Research Experience Placements (REPs) - Summer 2025

We are offering four paid summer internships as part of our NERC funded Research Experience Placements (REPs) Scheme for Summer 2025. Hosted by the University of Edinburgh and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), these placements provide an excellent opportunity for undergraduate students to gain real-world research experience in environmental science.

Key information:

Grade: University of Edinburgh grade 03 (pro rata salary based on £23,414 per annuum), paid monthly
Contract: Full time, fixed term (35 hours per week for 6-8 weeks, depending on project), including annual leave, which must be taken during the placement.
Timing: Placements will take place during the summer vacation period (16th June - 29th August 2025)
Location: In and around Edinburgh (see individual project details for more information). Students must be physically located in the UK for the entire placement. No additional cost available for relocation.
Final report - Students will be required to complete an online report at the end of the placement.
Projects - 11 projects available. Applicants may apply for one project only.

Students in the Biochar lab in the School of GeoSciences — Students in the Biochar Lab in the School of GeoSciences

Eligibility criteria

To apply, you must:

Be enrolled in your first undergraduate degree (including integrated Masters) at a UK Higher Education Institution, studying any science discipline. Students in any year of study (including first year) are eligible.
Note: Final-year students are only eligible if they will still hold student status at the start of the placement. If you graduate during the placement, you are still eligible, provided you were enrolled at the start.
Be eligible for future NERC PhD funding. This includes:
- UK citizens who have lived in the UK for at least the past 3 years
- EU citizens with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
- Non-EU citizens with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)
- International or EU students already studying in the UK on a Tier 4 or Student Route visa, valid at least until September 2025.

Important notes regarding eligibility of international students not in the UK

REPs do not meet the requirements for visa sponsorship. Therefore, international students not currently living and studying in the UK or without an appropriate UK visa are not eligible.

Application Process

Application deadline: Wednesday 14th May 2025 (midnight)

Submit the following by email to: ease submit the following documents by email to: e5dtp.info@ed.ac.uk

A Cover letter outlining your motivation and clearly stating which project you are applying for (you may apply for one project only)
A recent CV
Reference from your Personal Tutor, Advisor, or another suitable person. This can be emailed separately by the referee if preferred, to e5dtp.info@ed.ac.uk
An interim academic transcript, if available
Equality and Diversity Monitoring form (mandatory)
Optional: Widening Participation (WP) Form if you identify as being from an under-represented group and would like this to be considered

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Widening Participation

Through the REP scheme, NERC aims to address both demographic and diversity-related challenges in the environmental sciences, as well as specific skills gaps.

Applicants from under-represented groups are encouraged to complete the optional WP form. WP forms are reviewed only by the REP panel and not shared with project supervisors.

The REP panel may choose to prioritise applicants from under-represented groups, in line with NERC guidance.

All applicants must complete the Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form to support our reporting obligations to NERC. This form is not used in the selection process.

Selection Process

Eligibility Check: All applications are screened for eligibility and completeness.
Supervisor Shortlisting: Supervisors review eligible applications and may nominate up to three candidates per project (WP and EDI forms are not shared with them).
Panel Review: The REP panel evaluates shortlisted candidates in a single pool, using the following criteria:
- Academic performance
- Fit to project
- Demonstrated interest in environmental science

The panel will also consider WP forms where provided.

The top four ranked candidates will be offered placements (or the next-highest ranked applicants where there is overlap). A reserve list will be maintained.

Successful applicants and project supervisors will be notified by 2nd June 2025. The earliest placements will begin 16th June 2025.

Available Projects

You can view the full list of available projects below. Please read each description carefully, particularly the person specification. If you have questions about a specific project, feel free to contact the named supervisor.

Number	Project title	Primary supervisor	Link to Job Description
1	What makes a parasite superspreader?	Amy Pedersen (amy.pedersen@ed.ac.uk) School of Biological Sciences	Project 1
2	How do diet and development affect individual startle response of frog Xenopus tropicalis?	Patrick Walsh (patrick.walsh@ed.ac.uk) School of Biological Sciences	Project 02
3	What can honey bees tell us about heavy metal pollution? A lab and desk-based research project.	James Watt (james.watt@ed.ac.uk) School of GeoSciences	Project 03
4	The Highland Boundary Fault: conducting geophysical fieldwork and developing outreach materials to better understand this important geological boundary	Karen Lythgoe (karen.lythgoe@ed.ac.uk) School of GeoSciences	Project 04
5	Understanding the role of plant traits in the recovery and restoration of disturbed Southeast Asian forests	Lindsay F Banin (libanin@ceh.ac.uk) UKCEH	Project 05
6	Scots pine resilience to abiotic stress	Annika Perry (annt@ceh.ac.uk) UKCEH	Project 06
7	Changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition in the UK between 1960 and 2020	Yuanlin Wang (yuawan@ceh.ac.uk) UKCEH	Project 07
8	What happened in the core in 2010?	Frederik Dahl Madsen (F.d.madsen@sms.ed.ac.uk) School of GeoSciences	Project 08
9	Investigating the cytotoxicity of nanoplastics on bacterial populations under varied exposure conditions using fluorescence-based techniques	Santiago Romero-Vargas Castrillon (Santiago@ed.ac.uk) School of Engineering	Project 09
10	Influence of glacier inventories on area coverage, ice thickness and volume estimates in Antarctic Peripheral Glaciers and Ice caps	Beatriz Recinos Rivas (beatriz.recinos@ed.ac.uk) School of GeoSciences	Project 10
11	Generating the first 3D of the rooting system of the fossil plant Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii and their relationship with mineral soils.	Alexander Hetherington (sandy.hetherington@ed.ac.uk) School of Biological Sciences	Project 11

Contact: for general queries, please email e5dtp.info@ed.ac.uk

You can download both the REP Equality and Diversity Monitoring form and

Widening Participation

Form * below.

REP Widening Participation Form 2025 (51.27 KB / DOCX)

REP EDI Monitoring Form 2025 (93.55 KB / DOCX)

Project listing:

Project 1 (322.89 KB / PDF)

Project 2 (321.44 KB / PDF)

Project 3 (474.98 KB / PDF)

Project 4 (341.89 KB / PDF)

Project 5 (359.3 KB / PDF)

Project 6 (372.92 KB / PDF)

Project 7 (359.46 KB / PDF)

Project 8 (381.2 KB / PDF)

Project 9 (335.96 KB / PDF)

Project 10 (365.47 KB / PDF)

Project 11 (380.44 KB / PDF)

This article was published on 2024-02-26