ThinkNeuro, LLCReviews of thinkneuro.org

Hello, at the time of writing this review I am a second time intern. I also became an associate (team-lead) this cycle. I would say ThinkNeuro is a greatway to introduce students to research, the abstract writing process, and general teamwork skills. However, I would say that a drawback is that a lot of the work is student run. Depending on your perspective this could either be a positive and negative experience. On one hand, as an associate I had the power to decide what to do, how to assign my interns the work, and general workflow. But on the latter, I had to come up with how I was going to assign my interns the work by myself. I had to create the documents, templates, instructions, etc. Which could be very time consuming. Overall, the thinkNeuro experience is largely independent and can be super rewarding, however, it is a lot of work.

I’m honestly a bit disappointed with this program, as I expected to get more out of it. Starting with the positives, the R Programming portion was excellent. Although it was challenging for me as a first-time learner, there was consistent support available through office hours and the questions channel. I gained valuable skills in R that I’m confident will help me in future projects. However, the research portion of the internship felt very disorganized. We only had one meeting throughout the entire program, and communication was minimal. Instructions on what we were supposed to do often came late, sometimes only by the middle of the week, even though assignments were due at the end of the week. The website states that interns will complete the program with a graduate-level research abstract, but while we learned how to create one, we were not actively involved in producing the abstract for our group. The only reason I am not giving a lower rating is because I had a week without internet access, which limited my ability to contribute to making data figures before the deadline. That was entirely my fault. I have seen others speak highly of this program and say they learned a lot, so I am especially disappointed that despite my engagement and effort, I did not gain as much as I hoped, especially given that this is a paid program.

I was part of the 2025 Bibliometrics Cohort, and participating in this internship has been a valuable experience overall. I was able to develop foundational R-Programming skills—especially in data handling - that I'm sure will prove to be useful as I continue with research. The exposure to research structures and academic expectations also gave me a good idea of how larger collaborative projects are typically run, further preparing me for future research positions. However, I feel it’s important to note that the quality of the research experience itself can vary significantly depending on your assigned research team. My team chose to explore the epigenetic factors that lead to the exacerbation of Huntington's Disease pathogenesis, and we struggled significantly due to a lack of experienced leadership and proper time management. I felt that my associates had limited experience in managing a research team - this was expected, as this internship is designed to be an introduction to research - but I think with more consistent support and clearer guidance, we would have been able to stay on track with our research goals. We missed opportunities for deeper exploration and collaboration, which I deeply regret. That said, I do believe the internship has potential to offer a beneficial introduction to research if efforts were to be allocated to developing more structure, or to associate training. I would be willing to give this experience another try should the above changes be implemented.

I was an associate for the 2025 summer internship cohort, and while I enjoyed my time, I found the internship to be poorly planned. Weekly assignments sent to associates were often provided later than desired, which made it challenging for interns to plan effectively. Important documents, such as the syllabus, associate duties, and dates, also appeared to be prepared last-minute instead of at the beginning like most internship would provide. My project manager's lack of communication and limited presence during the internship further contributed to the lack of structure. While I appreciated the freedom to lead my team, the overall organization was not as thorough as I had hoped. Additionally, while I understand that this is an introductory research experience, the leniency with late assignments and intern inactivity didn't encourage accountability. By planning documents and dates ahead of time instead of working on them each week, associates could receive assignments at the beginning of their position, allowing for better preparation and time management. Going forward, it would be helpful if all documents and schedules were planned and written before the start of the internship, and if there were clearer expectations for intern deadlines to help build a more structured and accountable experience. That being said, I did enjoy leading my team and it was a pleasure to help them through this research experience. While there are some changes that should be taken into consideration, I would recommend this program for anyone looking to fill their summer with doing something meaningful and students who are interested in dipping their toes into research.

As an intern for Think Neuro for more than half a year now, I have enjoyed getting to work with so many different people. Some projects are quite well managed and the associates have a great work ethic. At the same time, some groups are outright unorganized. For example, the most recent summer internship lacked clear communication altogether. While there is room to improve, such as that area, Think Neuro is a good opportunity, mostly for freshmen in high school.

Think Neuro was a great experience as a highschooler. Though I may have not had the same tools or access compared to undergraduates, Think Neuro made it possible so that I was still involved in every way possible. Think Neuro made me feel welcomed and included. However, there were many many difficulties when forming research groups due to the high number of interns. I found this extremely unprofessional because I had done every aspect of my application correct, but was not added to a research group until the end. Overall, Think Neuro was a great experience, and I would definitely recommend this to many others!!