The Nuffield Research Placement scheme is a national scheme which provides over 1,000 sixth form students each year with the opportunity to work alongside professional scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians. The students who take part carry out 4 week research placements over the summer, gaining valuable skills and experience, as well as insight into current STEM research. Every year, the University of Manchester hosts sixth formers participating in the Nuffield Research Placement scheme (www.nuffieldfoundation.org/nuffield-research-placements). For the past two years, we are proud to have hosted more students than any other institution in the UK. In 2015 more than half of these opportunities were offered to students who met the scheme’s widening participation criteria. Nuffield Research Placements are a fantastic way of working with talented young people from local schools and colleges who have a strong interest in Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths and giving them an insight into research as a career.
We are now looking for staff who would be willing to host a Nuffield Research Placement in summer 2016.
“I felt the placement provided invaluable experience into the world of academia and research that could not be obtained elsewhere, due to the unique chance to conduct your own, hands-on research. There is nothing that can beat doing real work on one’s own in terms of giving a true insight into the daily lives of scientists.”
– Nuffield Research Placement participant 2015
Last year, the University of Manchester hosted 53 students and we hope to continue to offer as many opportunities as possible in 2016. Could you help? Could a sixth former work in your lab over the summer? Is there a specific piece of work they could help you with? Do you have PhD students, post-docs or technicians who would appreciate an extra pair of hands or benefit from the experience of supervising a student? Lab-based, field-based or computer-based projects are all suitable.
“It provides an opportunity for future students to engage with academic research in a higher education institution. It serves as a useful way to communicate to local secondary schools and to individual pupils and parents the social responsibilities of a major university. It has also provided a productive extra pair of hands to help achieve my research objectives.” – Nuffield Research Placement Project Provider 2015
Nuffield students have been through a very competitive application process and are usually extremely bright, enthusiastic and capable of working to a very high standard. Work done in the past has contributed to published papers and has been used as the basis for grant applications. As an outreach activity it has the benefit of being widely recognised and supported throughout by the regional coordinator. Nuffield Research Placements are run by the Nuffield Foundation in partnership with the Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK, with additional support from the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Society of General Microbiology.
If you are interested in offering a Nuffield Research Placement in summer 2016 or would like to find out more, please contact Roz Webster on roz.webster@manchester.ac.uk or +44(0) 161 275 7676
Roz Webster, Student Recruitment and Widening Participation Officer (SUPI & Academic Enrichment for Medical, Human, & Life Sciences, The University of Manchester