – 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday
- Rate of pay: £12.60 per hour
- Closing date: 16th January 2026
The Role:
This 8-week funded internship is to support Graduate or early-career opportunities. You will be involved in the annotation of minke whale pulse trains using Raven to aid in the retraining and improvement of the current minke whale detector, and will also contribute to the application of a recently developed sound propagation model to estimate minke whale detections ranges. Additionally, you will partake in the analysis of other species call types, developing your skills in bioacoustics, as well as using statistical software such as R. This project is based entirely on existing acoustic data - no lab or fieldwork will be required.
The successful candidate would also have the opportunity to attend SAMS Marine Mammal Research Team meetings to develop an understanding of how acoustics is used in wider fields both in terms of research and industry.
This is a great opportunity for someone, post study, to apply their skills learnt in a work environment and start their career with us. SAMS provides a great learning environment for early career researchers, supported by experts in this field. Training will be provided, where required, as well as other career support where time allows.
This opportunity has been created through SAMS’ sponsorship relationship with renewable energy developer, Nadara: Nadara — Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban UK
Our Ideal Candidate:
Our ideal candidate has a keen interest in bioacoustics and has some prior experience analysing acoustic data. However, we will provide training and all candidates that are keen to learn and interested in underwater sounds and marine mammals are encouraged to apply.
Interested?
We would love to hear from you. If you have queries on the job and would like to talk these through before applying, please email these through, in the first instance, to Denise.Risch@sams.ac.uk
Applications must include CV and Cover Letter and should be sent electronically to recruitment@sams.ac.uk quoting Job Ref. ‘D18/25.DR’ in the subject heading.
Closing date for application is 16th January 2026 - Interviews to be held remotely during w/c 19th January 2026. Start date is on/around 2nd February 2026 for 8 weeks.
Please note, we are unfortunately unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position. Candidates must therefore have the right to work in the UK already when applying.
Full details can be found here:
www.sams.ac.uk/vacancies
We are a Disability Confident Employer. Where a candidate requires reasonable adjustments as part of the application process, we encourage you to let us know. Where applicants with a disability meet the essential criteria for the job, you will be given the opportunity to demonstrate your skills, talent and abilities at interview.
SAMS’ commitment to gender equality has been recognised, as our institute was presented with an Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network) Bronze Award and is currently working towards Investors in Diversity accreditation.
SAMS follows Fair Work Practices.
SAMS Group is committed to being an equal and open organisation. Diversity and inclusion are important to us, and we strive to remove any barriers that may prevent people from applying to join us. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, and from all who share our values and can help us to broaden our knowledge and range of ideas.
- Contract Type: Fixed Term – 8 weeks
- Working Pattern: Full Time – 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday
- Rate of pay: £12.60 per hour
- Closing date: 16th January 2026
The Role:
This 8-week funded internship is to support Graduate or early-career opportunities. You will be involved in the annotation of minke whale pulse trains using Raven to aid in the retraining and improvement of the current minke whale detector, and will also contribute to the application of a recently developed sound propagation model to estimate minke whale detections ranges. Additionally, you will partake in the analysis of other species call types, developing your skills in bioacoustics, as well as using statistical software such as R. This project is based entirely on existing acoustic data - no lab or fieldwork will be required.
The successful candidate would also have the opportunity to attend SAMS Marine Mammal Research Team meetings to develop an understanding of how acoustics is used in wider fields both in terms of research and industry.
This is a great opportunity for someone, post study, to apply their skills learnt in a work environment and start their career with us. SAMS provides a great learning environment for early career researchers, supported by experts in this field. Training will be provided, where required, as well as other career support where time allows.
This opportunity has been created through SAMS’ sponsorship relationship with renewable energy developer, Nadara: Nadara — Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban UK
Our Ideal Candidate:
Our ideal candidate has a keen interest in bioacoustics and has some prior experience analysing acoustic data. However, we will provide training and all candidates that are keen to learn and interested in underwater sounds and marine mammals are encouraged to apply.
Interested?
We would love to hear from you. If you have queries on the job and would like to talk these through before applying, please email these through, in the first instance, to Denise.Risch@sams.ac.uk
Applications must include CV and Cover Letter and should be sent electronically to recruitment@sams.ac.uk quoting Job Ref. ‘D18/25.DR’ in the subject heading.
Closing date for application is 16th January 2026 - Interviews to be held remotely during w/c 19th January 2026. Start date is on/around 2nd February 2026 for 8 weeks.
Please note, we are unfortunately unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position. Candidates must therefore have the right to work in the UK already when applying.
Full details can be found here:
www.sams.ac.uk/vacancies
We are a Disability Confident Employer. Where a candidate requires reasonable adjustments as part of the application process, we encourage you to let us know. Where applicants with a disability meet the essential criteria for the job, you will be given the opportunity to demonstrate your skills, talent and abilities at interview.
SAMS’ commitment to gender equality has been recognised, as our institute was presented with an Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network) Bronze Award and is currently working towards Investors in Diversity accreditation.
SAMS follows Fair Work Practices.
SAMS Group is committed to being an equal and open organisation. Diversity and inclusion are important to us, and we strive to remove any barriers that may prevent people from applying to join us. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, and from all who share our values and can help us to broaden our knowledge and range of ideas.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.