Placements
Doctoral students may undertake a work placement or internship where this is either directly related to the student’s training, or provides valuable transferable skills, provided this is well justified and approved in advance by their supervisor and research organisation.
Students must seek approval from their supervisor and the grant holder before applying for placement opportunities. Grant holders may approve or deny student placement requests, without further reference to EPSRC.
See this Placements decision flowchart to understand the different types of and pathways for placements.
Vacation Internships
EPSRC’s Vacation Internships scheme gives undergraduate students a taster of what it is like to do research. The students are given practical, first-hand experience of working on and carrying out research in a UK university. Vacation Internships are an optional programme that universities with EPSRC doctoral training partnerships and university doctoral landscape awards can offer.
Eligibility
All students must be undertaking an undergraduate degree that is relevant to EPSRC’s remit. While eligibility varies between grants, in most cases students must be eligible for home fee status at the end of their undergraduate degree. This is part of EPSRC’s work to improve the attractiveness of doctoral research to home students.
There is no opportunity to apply to EPSRC for a Vacation Internship. Recruitment to Vacation Internships is undertaken by universities that have chosen to offer the opportunity. Any enquiries from students should be addressed to the relevant university. Students cannot apply directly to EPSRC for a Vacation Internship.
An internship should generally take place in the summer vacation before the student’s final year of study and last an average of ten weeks.
The scheme may not be used as a bridge between the undergraduate degree and doctorate or other work, therefore students who are currently in their final year and who will have completed their degree by the summer are not eligible.
The projects undertaken by the students must be clearly defined, at least 50% within EPSRC’s remit, and must not be part of a normal degree course.
Payment
Students should be employed as interns throughout their Vacation Internship by the research organisation and the minimum payment rate should be equivalent to the National Living Wage (GOV.UK). All students undertaking Vacation Internships should receive payment equal to at least the National Living Wage, even if they are aged below 25.
Research organisations may choose to pay more than the National Living Wage (to reflect regional differences in living costs, for example) but this must be funded through the flexibility of the training grant. EPSRC will not award any additional funding. The provision and value of any budget for consumables is at the discretion of the awarding university.
Administration
The awarding university will be responsible for administering all aspects of the award including:
- selecting students
- providing appropriate supervision
- making sure that all support costs awarded are used and accounted for appropriately.
Universities are expected to undertake open, merit-based and transparent recruitment of students, selecting candidates regardless of background or any protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act (2010).
Last updated: 24 March 2026