University Policy
It is university policy that students undertaking summer projects / internships must be taken on as temporary workers and paid the National Living Wage (plus holiday pay). National Living Wage is predicted to increase to between £12.55 and £12.86 per hour in April 2026.
The estimated cost for an 8-week project in summer 2025 is therefore between £3958 and £4536 depending on the exact increase in National Living Wage and the age of the specific student recruited (Employer National Insurance contributions will be taken for students over 21).
Bursary Fund
We have a small fund dedicated to supporting summer research projects, however, yearly increases in the National Living Wage mean our resources are constantly being stretched to the limit and we must anticipate receiving more bursary applications than we have the means to fund.
We ask all academics in the CMS wishing to host a project to make an effort to find funds from grants and other sources to help cover the cost of the project. We also ask that students apply to their colleges for support (where available) and subsidised accommodation. Projects requesting support from the bursary fund will be considered more favourably if there is complementary funding available from another source.
For more information on how to support a student in a bursary application including what we will consider when making decisions, please see the bursary webpages here.