Extra opportunities for undergraduate research this summer

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

If you missed your chance to offer undergraduates a summer research project through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP), there is now another opportunity to do so with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Vacation Bursary scheme.

These bursaries are to enable undergraduate students to complete a 10 week research project, under the supervision of an academic member of staff, to gain first-hand experience of research in a UK university in order to help them consider a research career. Projects must take place over the summer vacation 2013 and provide a bursary of £220 per week to the student, together with £300 to cover research consumables.

The University has made funding available from the recently announced 2013 EPSRC Doctoral Training Grant to support seven projects this summer.

Projects should fall within the EPSRC discipline areas of Materials, Mechanical and Medical Engineering, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Process, Environment and Sustainability, and the principal supervisor should belong to an ‘internationally leading' research group known to the EPSRC.

The deadline for completed applications is 5pm on Wednesday 22 May. Funding decisions will be communicated within a week of this deadline to give enough time to find suitable students.

Those students who undertake EPSRC Vacation projects will be integrated with the university's UROP student community and invited to take part in an Autumn Term poster event.

If you have any questions or want to talk through any project ideas, please contact John Thompson in the Careers, Placement and Experience Centre:  j.a.thompson@reading.ac.uk