Research Council
Dr R Masterman
Research Innovation Services
University of Nottingham
Kings Meadow Campus
Lenton Lane
Nottingham
NG7 2NR
4 March 2008 / Polaris House
North Star Avenue
Swindon SN2 1ET
Telephone (01793) 444000
Central Fax (01793) 444010
www: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk
Direct Line: 01793 444560
Local Fax: 01793 444007
E-mail:
Our Ref:
Your Ref:
Dear Dr Masterman
EPSRC VACATION BURSARY SCHEME 2008
I am writing to invite your university to take part in the 2008 EPSRC Vacation Bursary programme.
Purpose
The vacation bursary programme will provide funding for undergraduate students to gain first hand positive and practical experience of research in a UK university. The emphasis will be on employing the most able students, but our expectation is that universities will use the funds available to engage students in research that:
· Falls within the identified ‘Roberts shortage areas’ of Statistics and Operational Research, ICT, Engineering or Materials;
· Is being carried out by internationally leading groups e.g. groups that hold EPSRC portfolio partnership or IRC grants
· That has strong industrial links.
In all cases, the programme should be accessible to underrepresented groups, such as women and ethnic minorities.
Eligibility of the student
The selected students should be registered for a first degree in a subject that falls within the remit of EPSRC and must be in the middle years of their degree. Students should fulfil the eligibility requirements of EPSRC’s Doctoral Training Grants (DTG) by the end of their undergraduate degree. For details of our eligibility requirements, please see our web page at: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/PostgraduateTraining/StudentEligibility.htm
Research project
The proposed research project should be within the remit of the EPSRC, but should not be part of the normal degree course. It should have a clearly defined objective, which could be part of a much larger research activity and it should be at a suitable level for a student to sensibly complete within the timescale of the award. The student should not be used as a general assistant and must have adequate supervision.
Duration
Each bursary will last an average of 10 weeks and must take place during the summer vacation.
Scheme Costs
A total of £30,000 will be made available to your university, to support 15 Vacation Bursary students, based on:
· Stipend of £180 per week
· Research consumables of £200 overall
The university can also consider leveraging funds from other areas e.g. the department or industry to enhance stipends or to fund extra students.
Responsibility of the awarding university
The awarding university will be responsible for administering all aspects of the award including:
· Selecting suitable students in line with EPSRC’s expectations regarding open access, Robert’s shortage areas, internationally leading groups and industrial links.
· Ensuring that appropriate supervision is in place for the students.
· Ensuring that all support costs awarded are used and accounted for appropriately.
· The university will be expected to nominate an Operational Manager for the scheme to oversee arrangements for the bursaries.
Monitoring
EPSRC is keen to collect key data on all of the students that it supports, so that it can report and understand the impact of its funding better. The information required will be collected by means of an electronic spreadsheet, which should be submitted by the operational manager. The following information will be captured:
· Host university and department
· Student supervisor contact details
· Name & contact details for the student, in particular an email address
· Start and end dates of the degree course
· Details of the undergraduate degree
· Start and end date of the vacation bursary
· Vacation bursary project title
· Objectives and how this fits into a larger scale project (if relevant)
· Identification of whether the project is considered to fall within a Robert’s shortage area
· Diversity category data e.g. gender, age, ethnicity, country of origin, full/part time working etc.
· If known whether the student went on to undertake a postgraduate research degree.
Please note that non-completion of records will be considered within any future allocation of Vacation Bursaries.
Award of Funds
EPSRC would like to offer your university funding for 15 Vacation Bursary places.
If your university wishes to take part in the 2008 vacation bursary programme then confirmation in writing (by email from the operational manager) should reach me before 28 March 2008. I would be grateful if you could also confirm if you are able to use the total number of bursaries offered above and advise me of the name of the person nominated as Operational Manager for the scheme.
The scheme will operate within the Doctoral Training Account. Funds will be added to the 2004 DTG and released for the scheme in April 2008. The bursaries must take place during the summer of 2008. Bursary funds should not be used for any other purposes and will be closely monitored by EPSRC. Bursary funds should be used by 30 September 2008.
I look forward to receiving confirmation that you wish to take part in the scheme. In the meantime, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me on 01793 444560 or
Yours sincerely
Val Hibberd
University Interface manager