Gurdon/The Company of Biologists Summer Studentships

Aims

The Gurdon/The Company of Biologists Summer Studentship scheme provides financial support to allow highly motivated undergraduate students an opportunity to engage in practical research during their summer vacation. 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.

Every year, 10 successful applicants spent 8 weeks in the research laboratories of their choices, and the feedback we received was outstanding. See below a list of all successful awardees, and read some of the student reports kindly sent to us by

• Christopher Taylor (2016)
• Iona Imrie (2016)
• Lauren Miller (2016)
• Ji Hye Moon (2016)
• Oliver Davis (2015)
• Anna Klucnika (2015)
• Aran Shaunak (2015)
• Isabella Watts (2015)
• Benedetta Carbone (2014)
• George Choa (2014)
• George Hunt (2014)

Application Details:

1. Please, download the application form.
2. Applications must be submitted to the BSDB Secretary (secretary@bsdb.org) by end of March.
3. The student must be an EU resident.
4. Awards comprise a student stipend of £200 per week for 8 weeks.  Consumable costs are not provided.
5. Applications must be made by the undergraduate student and contain the information and support letters specified in the application form.
6. The proposed project supervisor must be a BSDB member.
7. The project must be on a topic in the broad area of Developmental Biology. Note, that projects will be assessed according to their aims, achievability and opportunity to the student.
8. The successful applicant will be required to submit a short project report of ≤1000 words by 31^st of October. It must adhere to the report guidelines, should include images and may be selected for publication on The Node and/or in the BSDB Newsletter.
9. Completed applications should be sent to the email address provided on the application form. You will receive an e-mail to confirm that your application has been received. Please contact us if you have not received a confirmation within 7 days.

Selection process:

1. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of members from the BSDB committee, using the student’s CV, the quality of the project and the expected training opportunities as criteria.
2. Applicants will be informed of the outcome within one month of the application deadline. Feedback on unsuccessful applications will not be provided.
3. Successful candidates must accept the award within two weeks of notification. Note that Gurdon Studentship cannot be held alongside another summer studentship award from another funding body.  If awardees choose to accept an offer from another funding body, they are expected to notify the BSDB and forgo the Gurdon award.

Successful Gurdon Summer Studentship Awardees:

• 2016: Ji Hye Moon (KCL; host: Richard Wingate, KCL), Iona Imrie (Edinburgh University; host: Jamie Davies, Edinburgh), Daniyal Jalil Jafree (UCL; host: Pete Scambler, UCL),  Paige Paddy (UEA; host: Andrea Münsterberg, UEA), Jack Weaver (University of Aberdeen; host: Lynda Erskine, Aberdeen), Mireya Vazquez-Prada (UCL; host: Stephen Price, UCL), Christopher Taylor (Sheffield University; host: Karin Sofefan, Sheffield), Lauren Miller (UCL; host: Richard Poole, UCL), Lilli Hahn (Cambridge University; host: Brian Hendrich, Cambridge), Jaylee Boer (Edinburgh University; host: Mike McGrew, Roslin Institute, Edinburgh)

• 2015: Emma MI (Cambridge University; host: J Gurdon, Cambridge), Oliver DAVIS (Brighton and Sussex Medical School; host: JP Vincent, Crick Institute), Anna KLUCNIKA (Cambridge University; host: Aziz Aboobaker, Oxford), Julia OH (Edinburgh University; host: Megan Davey, Edinburgh), Ortlaith MANNION (Natl Univ Ireland Galway; host: Maura Grealy, Galway), Rachel WANG (Univ College London; host: Yanlan Mao, UCL), Joe WATKINS (University of Birmingham; host: Yun Fan, Birmingham), Samantha COOPER (Cambridge University; host: Daniel St Johnston, Cambridge), Arun SHAUNAK (Cambridge University; host: Jose Silva, Cambridge), Isabella WATTS (Oxford University; host: Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Oxford)

• 2014:  Ashley Bae (host: Ildiko Somorjai, St Andrews), George Hunt (Ian Hope, Leeds), Ariana Mihai (Val Wilson, Edinburgh), Benedetta Carbone (Keisuke Kaji, Edinburgh), Lydia Dugmore (Iwan Evans, Sheffield), Sian Martin (Susanne Dietrich, Portsmouth), Rachel Turner (Alistair McGregor, Oxford), Kadri Oras (Martin Collinson, Aberdeen), George Choa (Claudio Stern, UCL), Kwok Lun Man (Arantza Barrios, UCL)