University Summer Placements

Our Summer Placement programme 

The 12 week ‘Summer Placement’ scheme allows undergraduate students studying for a degree in Science, Engineering, Computing or Mathematics (and who expect to gain a first or upper-second class honours degree) to gain experience working in a number of different teams at Diamond. 

These 12 week placements are paid positions and will provide successful students with an opportunity to work on a research or development project. They are available to students who are registered as undergraduate students at the time of the placements – typically during the summer of their penultimate year.

Your placement

You will work on your own project during the summer by collaborating with your group and staff all across the organisation along with the support from your supervisor/s. Diamond has an excellent track record for helping students execute work which is valued not only by Diamond staff but also our User community. We have also welcomed previous summer placement students back to Diamond as they work and study towards one of our competitive joint PhD studentships, which shows how impactful our placements can be.  

In addition to working on your own project, you will also have the opportunity to get involved with other areas of work at Diamond to gain a wider view of the full range of what our facility does. You will be encouraged to learn about research teams based at Diamond and other facilities on-site at the Harwell Campus, and to participate in public engagement events, and in communicating science to a wider audience. 

You can apply for up to three projects and can read about each of the available projects on our Summer Placement page to make your selection. 

Please note: These placements require you to be on-site at Diamond for the duration.

Our Summer Placements are paid at a rate in excess of £20,283 on a pro-rata basis. Training and experience are also provided in the following areas: 

• Presentation training to prepare for your final talk on your project
• Post design as an important skill for the communication of science
• Python programming (if applicable for your project)
• CAD training (If applicable for your project)
• Public Engagement skills
• An internal programme of seminars and talks from leading scientists
• Tours and talks of other science facilities across the Harwell Campus

Placements will commence on 26 June 2023 until 15 September 2023.