Harry Smith Vacation Studentships

The Society offers a limited number of awards to enable undergraduates to work on microbiological research projects during their summer vacation. The scheme also gives early- and mid-career scientists the opportunity to gain supervision experience.

These awards have been named in honour of Professor Harry Smith (1921-2011), Society President 1975-1978, for his well-known support of microbiologists and microbiology students at the start of their careers.

Key details
  • Maximum of £3603.20 covering a student stipend and specific research consumable costs
  • Applications open on 1 December 2024 and close on 20 February 2025
  • Eligible membership categories: Full and Full Concessionary Members
  • Minimum membership: One year membership and two consecutive membership subscription payments required.

Enquiries about this scheme should be made by email to [email protected]


Please read all the information on this page carefully and ensure you have read and agreed to the grant rules before submitting and application. 

 
Eligibility
Eligible membership categories:
  • Full Concessionary Member
  • Full Member
Minimum membership period required:

A minimum membership period of one year and two consecutive membership payments is required.

Applications must be made on behalf of a named student.

Applicants hosting students will act as the project supervisor and must be PhD qualified or hold a senior research or academic position in a Higher Education Institution, research institute, industry, clinical or infection science setting. Applications will be considered from International Members subject to compliance with employment laws and practices of the countries involved.

The student must be registered for their undergraduate degree in any area of biosciences or medical, dental, or veterinary science. Students should have completed a minimum of two years of study on the programme, but not have started their final year at the time they take up the studentship.

We recommend that principal investigators encourage early or mid-career laboratory members (e.g., postdoctoral researchers, new lecturers, and similar stage researchers in other sectors) to apply for studentships independently to gain vital supervision experience.

 


What is covered by the grant?

Eligible members can apply for up to a maximum of £3603.20 including:

For students:

The studentships provide a stipend of £400.40 per week for a period of up to eight weeks (minimum six weeks).

For supervisors:

Up to £400 for specific research consumable costs may also be awarded. The studentship application process will give supervisors the opportunity to develop their grant writing skills. Successful supervisors will also be able to advance their project management, leadership, and supervision skills as they mentor undergraduates during the summer project. Supervisors will gain experience in managing laboratory budgets and monitoring expenditure, and at the end of the studentship they will be able to develop their evaluation and reporting skills.

 


Application process

You will need to upload the following with your application:

  • A supporting letter from the student tutor or supervisor confirming the student’s recent grades and likely degree results to be able to make a judgement on how they are doing in their studies so far, and to determine if the student has the theoretical underpinning and academic abilities to understand and apply the experimental approach. Please provide clear, accurate and the most up to date information possible.

The Microbiology Society is leading the way with the Knocking Out AMR project, an ambitious, bold and extensive scheme of work aiming to promote feasible and effective solutions to AMR. To accompany this, we are building a Knocking Out AMR collection to serve as a central hub for the AMR content published in our portfolio. As part of the project, we would like to identify any grant applications that are AMR-related. If your application is AMR related, please could you indicate this on your application form in the ‘Project title’ section e.g. title of your project followed by (AMR related). Providing this information has no bearing on the outcome of any subsequent grant award.

Please ensure you read the attached guidance notes carefully before completing your application via Mi Society.

Harry Smith Vacation Studentship Guidance 2024
 
Deadline

Applications open on 1 December 2024 and close on 20 February 2025 

 


Award criteria

Award decisions are reviewed by a points system based on a defined set of criteria. Please find the criteria below.

  • The project aims and experimental approach are clearly described and the project is technically feasible and realistically achievable in the proposed time frame.
  • The proposed supervision of the student (by the applicant, or other staff) is appropriate to support the project through to successful completion
  • The project gives the student scope for innovation and the opportunity to interact with other researchers and/or present their work.
  • The student is showing good academic progress in their studies and has the theoretical underpinning, and/or academic abilities, to comprehend the experimental approach.
  • The project adds value to the student's degree experience through exposure to equipment/techniques/etc unlikely to be part of an undergraduate degree and the project offers the student an experience that fits with their stated career aspirations.

 


Publishing for the community

We are a membership charity and a not-for-profit publisher. Submissions to our titles support the community, ensuring that we continue to provide grants, events and professional development for microbiologists at all career stages.

Please consider publishing with us so that we can support more members to benefit from the experience. Just one article published with us generates the revenue to give grants to four early career members to attend Annual Conference or seven early career members to attend a Focused Meeting.

If you are new to publishing and would like to find out more, visit our Publishing Fundamentals resources.

 


Administration of awards

Applicants should expect to receive notification of the outcome of their application by email within two months of the closing date. Successful applications will also receive instructions on how to claim their award via their Mi Society account.

Awarded funds will be paid to the institution’s nominated account by bank transfer within one month of receiving a claim. Any errors in provided details may result in a delay in payment.

 


Harry Smith Vacation Studentship 2024 statistics

In 2024, there were a total of 64 applications. The number of applications received this year increased by 21%. 31.25% of applications were successful.