Crystallization Intern

About Varda

Low Earth orbit is open for business. Varda is developing commercial space infrastructure, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules. Varda's W-Series vehicles are designed, built, and operated in-house, including the pharmaceutical processing payloads, the capsules, the C-PICA heat shields, and the satellite buses.

Products that can only be manufactured in space already help people on Earth, from life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics. Varda is building both the products and the infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. The mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind.

The team includes veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov. The company is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL, and a production facility where its vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested.

About This Role

Summer internships run from May to August, with exact dates depending on the selected students' university schedules. Interns work full-time on-site in Los Angeles, CA, and must be actively enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree program.

As part of the pharma team, interns work hands-on with the team to support experimental screening and analysis of small molecule or biologic crystallization. The role sits at the intersection of pharmaceutical chemistry, materials science, and experimental process design.

This internship suits motivated students with prior research or lab experience in crystallization. The environment is fast-paced and rigorous, and it values precision, scientific curiosity, and teamwork. Interns work on a collaborative startup team and learn from experienced aerospace professionals, and their decisions and contributions can help drive Varda's success.

Responsibilities

• Purify proteins and protein complexes
• Run purity and charge variant analysis using SDS-PAGE and capillary isoelectric focusing (cIEF)
• Assess protein integrity before and after freeze-drying stress
• Perform biophysical characterization of protein candidates with orthogonal analytical techniques to assess structure, stability, and interaction behavior
• Screen protein and protein complexes for crystallization
• Scale up crystallization processes
• Report findings clearly to the broader R&D team
• Help optimize crystallization conditions through iterative testing