Each year a limited number of summer vacation studentships are available to fund undergraduate students who have just completed their third level courses to undertake research projects of between 4 and 8 weeks in length within the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition.
These are paid projects that offer students the chance to contribute to some original research and experimental work, allowing students to gain valuable experience that would enhance any CV.
The level of the stipend varies depending on the length of the project.
HotStart (Internally Funded) Placements
Medical students interested in the HotStart Programme should contact Professor Phyo Myint or visit http://www.abdn.ac.uk/smmsn/acat/undergraduate/hotstart.php
If you are interested in undertaking such a project you should conduct a search of the Institute of Medical Sciences web pages to identify members of staff / research groups with whom you would be interested in working. Please note, if you have already secured a year-long placement as part of your degree you will not be eligible to apply for a HotStart placement.
You should then approach the member of staff, usually by email in the first instance, and intimate your interest in undertaking a project in their lab. If the member of staff is available for summer projects you may be asked to meet with them to find out more about the project.
This will be your chance to impress them as you may not be the only student enquiring about work in their lab – treat it as an informal job interview and do some homework on their work before you go along.
Once you have identified a member of staff who is willing (provisionally) to offer you a placement in their lab you should submit your CV (listing your courses and grades to date in the university and any practical lab experience you have) along with a covering letter. The covering letter should state why you are interested in undertaking this particular summer project, what the project entails, why you are well suited to the project, the name of the person you would like to work with and the length of the project. Applications should be submitted by email to Dr Jenny Gregory (j.gregory@abdn.ac.uk).
Students should note, it is not allowable to hold two summer project stipends, so if you obtain external funding for your summer project (see below) you must let us know as soon as possible, so we can make the opportunity available to others.
Please be aware that each year we only have funding for a small number of projects. HotStart funding is available only because of the generosity of private donations and each year the number of projects which can be funded will change. Occasionally the funding is donated with a specific scientific research area in mind so it would be helpful if you could state on your covering letter which research area you are interested in.
The student stipend for HotStart projects is for a maximum of 8 weeks, which will be paid monthly. If agreed between the student and the supervisor, projects may continue for 10 weeks but no additional monies will be paid. HotStart funded students will be expected to present their work to other students and their supervisors, in the form of a poster at the end of the summer.
The deadline for applications for HotStart Internal Funding is Friday16th March. No applications will be considered after this date.
Externally Funded Placements
A number of external funding bodies offer grants for summer vacation studentships. Your potential supervisor will need to apply for any such grant and students should not approach funding bodies directly.
In these cases your supervisor will be competing with applications from other universities and award of funding cannot be guaranteed. You should therefore remember that even if you are successfully matched up with a supervisor you may not be certain that you will undertake a project until funding has been secured and this may not be known for several months into the New Year, depending on application deadlines. In the past however University of Aberdeen has had a high success rate in such applications and many students have been awarded the funds to allow them to carry out their project so do not be put off applying!
Please note the deadlines for applications for external funding vary so you are advised to contact potential supervisors early in the academic year in order to plan your application for the following summer and submit it in time.
Schemes that accept applications from students:
British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB)
Deadline end March
The Gurdon Studentship scheme provides financial support to students in their penultimate year to undertake summer vacation research. We look for students with a strong academic record and clear career vision, who have taken the initiative to establish contacts with a research laboratory where they can perform projects in the area of Developmental Biology. We expect this experience to enrich and complement their portfolio of expertise and to inspire them to pursue a career in research.
Applications are made by the students with the support of their proposed supervisor. Supervisor must be a member of BSDB.
http://bsdb.org/awards/gurdon-studentships-for-summer-vacation-work/
Society for Endocrinology
Deadline early March
A stipend is offered for a period of study of up to ten weeks, together with a sum for the host department consumables. The student will normally be an undergraduate following a course in endocrinology or a related life science subject. Students will normally take up the award during the summer. The applicant’s supervisor must me a member of the society.
http://www.endocrinology.org/grants/grant_summerstudentships.html
Interconnect - Paid Work Placements
Closing date for applications 31 March 2014
Summer Placements paying approximately £1000 per month in a variety of Scottish companies during summer 2014.
These are available for FEMALE undergraduates studying any of the science subjects.
- www.interconnect.org.uk/paid-workplacements/
Santander Internships
The University of Aberdeen is working with SMEs to help our current students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and graduates (within the last 2 years) gain valuable, paid workplace experience and skills through full-time summer internships.
Information about the internships on offer each year can be found on our Careers website.
Summer Research Opportunities in Other Institutes
There are also a number of summer research opportunities in other institutes and some of those are detailed below. Please note this list is in no way exhaustive but should give you an idea of where to start searching for opportunities. If you are applying for a traineeship/internship in an Erasmus country you may be entitled to apply for an Erasmus traineeship grant to cover some of your expenses. Please contact Dr Allison Carrington for details.
Please note that deadlines and conditions will vary and students should look at the appropriate web sites for further details.
