Are you a Postdoctoral Research Associate, Research Associate or Research Assistant interested in developing your project and people management skills? Did you know you can apply to run your own independent project and win funding worth up to £2500 to work with an undergraduate intern for 4-7 weeks on your research?

Following the popularity and success of the competition in previous years, the University is funding 9 different summer vacation research projects in 2021, each of which will be associated with a particular Division and/or Signature Research Theme.

Reflecting on the benefits of participation, Dr Jennifer Leigh, the event’s co-founder with Dr Helen Leech, said:

“The positive impact on successful applicants is self-evident and can include increased productivity and outputs, non-research skills acquisition and kick-started career planning. One PDRA told us ‘I got more work done on this project in 6 weeks than I would have done in a year of working in my own time’ and many others have credited the competition with the opportunity, practice and support to make further applications for funding and fellowships, and to apply for permanent roles.”

Details of how to apply for the Summer Vacation Research Competition have been sent to relevant staff – please email svrc@kent.ac.uk if you do not receive this information.

The closing date for applications is 15 February 2021. Good luck!