FAQs

Applications for the 2026/2027 programme are now open! Our application section outlines the process; check your eligibility here.

The actual application form should take around 20 minutes to complete. Before you begin to fill out the application form, it is important to take time to prepare your answers to the four questions included that require a short paragraph answer each.

Our main advice with the application form is to focus on being honest about who you are. We want to hear about you so we can provide our applicants with the best access to the programme. We are looking for applicants who write with enthusiasm for research, regardless of any level of prior experience with research.

The questions we ask on the application form are listed in our step-by-step guidance.

If you’re struggling with these questions, you may want to take a brief look into what being a postgraduate research student involves (Prospects describes what a PhD is here), reflect on what in your degree you most enjoy most and why, and consider the aspects of our programme description found on our website that most appeal to you and why.

AI can be a useful tool for generating ideas, researching topics, improving structure, or refining your work.

However, your answers must demonstrate your own understanding, knowledge, creativity and passion for research and your subject. We want to hear from you, with answers related to your experience. AI can’t write a good answer about you, and that’s what we’re assessing.

This is an opportunity to find a placement that really excites you and has the skills you want to gain! Find the full list of placement locations on our website here.

You will need to select the top three placements you would like to apply for, for the full-time, eight-week summer placement. 

Select the location of the project and the subject you are interested in and this will show you which placements are available in those areas.  When looking at placements, be sure to check that the placement address is within an hour and a half commute from your accommodation. 

Each placement listing includes:
– the host institution
– working pattern
– whether it requires working with animals
– the placement host’s dates of availability
– a summary of the skills you can gain, and
– either an overview of the project or a summary of the host’s work. 

Some placements will have a specific research project already defined, while others will give you the opportunity to tailor the project around your interests. The latter is a great opportunity if you have a specific interest or skills you want to develop.

Please note, the application process for these placements is managed by the In2research team. Please do not contact the placement hosts for any of these projects directly.

While we do our best to match you with the placements that you have chosen, we sometimes cannot give everyone their choice! On the application form, we ask you if you would be okay with us matching you to a placement you have not chosen. We would do this by looking at the placements you had chosen, alongside your fields of interest and experience. 

It is important to remember that a placement you didn’t choose may have a lot of transferable skills and experience that you can gain – so be sure to read the description and skills you can gain thoroughly.

The deadline for applications is Sunday 4 October at 23.59.

If you are interested in going into postgraduate medical research, then we would encourage you to apply!

Placements in many different subject areas may have a medical link, so be sure to check out different subjects other than ‘Medicine/healthcare’ in the placement listings. If you are more interested in pursuing a practice-based medical career, then In2research will not suit your needs.

To be eligible for In2research, you will need to have completed at least one year of a relevant undergraduate degree by the time you start the programme. Read our full criteria on our eligibility page.

We invite applications from: 

• Students who will be in their second, third and fourth undergraduate year by the time they start the programme in January.
• Master’s students
• People who have already completed their undergraduate degree or postgraduate-taught degree, regardless of employment status. 

Please note: We can not accept your application if you have ever been enrolled, taken part in or completed a PhD. 

If you are a master’s student who would like to apply, please check your schedule or speak to a course supervisor to ensure that you will be available for a full-time, eight week placement in the summer, as some courses require their students to complete long projects in the summer.

If you’re a first-year undergraduate but you’re interested in joining the programme in the future, please register your interest for next year, and we will notify you when you are eligible for the following programme.

Everyone on the In2research programme will have a full-time, eight-week research placement. The available locations can be found on the placement listings form. You do not have to be studying in these locations to complete a placement.

For Cambridge placements, free accommodation will be provided.

For other placement locations, you will need to have accommodation in the location of the placement for the full eight weeks of your placement during summer within an hour and a half commuting distance.

Once you have been offered a place on the programme and have confirmed your research placement, you will receive a tax-free stipend of over £3,500 (equivalent to National Living Wage) while completing the placement. This stipend can be used for things like travel and food costs.

In2research considers the socioeconomic background of all applications via the Social Mobility Commission’s Toolkit.

To be considered for our shortlist, you must meet at least one of the eligibility criteria that indicates a low socioeconomic background. Our questions will consider:

• The occupation of your main household earner when you were aged 14
• If you were eligible for free school meals during your school years
• If your parents went to university
• The type of school you attended.

We want to help as many people as possible who are underrepresented in research degrees and careers. If you are in doubt whether you would be considered, we recommend applying.

If you’re selected for interview, we anticipate that you will hear from us by mid-November. 

All interviews will take place online over Zoom. If you receive an invitation, you will be sent a link with the date, time and interviewer options. You will only need to select one slot for your interview.

Make sure that you show us your passion for your area of interest and postgraduate research. Reflect on any experiences you have had in your area of interest and specify what interests you about research.

