Departmental Research Internships offer intermediate-year (i.e. not first or final) students in the Department of Computer Science the opportunity to gain research experience with one of the department’s world-leading research groups.  The internships take place during the summer vacation.

Students will undertake a project under the supervision of one or more members of staff in the department.  The project lasts for between eight and ten weeks and can take place between the end of the exam period and the start of the new academic year (by arrangement between student and supervisor).  Students will be provided with necessary software and equipment to undertake the work. 

To avoid the issue that paid work could be construed as a form of employment relationship between UCL and the intern, the interns are funded on the basis of a reimbursement of expenses. Currently, the department offers a flat-rate subsistence ‘expense’ allowance of £220 per week.

Students wishing to apply for a research bursary should do one of the following:

1. Thoroughly research their own proposal and submit this to the appropriate member of staff by email.  Proposals must show an understanding of the research context and propose a project that will develop or add value to the ongoing work of the research group.  Students wishing to pursue this route may first wish to briefly contact the member of staff concerned by email to ensure that supervision will be available in the event of a successful application (not all members of staff participate in this scheme).
2. Consult the list of project proposals from members of staff below.  If a project is of interest, please contact the member of staff concerned to arrange an initial discussion.

Click here to see research bursary proposals now available

Once the student and supervisor have agreed on a project, the supervisor will take over the application process.

1. Supervisors wishing to propose projects should email these to Nicolas Gold (n.gold@ucl.ac.uk) as soon as possible.
2. Once a student has expressed interest in a project (either their own proposal or yours), please arrange a meeting to discuss the timing, detail and so forth.
3. If you are happy that the student is suitable and you can agree appropriate dates, please apply for funding.  The application should take the form of a one-page A4 case for support.  This should:

• Outline the project, giving a justification for the work being undertaken by the student and how it will help to give them research experience.
• Provide a summary of how the student will benefit from the project with regard to their career objectives.
• Contain a summary of the student's academic performance in previous years.
• Outline arrangements for supervision.
• Specify the amount of funding requested, including any necessary software licences or other equipment that may be required.

The case should be emailed to Nicolas Gold (n.gold@ucl.ac.uk) before c.o.b. on 7^th February 2013.  Decisions will be made shortly thereafter.  Late applications will be accepted but may not receive funding if it has already been allocated. 

Unsuccessful applications may be re-submitted to the BEAMS scheme (closing date 31^st March 2013).

Successful applications will be guaranteed funding by the department but please note that successful applicants at the departmental stage will be expected to apply for the project to the BEAMS scheme in any case.  If unsuccessful at the BEAMS stage, they are still guaranteed departmental funding so arrangements with students can be made earlier when the departmental results are announced.  Since BEAMS applicants must fulfil EPSRC eligibility requirements (the eligibility criteria for students is given in the application procedure), if a student has been successful at the departmental stage but cannot meet these requirements, please contact Nicolas Gold to obtain an exemption to this part of the process.

Successful applicants should subsequently liaise with Dawn and JJ to arrange for their student’s financial and space provisions, and put themselves in a position to deliver the necessary induction to the student on the first day (health and safety briefing etc).

Only a single bursary application on behalf of a student should be made. This requires each supervisor to choose the most suitable student for that project. This also means that each student needs to decide which is the most suitable project (in agreement with the supervisor).

Funding decisions are made on the basis of the student’s past exam performance and the project’s value to the student. The highest ranked applications will be supported, subject to the availability of funds.  Supervisors will be notified shortly after the closing date for applications.

The BEAMS bursaries are administered by UCL on behalf of the EPSRC. The eligibility criteria for students is given in the application procedure (previously this has meant that the student cannot be in their first year, and must have been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for 3 years).

Members of staff should apply directly via the website before March 31st 2013.

For projects wholly funded by the research group associated to the project, the student should contact the named researcher directly. In these cases, the research group should still make arrangements with Dawn and JJ for finance and space.