Staff in Lancaster’s Chemistry Department have successfully secured funding from the Royal Society of Chemistry, AIChemy and EPSRC for six undergraduate internships this summer.

Professor John Griffin, alongside Dr Lefteris Danos, Dr Rachel Platel, Dr Julien Doulcet, and Dr Nourdine Zibouche supported applicants from both within Lancaster’s Chemistry Department and beyond, with projects spanning computational chemistry, advanced polymer synthesis, developing green catalysts, and new technologies for solar energy harvesting.

The projects will take place over the course of summer, lasting between 8-10 weeks. They will provide second- and third-year undergraduate students with first-hand experience of working in an academic research environment, whilst simultaneously supporting staff and the wider Department with its ongoing research endeavours, providing an important resource for researchers and an additional source of important experimental results. This year’s projects continue an established track record of the Department offering summer research opportunities to undergraduates, and the range of projects being studied reflect the diversity of research activities taking place in the Department. The funding secured for each of the projects is roughly £3000, with some variation depending upon the length of the project and the funding body.

On the successful acquisition of the grants, Professor John Griffin commented: “I’m really pleased to have another cohort of summer research students starting in Chemistry this year and I’m looking forward to hearing about the new exciting findings the research projects will bring. Our summer projects will cover a diverse range of topics and we hope that the experiences we provide to research students will benefit them as they progress in their studies and future careers.”