Research experience through our Summer Placement Programme

We are offering 8-week paid research placements to undergraduates currently studying science from underrepresented groups, who wish to consider a research career within the field of Life in the Universe.

We particularly welcome applications from:

• Undergraduates who are Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME)
• Undergraduates who are in the first generation of their family to go to university
• Undergraduates who have been in care or who have been a young carer
• Undergraduates from a low-income background

The programme in Summer 2026 will run from Monday 13 July until Friday 4 September 2026.

Placement students are invited to take part in additional events including training on how to apply for postgraduate courses and scientific lectures and seminars.

Students receive stipend equivalent to the Real Living Wage for an 8-week placement, for 35 hours per week. Accommodation will be provided free of charge in Kings College. Students' research lab is allocated £500 to contribute to laboratory expenses.

Successful LCLU summer placements will be automatically entitled to a LCLU PhD studentship interview for entry in 2027. 

To be eligible for LCLU summer placement programme, you must meet the following criteria:                

• be currently enrolled in a UK or Republic of Ireland college or university as an undergraduate student studying for a degree in  one of the LCLU related research themes.
• be settled in the UK on 1 July 2026 and have been ordinarily resident in the UK or Republic of Ireland (you residence should not have been mainly for full-time education) since 1 July 2023 or are a Republic of Ireland national be in the penultimate year of undergraduate study, at the time of application.
• have achieved, or be on track to achieve, a final undergraduate degree grade of a strong 2:1 or 1st in a relevant subject to your proposed project. If your transcript shows year-on-year grade progression towards the upper range of a 2:1 or above, we encourage you to apply.
• have an interest in undertaking a research postgraduate degree (MPhil or PhD) in a LCLU subject. 
• Not have already completed, or be currently studying, a postgraduate research degree (e.g. MPhil, DPhil, PhD, etc.) or have an offer to start a postgraduate research degree.

Please see document with full list of criteria.

This programme is not open to applicants who are at or have previously studied at the University of Cambridge.

Accommodation
Summer placements will be provided with free-of-charge single accommodation at King's College, for the duration of the programme including weekends.

Financial support
Participants on the programme receive a stipend equivalent to the Real Living Wage, for a 35-hour week. 

Laboratory expenses
Your research lab will be allocated £500 to contribute to laboratory expenses.

Support
The support offered extends beyond the 8-week programme through ongoing mentorship from lab supervisors and a waiver of application fees.

For the duration of the programme, participants will:

• Live in Cambridge for the summer
• Attend their research lab and participate in a research project full-time
• Attend training sessions organised for the programme.
• Attend other events and seminars organised for the programme (some of which will take place outside laboratory hours).

At all times, you will be expected to maintain the highest standards of research integrity.

At the end of the programme, you will be asked to provide feedback so that we can improve the programme for future years and so that we can report to our funders.

"Meeting the other placement students. Having a big cohort of placements who were researching within the same field as me was awesome. I made a lot of friends and learned a lot about the areas within Astrophysics. I also gained a lot of insight and advice from them about my coming master's years." Summer intern 2023

"This placement reignited my passion for my degree and my subject. It has reminded me what my hard work is for. I'm so grateful that these weeks in Cambridge have reopened the thought of doing a PhD in my mind. The change in myself and my academic aspirations are the highlights of this placement for me. I couldn't be more grateful for that feeling of falling in love with my field again." Summer placement 2023

"I’d like to say thank you to the Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe for the amazing opportunity to get involved in research over the summer. My supervisor was very supportive in guiding me through a new field, but also gave me the space to work independently and really enjoy the process. The social events were a great too, especially the painting activity and dessert, which was such a fun way to explore Cambridge and meet other students. Thanks again for such a rewarding experience, I really loved being a part of this." Summer placement 2024

To see the full list of projects for 2026.

Uncertainty qualification of reaction networks of ozone on Mars
Supervisor: Alex Archibald, Department of Chemistry

The origin and evolution of archaeal lipids
Supervisor: Claudia Bonfio, Department of Biochemistry

Interferometric calibration of extreme-precision radial-velocity spectrographs
Supervisor: David Buscher, Department of Physics

Factors controlling evolutionary rates: determining the impact of interactions and the environment using evolutionary simulation experiments
Supervisor: Emily Mitchell, Department of Zoology

How do planets become solid?
Supervisor: Oliver Shorttle, Institute of Astronomy

The importance of impactors in delivering prebiotic feedstock molecules to the early Earth
Supervisor: Richard Anslow