Undergraduate vacation research internship in mathematics for 2024

We offer vacation research internships for students enrolled on four-year undergraduate degrees, wishing to undertake an internship in the summer before their final year.

The aim of an internship scheme is to give undergraduate students a chance to engage in a research project in order to enable them to assess their suitability for a subsequent research degree. We currently offer the following internship scheme:

Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw (DKO) Learning Through Research internships

In 2024, the scheme will fund one internship. Deadline for applications is 5pm Monday 1st April. Please get in touch with potential supervisors early. See details of the application procedure below.

Eligibility / funding arrangements

One internship is normally funded for up to £3,600 (for the maximum duration of 8 weeks).
The scheme is open to UK-based students in the penultimate year (year 3 of 4) of their undergraduate degree in mathematics and, also those in the final year of their degree and who intend to undertake a taught master's degree immediately following their undergraduate degree.
The required duration of the project will be determined by the supervisor (up to 8 weeks maximum).
Mode of payment: the amount of £3,600 is gross pay for 8 weeks; the internship is paid via a temporary employment contract and after deductions, the actual take home pay per week for a 35 hour week will be around £400. Internship can be delivered remotely, in-person or through a hybrid of both depending on the nature of the tasks involved and the preferences of the host and intern; in-person mode is encouraged.

Project supervisors

The projects listed below provide an indication of the types of project available. Other projects may be available too. If you’re interested in applying, please contact the potential supervisor, listed below or not, for more information:

Rich Hewitt
Computation of nonlinear periodic solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations.
Neil Morrison
Interests in applied mathematics.
Will Parnell
Homogenisation, wave propagation in complex media, metamaterials.
Alice Thompson
Summer projects on the modelling and dynamics of bubbles and droplets in Hele-Shaw cells.
Ted Voronov
Geometric methods in physics, which includes differential forms, cohomology, fibre bundles and connections, characteristic classes, supergeometry, Poisson and symplectic structures, and other bracket structures. (A precise plan to be worked out for a particular project).

Application and selection process

Students contact the supervisor(s) to discuss potential projects.
Each supervisor can submit at most one student to the Department's PGR committee.
The application (to be submitted by the supervisor) has to be supported by:
- The student's CV and motivation letter;
- A brief outline of the project (no more than 250 words, say);
- A transcript of the student's exam results;
- One academic reference for the student: referees should submit their reports directly to chris.johnson@manchester.ac.uk, using the subject "Reference for DKO research internship";
- A summary of the supervisor's interactions with the student;
- The duration of the project (up to 8 weeks) and the start date.
Supervisors should ensure that the complete application is submitted (as a single pdf file) to chris.johnson@manchester.ac.uk by 5pm Monday 1 April 2024, using the subject "Application for DKO Research Internship";
The primary assessment criterion is the students' potential for research;
Students are expected to submit a final report on the project, summarising their main achievements, within four weeks of completing the project, which must include acknowledgement of support from the DKO Trust and a brief statement on how they were benefitted by the project.

Our research specialisms

Discover more about the specialist areas of research we focus on in the Department, and who to contact about each one.

Interested in supervising students?

If you're a current University of Manchester academic interested in supervising students under this scheme, contact Matthias Heil for further information.

Email Matthias