Research Experience Placements (REPs)

NERC-funded placements at the Universities of Leeds, York and Hull

Applications open early May; Application deadline: 3 June 2024

We are pleased to announce that the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) have awarded the Panorama DTP 6 Research Experience Placements (REPs) to be completed over the summer period of 2024. REP placements give undergraduate and Masters students a taster of what it’s like to be a postgraduate researcher, paid at above the national living wage for 6 weeks.

We particularly encourage students from underrepresented groups to apply (ethnic minorities, those with a disability or from low-income backgrounds).

Applications are open to students from all universities, and all subject disciplines. You can apply to more than one NERC REP project – just submit one application form for each project.

Application deadline

10:00 3 June 2024

Placement Details, Funding and Reporting

  • We have 6 REPs open to all students available for the Summer 2024.
  • Placement duration is 6 weeks full time during the summer vacation period (June/July/August).  The time can be a 6 week block, or split to accommodate prior commitments.
  • Placements are paid at University of Leeds Grade 3 level.
  • There is no additional funding available for relocation or accomodation.
  • REPs do not meet the requirements for a visa request, and therefore, are only open to UK citizens or those who already have a right to work or study in the UK, or are Home-fees status.
  • Both the student and the project supervisor at the host organisation will be required to complete a brief online report on the outcome of the placement, at the end of the placement.

Applicant Eligibility

Applicants must be:

  • undertaking their first undergraduate degree studies (or integrated Masters).
    • Note: students in their final year who have graduated and no longer have student status at the time the placement starts are not eligible. If the student meets the eligibility criteria (i.e., has student status) at the beginning of the placement, we would consider the eligibility criteria to be met, even if the student graduates during the course of the placement.
  • eligible for subsequent NERC PhD funding (Details of eligibility for PhD studentships can be found here. Please note this guidance should be read in conjunction with the UKRI Training Grant Terms and Conditions and guidance documents available here).

How to Apply

  1. Select the projects of most interest to you
  2. Complete the online REP application form, one for each project of interest, including a copy of your CV.
  3. Complete the EDI form (only one is needed).  Although this is optional, if places are over-subscribed, preference will be given to under-represented groups, as defined above.

Available projects: 

Investigating informal gardening in Chinese cities through satellite imagery

Supervisor: Asa Roast

Department: School of Geography

Using models and measurements to understand the sources of ice-nucleating particles in Arctic clouds

Supervisor: Ken Carslaw
Department: School of Earth and Environment

Invasive crayfish ecology

Supervisor: Josie South
Department: School of Biology

What happens to Borneo vortices as they cross the equator?

Supervisor: Juliane Schwendike
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

Interdisciplinary approaches for identifying “low-hanging fruit” for sustainability

Supervisor: David Williams
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

How good is the geological record? Investigating the reliability of speleothems in providing a window into environmental change over time

Supervisor: Sandra Piazolo
Department: School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds

Investigating supraglacial lake evolution on Crane Glacier using remote sensing imagery

Supervisor: Benjamin Wallis
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

Understanding the Impact of Solar Radiation on Earth’s Ozone Layer through the 27-Day Solar Cycle

Supervisor: Sandip Dhomse
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

Do NFM interventions lower flood risk at Fountains Abbey?

Supervisor: Gareth Keevil
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

Can Antarctic dust and biology be aerosolised and affect the region’s clouds and climate?

Supervisor: Mark Tarn
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

The impact of climate extremes on global wheat breadbasket regions

Supervisor: Andy Challinor
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

Climate-ice sheet interactions during abrupt warming in the last deglaciation

Supervisor: Brooke Snoll
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

From the ice age to the future: drivers and uncertainty in past and future sea level

Supervisor: Jonathan Owen
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

Identifying the origin of human remains using geochemical techniques

Supervisor: Jason Harvey
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

Using satellite imagery to investigate surface & sub-surface hydrology in Antarctica

Supervisor: Sally Wilson
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds

Evaluating wind gust biases in high resolution weather forecasts

Supervisor: Andrew Ross
Department: School of Earth and Environment, Leeds