Internship Stage: Developing a Bacterial Production Process

Internship stage: Developing a bacterial production process Are you a third- or fourth-year University of Applied Sciences (HBO) student with an interest in microbiology and bioprocessing? Winclove Probiotics is offering an exciting internship opportunity within the R&D department in Amsterdam-North, starting in September 2026. Your role Winclove Probiotics develops and manufactures high quality probiotic food supplements in powder form. To develop the most effective probiotics, we continuously invest in research on bacterial cultivation and fermentation. During this internship, you will develop a production process for a bacterial strain. You will formulate growth media, determine optimal growth conditions, and evaluate different downstream processing (DSP) steps. You will then scale up the process from laboratory scale (250 mL) to up to 400 L in Winclove's fermentation facility. You will work with techniques such as bacterial cultivation, enumeration, microscopy, fermentation, centrifugation, and freeze drying. Starting with experiments in tubes, bottles, and shake flasks, you will investigate which medium compositions and process conditions result in the highest biomass yields. You will then translate these findings to 2 L laboratory bioreactors and ultimately to the fermentation plant. An important part of the project is monitoring bacterial growth and survival throughout the process. To do this, you will use a range of analytical techniques, including optical density (OD) measurements, CFU counts, the BactoBox, and flow cytometry. What do we ask of you? • An enthusiastic third- or fourth-year HBO student in Biology and Medical Laboratory Research, Life Sciences, Biotechnology, or a related field. • Experience with microbiological laboratory techniques. • An interest in biotechnology and bioprocessing. • Proficiency in both Dutch and English. • You are currently living in the Netherlands. • Availability for an internship period of 6-9 months. What do we offer you At Winclove Probiotics, you can make a difference. Our mission is to be the best company for the world. The colleagues you will work with on this assignment trust one another and take pride in what they do. That is what makes us a Great Place to Work. We initiate and support many social projects in Amsterdam-North. We are also B Corp certified, meaning that we are committed to protecting our planet as much as possible, promoting greater inclusion, and contributing to a sustainable economy. In addition, we offer: • A varied role within an open and socially engaged organisation, with short communication lines and an informal working atmosphere. • An internship allowance of €500 per month. • Reimbursement of commuting expenses: 100% public transport reimbursement, or travel by private transport up to a maximum of 45 kilometres one way. Interested? Do you recognise yourself in the profile above and are you enthusiastic about doing an internship at Winclove? Please send your CV and motivation letter to Chrissy Veldhuizen ( ).