Lancaster University’s Chemistry Department welcomes its latest group of summer research students, who will be working the Department on key research projects.

This year, eight undergraduate students (funded through the Royal Society of Chemistry, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Henry Royce Institute, and the Faraday Institution), have joined the Chemistry Department for the summer to contribute towards the University’s research in a range of fields, from improving battery technologies to exploring ground-breaking drug discovery. The undergraduates will be spending between four and eight weeks with the Department, working alongside academics in the state-of-the-art labs.

The Chemistry Department has offered summer internships since its inception in 2012, aiming to give the most eager Chemistry undergraduates the opportunity to get hands-on experience in the world of chemical research, giving them the opportunity to utilise equipment and techniques they typically wouldn’t use as a part of their undergraduate courses. The disciplines available to undertake an internship in vary year on year, and are dependent upon funding availability and individual research group interests. In the past, there have been projects running in every facet of chemical research, from computation and characterisation, to organic and synthetic.

The students in this year’s cohort will be working on a very diverse range of projects, including the chemical synthesis of photoreactive molecules, electrocatalytic hydrogen production, and battery materials characterisation.

Reflecting on her project, current intern Beth Langford said: "My summer internship has given me valuable hands-on experience in various techniques in organic synthetic chemistry and characterisation. My project links to medicinal chemistry which underscores the central role that chemistry plays in solving real-world problems. The skills I've acquired during my internship have greatly informed my future career decisions, and I am now contemplating pursuing a PhD after completing my undergraduate degree.”

Director of Research for Chemistry, Professor John Griffin added: “Summer research internships offer students the chance to gain hands-on research experience which puts into practice the skills they are gaining during their degrees, and can also help to inform and support their future career directions. We are very pleased that so many students have been able to carry out internships this year and we are already seeing contributions to research papers and conference presentations emerging from the work they have been doing."