Undergraduate summer placements
Applications for 2024 are now closed.
Each year, we offer undergraduate students from universities across the UK and Ireland the opportunity to undertake a paid Biomedical Vacation Scholarship during the summer holidays, funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Placement projects
A list of projects available for summer 2024 can be found in the following PDF: Wellcome project list (summer 2024)
About the placements
Placements will last for six weeks and a salary will be provided at the living wage rate.
It is anticipated that all placements will run from 8 July 2024 to 16 August 2024, culminating with a showcase event where you will have the opportunity to present the outcome of your project to other summer research placement students and supervisors.
We also have MRC DTP undergraduate summer placements and BBSRC DTP undergraduate summer placements which you may be interested in.
Please note you can only apply to ONE of these placement schemes.
Eligibility
To be eligible for a placement, you should:
- be in the middle years of your first degree;
- be registered on a relevant undergraduate course in the UK. Relevant subjects include science (biomedical, natural, computing or physical sciences), medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, engineering, mathematics and psychology;
- either have home status or be an EU/international applicant with evidence of your right to work in the UK;
- be expected to obtain a First or Upper Second class honours degree;
- have not yet undertaken a substantial period of research.
Widening participation criteria
Applicants who meet at least one of the following widening participation criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:
- You have been in public care for a minimum of three months since the age of 11.
- You are from a low-income background evidenced by receipt of maintenance grant and/or a higher rate of maintenance loan during undergraduate studies. Consideration will be given to the number of years that a maintenance grant was received and the amount awarded, or the rate of maintenance loan received (if you started your undergraduate course following the phasing out of maintenance grants).
- You come from one of the most deprived areas of the UK as indicated by ACORN and LPN data. This is based on home postcode before attending university.
- You are/were in receipt of a Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) as part of your undergraduate studies or are receiving/received support from your undergraduate university's disability office.
- You have been recognised as a refugee or asylum seeker or been granted humanitarian protection status by the UK government, or are the partner or child of someone who has been granted refugee, asylum seeker or humanitarian protection status.
- You are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background.
- You are the first generation in your family to attend university and be studying an undergraduate or equivalent qualification (neither of your parents has a BA, BSc or equivalent undergraduate degree).
- You are studying at a non-Russell Group university.
Applications are strongly encouraged from students who wish to use the placement to find out more about their suitability and aptitude for further research, particularly if the project is in an area of science different from their main subject area.
You are not eligible to apply for this scheme if you are:
- studying on a course with an integrated master's
- studying on a course with an industry/placement year
- enrolled on a course outside of the UK or Republic of Ireland.
How to apply
Applications for 2024 are now closed.
Contact us
Any queries can be sent to: