Undergraduate Vacation Bursary – Information for Students for 2023 applications
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Applications are invited from students to apply for the BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary from any of the outlined projects. The deadline for applications is the 16th April 2023. Students should be available for interviews in the last two weeks of April, if requested by the supervisor. Notification of the results of applications will be made after consideration by the Education sub-committee of BSPP Board, and decisions be made by the end of April. Students do not have to be BSPP members and a year membership will be provided to all successful applicants.
Students should:
- be in the middle years (i.e. 2/3, 2/4 or 3/4) of their degree
- had not previously received the BSPP UG studentship bursary.
- should be registered at a UK institution for the majority of their degree and the time of their applications. Overseas students can apply if the host institute is from their home country and have the right to live and work. Any visa requirements are the responsibility of the student, and failure to have the correct visa will result in the withdrawal of the applicant from the bursary.
Application: the student will be required to supply:
- a full cv (file must be saved with the student’s full name);
- an academic transcript (file must be saved with the student’s full name);
- a 500 word statement on why they wish to do the project;
- contact details for an academic referee (this must be a different person to the chosen supervisor). The referee should be aware of this and must provide a reference before the application closing date. Application with no reference will not be considered.
- Students should choose at least two projects, and indicate their first and second choice.
Projects are either experimental (lab/field based) or remote/virtual. The projects will be based at the host university/institute. Up to 15 bursaries will be awarded on a competitive basis. The applications will be assessed based on student academic excellence, motivation and understanding of the project that they are applying for. Some supervisors may wish to interview students before making a decision.
In the event of a successful application, payment will be made payable only to the institution at which the student will work (or for remote projects, the institution which will administer the project). The institution should arrange payment in arrears subject to satisfactory performance (and, if relevant, attendance). Insurance cover for BSPP-supported bursaries is the responsibility of the institution hosting the student. Such cover indemnifies any insurance claims on the BSPP during the tenure of the awards. The final payment should be made upon the completion of the project and following the completion of all the requirements below.
Students are required to:
- Write a short report (500 words maximum) which has to be submitted to bsppnews@bspp.org.uk via the supervisor. This will be published in the BSPP Newsletter.
- Write a complete and fully annotated record of their work and data for their supervisors.
- Provide a short video blog describing their project and their experience: examples from last year are available at https://www.bspp.org.uk/funds/bspp-undergraduate-lockdown-bursary-fund/bspp-lockdown-project-students-share-their-experiences/.
- Presentation of their project at an online meeting run by the BSPP in Autumn 2023.
Students based in the United Kingdom will receive a sum of £380 per week from the host institute to cover living expenses. The amount is set with reference to the United Kingdom living wage. Amounts granted for any students doing a project outside the United Kingdom will be pegged to the local equivalent. An amount for consumables/project related expenses of £500 will also be provided. However, for remote projects which are to be done by a student working in a developing country, additional funds can be provided to up to a total of £1000. This could be, for example, be used to purchase computer equipment or internet access, although a case for these additional funds would need to be made by the supervisor as part of the application.
Students will also be granted a year’s free membership of the BSPP.
Applications must be received by 23:59 on 16th April.
Projects Funded in 2023
Click the titles to read more.
Scroll down to fill in the form to apply online.
Title of Project: Effect of saprophytic fungal mycelium on Armillaria root rot of strawberry
Institution Department and Address: University of Birmingham Edgbaston, West Midlands B15 2TT United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Megan McDonald
Title of Project: Understanding the role of fruit-flies in Botrytis cinerea transmission: a chemical ecology approach
Institution Department and Address: Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, AL5 2JQ United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Gareth Thomas
Title of Project: Exploring effector perception by a novel NLR immune receptor to engineer resistance to wheat blast and other crop diseases
Institution Department and Address: Dept. of Biochemistry & Metabolism, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7UH United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Mark J Banfield
Title of Project: Investigating the role of viral non-coding ribonuclease-resistant RNAs in virus pathogenicity
Institution Department and Address: Almas allé 5, BioCenter SLU, Dept of Plant Biology, The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, Uppland 75007 Sweden
Full Name of Supervisor: Eugene Savenkov
Title of Project: Under attack by a cereal killer: the hunt for disease susceptibility factors
Institution Department and Address: Crop Genetics Department, John Innes Centre Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7UH United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Professor Diane G.O. Saunders
Title of Project: Bridging the gap between activated plant receptors and downstream signalling
Institution Department and Address: School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick Coventry, Warwickshire CV4 7AL United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Vardis Ntoukakis
Title of Project: Effect of defense hormones, Jasmonic Acids, on wheat symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Institution Department and Address: Crop Science Centre, University of Cambridge, 93 Lawrence Weaver Road Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB3 0LE United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Jeongmin Choi
Title of Project: Cover crops for disease suppression in barley.
Institution Department and Address: Peter Wilson Building, King’s Buildings, West Mains Rd Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JG United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Helen Rees
Title of Project: Understanding how metal and reactive oxygen species protect metal hyperaccumulating plants against plant disease
Institution Department and Address: Department of Biology Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3RB United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Gail Preston
Title of Project: Fighting against bacterial wilt disease in tomatoes
Institution Department and Address: Department of Biology, University of York Heslington, York, North Yorkshire YO105DD United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Sara Franco Ortega
Title of Project: Exploring Barley yellow dwarf virus strain infection dynamics in wheat and viral reacquisition by aphids
Institution Department and Address: Protecting Crops and the Environment, Rothamsted Research, West Common Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Lawrence Bramham
Title of Project: Fungicide resistance in Zymoseptoria tritici through time
Institution Department and Address: NIAB, 93 Lawrence Weaver Road Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB3 0LE United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Dr Nichola Hawkins
Title of Project: Characterizing genetic resistance to pea root-rot disease using diverse germplasm collection
Institution Department and Address: John Innes Centre Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7UH United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Sanu Arora
Title of Project: Production of biologically active fungal effector proteins utilising Apoplastic Wash Fluid from Nicotiana benthamiana
Institution Department and Address: Department of Protecting Crops and the Environment, Rothamsted Research, West Common Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Alina A Igna
Title of Project: Including time-dependent infectivity and detectability in epidemiological models for plant disease
Institution Department and Address: Department of Plant Sciences University of CAMBRIDGE, CB2 3EA United Kingdom
Full Name of Supervisor: Nik Cunniffe
