Close
UCL East London Undergraduate Internship Programme
Are you a Year 2 undergraduate considering postgraduate study but unsure what it involves or whether it’s for you? The UCL East London Undergraduate Internship Programme is a six-week paid summer opportunity designed to widen participation for students to explore master’s study, build confidence, and gain direct experience of academic research and practice at UCL East.
We particularly encourage applications from students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in master’s-level education, and from those who have experienced educational, financial or structural barriers to progression. Through funded placements, mentoring, and tailored application support, the programme aims to help you develop the skills, insight and networks needed to progress to master’s study, including potential application to the UCL East London Scholarship.
About the Internship
UCL is offering a six-week paid summer internship for up to four current undergraduates between their second and third year of study.
Participants will work on projects connected to selected master’s programmes at UCL East in the following areas:
- Chemistry | Manufacturing Futures Laboratory
- Mathematical & Physical Sciences | UCL Institute for Materials Discovery
- Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis | Connected Environments
- Chemical Engineering | Manufacturing Futures Laboratory
The programme is designed to:
- Build academic and professional skills
- Provide mentoring from academics and PhD students
- Offer insight into master’s-level study
- Support applications for funded postgraduate study
Available Internships
Programme Structure
- Week 1: Welcome, cohort-building and introduction to UCL East master’s programmes
- Weeks 2–5: Project placements within host departments
- Week 6: Showcase, reflection, feedback and structured support with master’s and scholarship applications
Eligibility
To apply, you must be a current UCL undergraduate in your second year (entering third year in autumn 2026) And meet the eligibility criteria for the UCL East London Scholarship, meaning you must:
- Be ordinarily resident in the UK or Ireland and eligible to pay the Home fee rate AND
- Have an annual household income of £42,875 or less AND
- Have been a permanent resident for the last five years (since 2021), or have completed GCSEs or A-Levels in one of the following east London boroughs: Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, or Waltham Forest
Benefits
- £2,000 paid internship (paid in arrears for completed work)
- Supervision and mentoring from UCL academics and PhD students
- Experience that strengthens your pathway into postgraduate study
- Structured support to develop competitive master’s and scholarship applications
Apply to the UCL East London Undergraduate Internship Programme
Timings
- Closing date of applications: 15th April 2026
- Interviews: May 2026
- Start of Internship: 30th June 2026
If you have any questions or would like this information in another format, please contact anne.preston@ucl.ac.uk
Future pathways
The UCL East London Undergraduate Internship Programme is just one pathway into the UCL East London Scholarship, which helps students in the four Olympic burroughs complete Masters programmes at UCL East.