Undergraduate Vacation Bursary – Information for Students for 2024 applications – TEMP PAGE
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Applications are invited from students to apply for the BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary from 1st March 2024. The deadline for applications is the 5th April 2024. 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 2024.
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.
Projects Funded in 2024
Click here to download a PDF of all the project details
| Name of Supervisor | Location | Title of Project |
|---|---|---|
| Rumiana Ray | University of Nottingham | Tri-partite interactions between Fusarium graminearum, the bird cherry-oat aphid and Barley Yellow dwarf virus on wheat |
| Wanxin Chen | Rothamsted Research Centre | Exploring hexaploid wheat GE lines defective in key aspects of fructan biosynthesis as a new way to reduce Fusarium head blight susceptibility |
| Pierre Buscaill | University of Bristol | Exploring the Mechanisms of Bacterial Pathogen Entry and Colonization in Plants through Wounds |
| Dr Helen Fones | University of Exeter | Composition and field-relevance of biofilms in the wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici |
| Adam Kleczkowski | University of Strathclyde | Can Potato Cyst Nematodes be effectively controlled by the introduction of resistant varieties? |
| David Read | University of Pretoria | Studying the variation in virulence of the Botryosphaeriaceae using a novel pine seedling system |
| Sarah Green | Forest Research (Northern Research Station) | Investigations into Curreya pithyophila and canker disease; a new health threat to Scots pine in Scotland |
| Lida Derevnina | Universtiy of Cambridge | Characterizing the immune receptor network in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) |
| Lauren Chappell | Warwick Crop Centre | Development of culturing and resistance screening techniques for downy mildew (Hyaloperonopora sp) on wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) |
| Dr Helen Bates | NIAB | Investigating the emergence of new Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lactucae races using long-read nanopore sequencing and comparative genomics |
| Beatriz Orosa | The King’s Buildings | Characterising the Role of Ubiquitin in Immune Response Activation |
| Professor Diane G.O. Saunders | John Innes Centre | Under attack by a cereal killer: enhancing wheat’s resilience to rust infection |
| Dr Henrik Stotz | University of Hertfordshire | Function of two tandemly duplicated immune receptor genes in disease resistance and its temperature sensitivity |
| Dr Chris Bell | University of Leeds | Manipulating resource flow between parasites and mutualists of plants |
| Dr. Brian Mooney | University of Oxford | Unleashing AI-powered predictions for plant-pathogen interactions |
