SBBS Undergraduate Research Internships 2023

The School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences invites applications for 2 Undergraduate Research Internships designed to enhance the career prospects, the professional development and the retention in education and research of students from traditionally under-represented backgrounds, by improving their skills, CVs and competitiveness. 

Overview of the Internships 

The SBBS Undergraduate Internships will provide research experience to two undergraduates with research potential and encourage them to consider a career in scientific research. Interns will be paid at the London Living Wage rate (approx. £382/week) for six 30-hour working weeks between Monday 22nd of June and Friday 30th of July 2023. 

The internships will be awarded on the basis of the excellence and feasibility of the project, and the level of support and mentorship from the project supervisor. The proposed research topic will be chosen by the applicants together with the lab head. 

Applications should be submitted via email to sbbs-head@qmul.ac.uk. Outcomes will be communicated to the applicants by Friday the 2nd of June. 

Student eligibility criteria  

To be considered, an applicant should be: 

• registered undergraduate at Queen Mary for a programme part of the Biology, Biochemistry or Psychology department
• in year 1 or 2 of a BSc programme, or years 1, 2 or 3 of a 4-year MSci programme
• on a trajectory to achieve a 2:1 or a 1st class degree award
• from a traditionally under-represented group in ethnicity, gender, access to higher education or other groups (see “How to apply” section for more details)
• the student must not be in receipt of financial support from other sources for the same period of time

Students who applied for the S&E internships are not eligible to apply for the SBBS internship.

Project eligibility criteria are listed below: 

• The project must be conducted under the Supervision of a member of staff in SBBS
• The project must be empirical (secondary data analysis is allowed, not a literature review)
• The results from this project cannot be used to acquire any credits towards the degree nor data to be used for the final year dissertation
• The project should comply with the safety and ethical regulations of the School. If the project requires ethics approval, this must be already in place at the time of application

How to apply 

 - Applications should be submitted via email to sbbs-head@qmul.ac.uk 

 - Please use “SBBS UG internship application” as a subject title. 

- No CV or transcript is required, but the academic should confirm that the student is on track for a 2:1 or 1st class degree award. Please use 11pt Arial font with 2cm page margins. Both documents should be no more than 1 side of A4 each (for details see below).

 - Applications should be made jointly by the academic supervisor and the undergraduate student. Therefore, it is important you find an appropriate academic supervisor and work together on the application materials consisting of: 

• a project statement outlining the science goals (which must be feasible with the 6-week timeframe), and the outcomes for the intern 

• a training and mentorship statement detailing the support offered to the intern throughout the project which exceeds the standard offered to interns within the School. Mentorship may also extend beyond the 6-week programme. This should include a short paragraph describing why you consider yourself from a traditionally underrepresented group in ethnicity, gender, access to higher education and/or other.

Applications are considered on a case-by-case basis and decisions made by the Assessment Panel are final and there is no right of appeal. 

How your application will be assessed 

Your application will be assessed by a School selection panel including an SBBS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee member. The panel will evaluate applications using the following criteria with equal weighting: 

• Quality of project statement; the feasibility of achieving the stated scientific goals within the internship period; and the benefits and outcomes for the interns. 

• Excellence of the training, support and mentorship offered by the academic supervisor which exceeds the standard expected within the School. 

Conditions of the Award and the Final Report Requirements 

 Following a positive outcome of the application, both student and Supervisor will be required to sign a document accepting the award. 

The student, prior to starting the research, will need to undertake all necessary inductions and health and safety training. 

 The Bursary must only be used by the Applicant for work on the proposed project as detailed in the application and may not be used for any other purpose. 

 Following the end of the internship, the student is required to submit a final report, highlighting the research outcome and the personal development/training achieved. 

 The students is also required to participate in outreach activities related to the project. 

 In the event that the Applicant wishes to withdraw their application due to a change of circumstances or if they receive funding from another sources, the Applicant must inform the Internship committee immediately by email. The committee reserves the right to reallocate the funds and resources accordingly.