United Kingdom
Babraham Institute, Cambridge
Babraham Summer Research Bursary
http://www.babraham.ac.uk/
Diamond Light Source, Oxfordshire
8 to 12 week, paid summer placements
www.diamond.ac.uk/Careers/Students/Summer-Placement.html
Francis Crick Institute
The Summer Studentship scheme is aimed at undergraduates who are considering a future in biomedical research. These short placements give students hands-on experience and a true feel of what it’s like to work in a lab.
http://www.crick.ac.uk/about-us/jobs-and-study/summer-students/
The Institute of Cancer Research, London
Offer a limited number of paid, undergraduate, summer scholarships
http://www.icr.ac.uk/studying-at-the-icr/phds-for-science-graduates/undergraduate-vacation-scholarship-scheme
John Innes Centre, UK
Undergraduate Summer Research Training Programme
http://opportunities.jic.ac.uk/summerprogramme/
Saltire Foundation, UK
Saltire Foundation Undergraduate Program
http://www.saltirefoundation.com/
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK
Sangar Trust Student Placements and Work Experience
http://www.sanger.ac.uk/workstudy/placements/
Mainland Europe
Traineeships in Erasmus Partner Countries
Funding is available for students to work for a minimum of 2 months in an Erasmus Partner county, in an area relevant to their degree subject via the Erasmus+ Programme. More information is available from Dr Allison Carrington (a.carrington@abdn.ac.uk)
Institute of Science and Technology, Austria
Internship for Undergraduate and Master Students
https://ist.ac.at/en/education/internships/
Vienna BioCenter Summer School, Austria
https://www.training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/
DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
DKFZ Summer Internship in Cancer Research (For students studying towards a Masters degree)
https://www.dkfz.de/en/jobs-karriere/praktika.html
Hannover Biomedical Research School, Germany
Summer Academy – Lower Saxony International Summer academy (LISA) in Immunology (For Undergraduates and Master Students)
http://www.mh-hannover.de/lisa-kontakt.html
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Research Internships in Science and Engineering
https://www.daad.de/rise/en/rise-germany/about-the-program/
Institute of Molecular Biology, Mainz, Germany
6 week International Summer School (ISS) for undergraduate, masters and PhD students who want to gain further experience of epigenetics research.
https://www.imb-mainz.de/students/international-summer-school/
Ludwig Maximilians Uneversitat, Munich, Germany
LSM Summer Research Program
http://www.lsm.bio.lmu.de/summer_school/
Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), Madrid, Spain
Laboratory Training Programme
https://www.cnio.es/ing/cursos/practicasverano.asp
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona, Spain
CRG Summer Internship Program for Undergraduate Students
http://www.crg.eu/en/content/training-undergraduates/crg-summer-internship-programme
Amgen Scholars at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany; Cambridge, UK and Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Summer Research Program for Undergraduate Students, Lausanne Switzerland
http://sv.epfl.ch/summer-research
Zurich University, Switzerland
Zurich Biology Undergraduate Summer School (BUSS)
https://www.uzh.ch/zoolmed/BUSS/stud/
Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
Summer Undergraduate Program (SUR)
http://www.unil.ch/ecoledebiologie/page79946.html
UK & USA
SENS Research Foundation Summer Scholars Program
http://www.sens.org/education/research-opportunities/srf-summer-scholars-program
USA
Rockefeller University
Sumer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program (SURF)
http://www.rockefeller.edu/surf/
Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Cold Spring Harbor Lab's Undergraduate Research Program (URP)
http://www.cshl.edu/education/urp
The Harvard Stem Cell Institute, USA
The Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Internship Program (HIP)
http://hsci.harvard.edu/research/hsci-internship-program-hip
Iowa Institute of Human Genetics
8 week Genetic Counselling Summer Internship for students interested in a career in genetic counselling
http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/Genetic_Counseling_Internship/
Janelia Farm Research Campus, Washington DC
Janelia Undergraduate Scholars
http://www.janelia.org/student-programs/undergraduate-program
The Journal of Young Investigators – The Undergraduate Research Journal
This group offers a number of opportunities for undergraduates and also advertises a number of summer internships in the US, some of which are open to non-US citizens.
http://www.jyi.org/
REST OF WORLD
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Summer Research Internship (SRI) Programme
http://global.ntu.edu.sg/
Different institutes in Taiwan
International Internship Program (TIGP-IIP) for Final Year Undergraduate or Master Students
https://db1x.sinica.edu.tw/tigpSummer/index.php
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
Short term research placements
https://groups.oist.jp/grad/research-interns
University of Queensland
Winter Research Programme (4 to 6 weeks in June / July)
http://www.uq.edu.au/uqadvantage/winter-research
Weizmann Institure of Science, Israel
The Kupcinet-Getz Program in Israel
http://www.weizmann.ac.il/feinberg/admissions/kupcinet-getz-international-summer-school/about-program-0
Summer Research Opportunities in UK Companies
Students should look at the application procedure and deadlines on individual websites.
AstraZeneca
Offers 10 week summer placements in Alderley Park and Macclesfield.
http://www.astrazenecacareers.com/
Bristol-Myers Squibb
10 to 12 week placements in the summer.
http://www.bms.com/
Covance
You will perform degree-related work that is challenging and valuable to both you and Covance
http://careers.covance.com/
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)
Dstl offers a broad range of university students the opportunity to participate in their industrial internship schemes, and offers a number of holiday placements, mainly in the summer.
http://www.dstl.gov.uk/careers/
GlaxoSmithKline Summer Placements
Summer placements typically last 8 to 12 weeks, GSK are interested in students who can add value to the company through their skills and experience and who, after graduation, may be able to fill some full-time roles (subject to success at selection events).
http://uk.gsk.com/en-gb/careers/undergraduate-summer-internships/
Mars
12 weeks over the summer
http://www.mars.com/uk/en/careers/your-mars/uk-graduates/placements.aspx
P&G
Main internship normally runs for 10-12 weeks in the summer break. All European Research Centers (3 in the UK, 3 in Germany, 1 in Belgium and 1 in Italy) participate.
http://uki.experiencepg.com/home/home.html
Toshiba Medical
3-month paid internships between June and September are typically available in Radiography/ Anatomy, Software Engineering, Medical Image Computing and Machine Learning.
http://www.tmvse.com/recruitment/internships/
Unilever
Offers 12 week summer vacation training programme.
http://www.unilever.co.uk/