fThe School of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies (SocCul) is seeking students to be Junior Research Associates during the summer vacation.
The purpose of these bursaries is to provide an opportunity for undergraduates to participate in original research, with the hope that they will consider a career in research after graduation.
Any first- or second-year student in SocCul is eligible; applications must be sponsored by a member of faculty in the school who is willing to act as supervisor.
Bursaries of £200 per week, normally for a period of eight weeks, are available. An additional sum of £200 may be awarded for essential research costs.
Last year, six students received funding for their projects. One of them was Justin Pickard (BA International Relations and Anthropology) who looked at the way activist organizations involved in labour issues in the global garment industry are starting to use the internet.
He particularly focused on user-generated content and social networking platforms such as Facebook and MySpace.
“I feel as though I have gained a real depth of expertise, something which looks as though it might end up serving me well in other areas of my life,” says Justin.
“I may have successfully identified an issue area which I wouldn't object to specialising in at a latter stage either through postgraduate study or in the workplace.”
Justin valued spending time with the other bursary recipients both in a social and work setting. He says: “Having a small group of people drawn from different disciplines and working on very different projects meant that you could always find a different perspective on any problems that you encountered.”
David Addison (BSc Geography) gained experience in the use of a Scanning Electron Microscope to analyse core samples from Greece and Peru. The work included searching samples for evidence of oribatid mites, to demonstrate their use in the estimation of the growth and decline of llama - and by implication human - populations during the Inca period.
“I found the research bursary extremely rewarding in terms of the experience I learned, as well as the £200 a week, tax free!,” says David.
Application forms for the Junior Research Associate Bursaries are available from the SocCul School Office and the closing date is 5pm on 29 February.