It can be helpful to write out any experience you have using the STAR method to prepare for the interview. It can also be helpful to practise saying these examples to someone else or in the mirror. 

You will also be required to provide proof of ID (in the form of a passport or share code) and a household income/student finance document. Please ensure that you have these documents ready ahead of the interview.

If you are invited to interview, the In2research team will send you a comprehensive interview guide to help you prepare.

The programme kicks off in January with an in-person away day. From January until April, there are four workshops and four mentoring sessions that run online.

Workshops typically take place from 6pm on Wednesdays, and you will meet your mentor for a mentoring session outside of work or study. This amounts to a commitment of about four hours a month,  although it may be more if you need to prepare anything (e.g. your personal statement for your placement host).

The full-time, eight-week placement will run between 1 June – 31 August. Exact dates are finalised between you and your host once your placement is confirmed.

The programme finishes with a second away day and celebration event in London where you have the opportunity to display, discuss and celebrate your research with a research output.

A timeline can be found on our In2research home page and you will be provided with more details once accepted onto the programme.

There are four online workshops and four online mentoring sessions to attend alongside your full-time, eight-week research placement.

In order to take part in the eight-week research placement, we expect you to:

– Complete all programme surveys
– Attend three out of four of the workshops
– Attend three out of four of the mentoring sessions

To receive your certificate of completion, we expect you to:

– Create a research output towards the end of your placement

You are expected to complete some tasks in your own time as preparation for sessions, such as personal statement writing and completing surveys. We expect the time commitment to be roughly four hours a month before your full-time, eight-week summer research placement begins in the summer.

There are also two in person away days with networking experiences that you can enjoy. These are professional development days with skill building workshops and keynote speakers that will compliment what you gain throughout the programme.

On your application,we will ask you about your subject interests and place you in a small mentor group of one-two participants with an experienced researcher aligned with your subject interests.

You will meet with them following each workshop. You can ask them questions about research and postgraduate applications and to share tips for success. They can also give you feedback on your workshop tasks, such as commenting on your CV and personal statements.

Each session will be different, covering a range of topics which may include understanding what a PhD is, academic CV and personal statement writing, interview preparation and more. 

While we do not expect you to bring anything to the workshops (except your enthusiasm!), we will send you information after the workshops for work you may need to prepare ahead of your mentor sessions.  

As a participant on the programme, you will be committing to a full-time, eight-week placement at one of various locations across the UK over the summer (you can find our locations on our placement listings page) to either:

(a) complete a bespoke research project

OR 

(b) to contribute to a wider existing project

You will gain and develop your research skills in your area of interest, as well as have the opportunity to network with academics. You will also create a research output that you will display and discuss at our celebration event in September.

Your participation in the In2research programme includes a research placement that takes place for an eight-week period over the summer in one of our hosting locations across the UK (access the full list here). The location of your research placement will be confirmed following a matching process which includes close consideration of your placement choices as well as your areas of research interest.

You will need to have accommodation in the location of the placement for the full eight-weeks of your placement during summer. For Cambridge placements, free accommodation will be provided.

You will receive a certificate of completion after the programme. However, In2research is not a formal qualification and does not count towards credits for Masters programmes.

This programme will offer you the information, confidence and research experience to support you to progress to postgraduate study.

There are many benefits to completing the In2research programme, regardless of whether you go into postgraduate research, a research career, or a different career entirely. 

In previous years, participants improved their confidence and knowledge of the postgraduate research process, with some of the participants going on to secure PhD places. They also developed key skills like communicating research, writing personal statements or research proposals, and networking. 

If you decide to do a postgraduate degree, completing the In2research programme helps to develop the knowledge and skills required for PhD applications and the experience gained can be a benefit in applications for research positions.

If you decide that postgraduate study isn’t for you, you will still gain many skills applicable to alternative careers. Together with the research placement experience, applying for this programme may give you a foot in the door for lots of other career pathways.

Alongside the workshops, mentoring sessions, placement and away days, you will also have access to Canvas – an online platform that houses everything you need to know about the In2research programme, including workshop recordings, helpful career resources, extra support and guidance and an opportunities page where you can find out about scholarships, webinars and more. You can also use it to connect with your fellow participants.

The In2research team is always on hand to help you and answer any questions throughout the programme.

The support does not stop when the In2research programme ends! Once you have completed the programme, you will be invited to join the In2research Alumni Community. This will allow you to connect with previous In2research cohorts, attend networking events and continue your career journey with workshops and webinars. 

Participation in the programme is completely free! We provide a tax-free stipend to support the participant when at their research placement. We also reimburse any travel costs to our participants that arise when travelling to our two, in-person away days.

Participants will be paid a tax-free stipend equivalent to the National Living Wage. Over the eight-weeks of the full-time research work placement, this amounts to above £3,500.