Summer studentship opportunities with the Chromatographic Society and British Mass Spectrometry Society 2024
Are you an academic researcher that uses chromatography and/or mass spectrometry within your work? Are you as passionate as we are about providing opportunities for university students to gain real world research experience? Have you considered funded summer studentship projects?
The ChromSoc and BMSS society have joined forces and work together to organise academic summer studentships for undergraduate and masters students in the UK. There are a number of 6-8 week studentship funding opportunities so multiple projects can run in 2024. In recent years some of the projects that have been supported have focused on analysis of environmental compounds, analysis of wool and textile residues, application of in silico chromatography to identify bacteriohopanepolyol diastereomers, removal of perfluorinated alkyl substances by electrochemical hydrogel technology and 3D printed stationary phases to name a few! The aim of providing funding for summer studentships is to ensure that students have the opportunity to gain research experience to contribute to their CV, prior to seeking employment after their studies. Research not only is a skill in itself, but engaging with the scientific research group within a project provides additional skills to the student. Such skills include, communicating scientific data, organizing and planning experiments, problem solving and self-leadership. To complement the acquisition of new skills, additional benefits of the programme are enabling the student to present their work at a scientific meeting and membership to the relevant society for a number of years to keep connected to their industrial network. The funding covers national minimum wage payment to the student too!
Previous students comment about their experience:
“As part of the studentship, I learned a lot very quickly. Before beginning the analysis, it was important that I understood how mass spectrometry worked. I learnt how to analyse the data manually and using a range of different software. I was also exposed to some of the thrilling work done at the Institute via the online seminars, which were absolutely fascinating to someone from a chemistry background! ….It would be a lie to say that the studentship was always easy, but the excellent team of people I worked with made the experience very enjoyable.”
“This project allowed me to gain further lab skills, particularly in the areas of gas chromatography, of which I have only used at undergraduate level. The use of computational chemistry allowed me to try something new and learn how computational studies can be used to calculate a wide range of electronic and thermodynamic properties that can be of interest to a chemist. I found the process of research work to be eye opening as it provided a less structured, more curiosity driven way to learn and gain practical skills. It also provided me with the challenge of having to problem solve in real time and work around other researchers in the lab to ensure everyone got access to the equipment they required.”
If you are an academic researcher and can supervise a university student during a summer research project, please consider applying to the ChromSoc/BMSS programme. More details for the programme itself and the application process can be found at www.chromsoc.com/summer-studentships. Applications are open now and close on Friday 16th February 2024.
A message from Dr Christina Vanhinsbergh – ChromSoc committee.
