Internship Grants
Clare has three prestigious internship schemes at leading international institutions for undergraduate students interested in medical, veterinary and scientific research.
J D Watson Undergraduate Scholarship
Clare has established a J D Watson Undergraduate Scholarship in conjunction with the Watson School of Biological Sciences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA. The Scholarship enables one Clare student each year to participate in the Undergraduate Research Program at the Watson School.
Students reading for the Natural Sciences or the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos are eligible to apply. The Scholarship is aimed at those seriously interested in pursuing a career in scientific research, and is offered to a second-year undergraduate who expects to graduate after three years, or to a third-year undergraduate who expects to graduate after four years.
The Scholarship is held for a period of ten weeks in the Long Vacation, starting immediately after the end of Full Term. It covers the cost of accommodation and tuition fees. For the successful student, Clare separately meets the travel costs (excluding visa costs) to and from the United States.
Further information on the Watson scholarship, including the process of application, is described here. Any further enquiries should be addressed to the Careers Tutor.
Mark Poznansky Undergraduate Studentship
Each year, a Clare Undergraduate student has the opportunity to spend 3 months at Harvard working with a former Clare Research Fellow. Professor Mark Poznansky PhD FRCP, former Harrison-Watson Fellow, is a Consultant in Infectious Disease Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. Dr Poznansky’s laboratory is based at the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center at MGH.
This post was established in 2002 under the joint direction of Dr Celia Duff (former Director of Clinical Studies) and Professor Poznansky. It builds on close links between them and aims to foster and develop academic excellence and aspiration in young biological scientists. The studentship offers a unique opportunity to work in an international centre of excellence. The successful student can expect to develop research understanding, technical skills, involvement in the planning of research programmes and may be able to present work for significant publication. The student will receive personal mentoring from Professor Poznansky.
The attachment will be for 12 weeks during the summer vacation. Subsistence up to $5000 (to cover the cost of accommodation and food) will be paid by Dr Poznansky’s research grant funding and the MGH. Clare will provide a grant to cover the cost of a return flight and visa application. From time to time it may be possible to accommodate more than one student, with additional students being hosted by other labs in the same institution.
Further information on the Poznansky studentship, including the process of application, is described here. Any further enquiries should be addressed to Dr Rob Semple.
Tsinghua-Cambridge Summer Studentship
This scheme, in its first year (2012), will provide the opportunity for two Clare undergraduates to spend 8-10 weeks of the summer at a laboratory at Tsinghua University in Beijing at either the school of Life Sciences or Medicine. The studentship is open to students in either the natural sciences (biology) or medical and veterinary sciences tripos. The studentship will only be offered to those in their first year if they can demonstrate significant laboratory experience beyond that which is taught in tripos.
The scheme is coordinated by Prof. Babak Javid in Tsinghua (a former Clare fellow) and Clare fellows in Cambridge. The students can be hosted in a variety of labs, and successful candidates will be permitted to express a preference from a list of host labs that will participate in any given year.
The studentship, is for 8-10 weeks (10 weeks is preferred) during the long vacation. It covers the costs of return flights to Beijing and accommodation. Additional financial support for basic subsistence costs in Beijing will be available from College.
Further information on the Tsinghua-Cambridge Studentship, including the process of application, is described here. Any further enquiries should be addressed to the Careers Tutor.
Cambridge-India Partnership
In addition to the schemes that Clare runs, Biological Science students are also able to apply for an internship with the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, India. This provides students with the opportunity to work on a summer project at one of the labs at NCBS. Places are available for up to 4 students to spend 8 weeks at NCBS in July and August. Full details are available here.