Pilot Research Internship programme launches

Research Internship posts in the Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology Department are taking place this spring as part of a pilot initiative to develop students’ employability and research skills. The opportunities arise from the University of Exeter’s existing Student Campus Partnership scheme, which provides a means by which staff can employ students to undertake a variety of work and research over a set amount of hours.

So far, six internships have been set up. Tom Rice, a lecturer in Anthropology created a 35 hour internship to assist in the completion of a review to an audio feedback exercise. After the intern started, Tom decided to extend the total period to 80 hours. Tom said, “I feel our students are a huge untapped resource. Many of them have excellent research and writing skills which academics could benefit from harnessing in the development of their research. The internship scheme is a win-win situation, as students gain valuable, paid work and research experience in interesting areas, while lecturers get useful assistance with developing their projects”.

The Department and Employability team are working together to enable the students to get a valuable experience from the application and interview process, thanks to Work Placements Officer Hannah Ellis-Murdock. College Employability Manager, Julia Paci, commented; “I hope that this will be the start of an exciting new avenue to explore and embed within departments to add to the range of support we provide students to develop their skills and CVs”.