What is SURE?

SURE is a six-week summer programme which will support up to eight undergraduate students to undertake research within the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Space Research Centre at the University of Leicester. A range of projects will be available in the fields of astrophysics, space science, and condensed matter physics.  The programme will run from 23rd July to 31st August 2012.

Entry to SURE is through a competitive application procedure; the typical application to success ratio is 10:1. Successful candidates will be allocated an individual research project and supervisor.

Regular seminars will be held on current research topics, involving students and staff.  At the end of the summer, all participating students will produce a written report and give a brief presentation about their work.

Students will receive an allowance (approx. £250 p/w, less tax and National Insurance) from which they are expected to fund their accommodation, cost of living and travel expenses.  Accommodation is available (approx. £90 p/w) for those students requiring it.

SURE is administered by Dr Mark Wilkinson.  Please Contact Us with your queries.

Eligibility Conditions

SURE is open to students enrolled at a UK university; under exceptional circumstances, overseas applications will be considered.

To be eligible for SURE, you must:

• Be an undergraduate student (students having just finished their final year are eligible).
• Have a good academic record.
• Have completed at least one year of a university science or mathematics degree.
• Have a good understanding of English.

Research Areas

Information about the activities of the research groups at Leicester can be obtained from the following web pages :

• X-ray and Observational Astronomy

SURE Projects 2012

The SURE research projects available for 2012 are currently being decided. Please see the list here for projects available.

Application Procedure

You will need:

• A short CV and a covering letter, combined into one electronic document, preferably in PDF format.
• A referee, willing to submit a letter of reference on your behalf.
  

To make your application, follow the guidelines below.  The application deadline is 2nd March 2012 at 5pm.

A. Look at the research areas listed above.

B. View the research projects available

C. Fill in the online application form, attaching your CV and covering letter.

D. Arrange for your referee to send a letter of recommendation by email to kr124@le.ac.uk by the application deadline. Please ensure that SURE Reference is included in the subject line.

You will not be able to access the Application Form after 5pm on Friday 2nd March 2012, so please make sure you submit your application before then.

What the students thought

David Radburn-Smith

"For almost two months I worked at the Space Research Centre on the design of a new x-ray polarimeter. I'm working with the top physicists in their field at a centre that has helped build space-faring vehicles such as Chandra, XMM and the Beagle 2 lander - and they're paying me for it!

"My project is computational in nature and involves simulating the interactions between x-rays and matter. By studying the polarisation sensitivity of various metals the feasibility of a detector based on the simulated model can be analysed. The project makes use of many of the skills I've learnt at University so far and it's certainly a great help to my undergraduate career as a whole.

"As for after work activities, with various pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants, cinemas and Victoria Park all situated close to campus there isn't a shortage of things to do. In all, the SURE scheme has been an invaluable experience that I'm glad to have had the opportunity to take part in."

Harmony Shergill

"The best thing about SURE is having lunch with the other students every day. It turns out they aren't all "physics is my life" workaholics like I'd thought they would be, they actually all have a sense of humour!! The work is great because it involves learning new things whilst getting paid for it! I've been learning how to programme using IDL, without ever having used it before. It feels good, on those rare occasions, to be able to say I wrote a whole program without any help from my supervisor."

Caroline Cox

"The SURE programme has given me a great insight into the work of a researcher. It has certainly made me think again about doing a PhD. It has been good to have the chance to be at one with my computer and practice using a new computing language. The social side of the SURE programme has been really good and there has always been plenty to do whether its rounders, football or just going to the pub which often happens. I would recommend it to anyone!"

George Seabroke

"I participated in the SURE programme in the summer between the third and fourth year of my MSci Astronomy degree at University College London (UCL). The project I worked on involved fitting white dwarf Balmer absorption lines to previously calculated model spectra. This was carried out on the white dwarf spectra found in the 2 Degree Field (2dF) QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ) by the Anglo-Australian Telescope. I was fortunate enough to identify a DAB white dwarf from the survey, only six of which were previously known to exist! I have enjoyed the programme so much that I plan to continue with this work for my fourth year project at UCL. I would definitely recommend the SURE experience because the department here is very friendly and Leicester is an interesting place. It is a great opportunity to meet new students and academics, the result of which has convinced me to do a PhD. You never know, you could also discover something new: it's a 'SURE' thing!"

Richard Johnson

"The SURE programme has been a great experience for me. At last I've seen the use of all those boring computing labs I went through in the second and third years! I've been able to put into practice a lot of the useful physics I've learnt and also seen how people work in a research environment."

Clare Dobbs

"I've really enjoyed my time on the SURE program. My project was theoretical but has involved lots of computer work doing simulations of accretion discs. I found the project quite ambitious, which was good since I felt I was contributing to a real problem. Leicester was better than I expected, especially the area round the university, with lots of parks and trees. Sharing accommodation with other SURE students has made socialising easy. There have been many evenings in the local pubs, but also trips out to places, such as the National Space Centre."

Neil Stewart

At SURE I worked on X-ray diffraction studies for Space Applications. This included a whole range of different tasks, from hands-on experimental work to computer simulations, and there was always something interesting to do.
My supervisors were approachable and friendly and it was fantastic to go for coffee with other staff, hear about different people’s work, and learn about their lives as researchers.
I made some good friends with the other students, with whom we had lunch and went out for meals and drinks, which made SURE a really enjoyable experience socially, as well as academically.
I was also able to get involved playing 5-a-side football with the Physics staff, which was great fun!
Overall, the programme was an incredible learning experience, and has helped me make the decision to do a PhD, so I’d highly recommend it!

Amy Edgington

I loved my time on the SURE internship, the department was very friendly and gave me a great insight into the work of a researcher. My work included research into thermoelectric devices and their predicted performance, this included many different types of tasks including experimental, thermal and iterative modelling. SURE gave me the opportunity to develop as a physicist and contribute to a real project. All the staff that I met were very supportive and made me feel like a true member of the team. I would recommend the SURE internship to anyone considering a PhD as it gave a incredible insight into the academic research environment, the opportunity to meet researchers at the fore-front of their field and was overall a great experience!