Graduates receive £240,000 funding boost

11 February 2010

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Higher Education Funding Council for England

UCL and the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) have been awarded £240,000 as part of a national scheme designed to help young people into work.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funding means 150 graduates will get the opportunity to gain experience in knowledge-intensive companies across London and the south east.

UCL will administer 115 internships in the digital industries, advanced manufacturing, engineering and financial services, while the RVC will deliver around 35 life science internships.

Like other HEFCE-supported work experience schemes, places on the UCL-RVC scheme will be available to graduates of all universities, with priority being given to those who graduated last year and have yet to find stable employment, and those graduating in 2010.

The paid internships will help recent graduates to develop vital skills through both work-based learning and skills training sessions, and allow both small and large companies to continue novel research, development and commercial projects during the economic downturn.

The award will help both institutions to build on their existing programmes - UCL already planned to offer 50 work experience places this summer following a successful scheme last year.

Timothy Barnes, Executive Director of UCL Advances, the centre for entrepreneurship and business interaction at UCL that will manage the internships, said: "Students across the country continue to face an uncertain job market and the more training and work experience we can offer them, the better their chances of finding a suitable job.

Our programme last year saw 94.7% of students rating the scheme good or very good and of the 38 businesses that offered internships, 100% were satisfied or extremely satisfied with the work carried out by their interns.

This is a valuable scheme for students and employers and we look forward to delivering many more successful projects this year."

For more information about UCL Advances follow the link above.

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UCL Advances exists to stimulate collaboration among researchers, business and investors, driving innovations that benefit society and the economy, with a particular focus on new businesses and SME engagement.

Graduates receive £240,000 funding boost

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