Policy internships for NERC-funded PhD students
Current competition: for internships in the 2012-2013 academic year
The deadline for applications for 2012-13 is 17 July 2012.
How to apply
Applicants should submit:
A completed application form which has been approved by your Head of Department or principal supervisor, including information about your university training and why you are applying for an internship. Application form assessment criteria include: ability to provide relevant information clearly and concisely, evidence of experience and enthusiasm for communicating science (particularly with non-specialists), and evidence of other relevant skills and aptitudes.
A POSTnote-style summary briefing on a topic described in the "Areas of interest" section that could be the subject of an actual parliamentary briefing or report. Assessment criteria for POSTnote-style summaries include: policy relevance of the topic selected, ability to write impartially in a style suitable for policy-makers (rather than academics) and organise content in a clear, logical fashion. The summary should be no longer than 2 sides of A4 in size 12 font (comparable to Times New Roman).
Before preparing your summary you should examine the POSTnote
style of writing. It is not necessary to format your document in two columns per page, but you are free to do so. Please note, interns may be expected to work on something other than the topic they write on in their application during their internship. Applicants should avoid subjects close to their PhD topic. One of the interview's aims will be to see how adaptable you are to a new subject area.
Send one electronic copy of the completed application form and proposal attached to an email with the subject heading "PhD Policy Internships" to the Knowledge Exchange Group by 17 July 2012. Late applications will not be accepted.
Please also send a hard copy (including signatures and university / departmental stamp) of the completed application form and proposal to:
Ros Deakin
Swindon Office Administration Team
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House
North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1EU
We aim to notify whether applicants will be invited for interview in August 2012. Interviews will be held at POST on 13-14 September 2012. Please note, we will not be able to offer internships to candidates unable to attend these interview dates. Offers should be made to successful candidates by early October 2012.
Areas of interest
Applicants are free to choose any area which falls within the NERC science remit for the topic of their POSTnote-style summary. The NERC remit is described by the following themes:
- climate science (including adaptation to climate change)
- biodiversity
- sustainable use of natural resources
- environment, pollution and human health
- forecasting and mitigation of natural hazards
- Earth system science (eg ocean and polar science)
- environmental technologies
To further facilitate your choice of topic, internship host offices have highlighted more specific areas below. Please note, applications will be considered by all host offices.
POST would welcome applications on any environmental issue of policy relevance. Please note, the POST Board will choose the subject of the POSTnote.
SPICe would welcome proposals on any environmental issue of policy relevance to Scotland. Please note, SPICe emphasise they offer interns flexibility to determine the exact choice of topic for a briefing once they have been selected.
The Research Service would welcome applications on any environmental or agricultural issue of policy relevance to Wales.
An internship at CSaP would involve designing, constructing and running a Policy Workshop for the Centre. This would involve the following:
- work with the CSaP team and network to develop an idea for a policy workshop
- identify the chair, speakers and workshop participants, and design and issue invitations
- provide written and oral briefings to the chair and speakers, and draft briefing materials for the workshop attendees
- attend and speak at the workshop
- write up the workshop for the CSaP website and for a relevant news outlet (newspaper, magazine or blog)
The intern would work alongside the Centre's Head of Programmes to design and deliver the workshop. He or she would also take part in ongoing science-policy research projects, take part in other CSaP activities and attend meetings with the Director.
Timing and duration of internships
The start date will be between January and October 2013, with half the internships starting in January. On being made an internship offer, the start date is to be agreed between the applicant, the internship host office, the applicant's supervisor and research organisation (ie university of NERC research centre), and NERC. For current third-year students, the internship is likely to be in the fourth year of the studentship.
Funding and working arrangements
The successful applicants will receive a fully funded three-month extension to their PhD maintenance award, with their maintenance grant continuing to be paid while based at the internship host office. For those successful applicants who are not within frequent travelling distance of their host office, NERC will cover reasonable travel or accommodation costs. These extra funds will be paid to the student's research organisation by NERC and the applicant will need to arrange to be paid these extra funds with their research organisation. During the internship, computing, email and other facilities necessary for the project will be supplied by the host organisation.
Interns should complete the usual expected working week at their internship host office. NERC and internship host offices are keen to encourage applicants from all over the UK.
Note: POST, SPICe and RS are all strictly non-partisan organisations. Interns will be expected to abstain from any party political activity and generally to uphold the principles of parliamentary/civil service, including a commitment to confidentiality, during their internship.
Eligibility
NERC-funded postgraduate students registered for a PhD who are currently engaged in their second or third year of full-time study at the time of application are eligible to apply. This includes students funded directly from a NERC Doctoral Training Grant and students with at least 50% funding from a NERC research centre. Where students are co-funded by NERC but their funding is administered by another research council (eg NERC/ESRC studentships), they are eligible to apply (nb the topic of the application POSTnote-style summary must still fall within the prescribed "Areas of interest"). Because the scheme sets out to provide students with Science to Policy training, applicants with previous Science to Policy experience will not be accepted.
Queries
For queries related to general aspects of the scheme please send an email headed "PhD Policy Internships" to the Knowledge Exchange Group.
If you have questions for internship host offices please contact:
Nia Seaton from RS at the National Assembly for Wales on 029 2089 8987.
Dr Jonathan Wentworth at POST on 020 7219 2161.
Alasdair Reid at SPICe on 0131 348 5375.
Jackie Ouchikh at CSaP.
Please note neither NERC nor the host organisations can advise on the strength or weakness of individual topic proposals.