Student placements and work experience

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute welcomes students who wish to gain hands-on experience of working in a scientific research environment while studying.

We are currently reviewing all of our placement programmes. Further details will be available on our site in November.

Student placement schemes

We run a number of placements schemes for students at various stages of their education:

Sandwich Year Placements
Summer Placements
Work Experience Placements (14-19 years)

Please read our Frequently Asked Questions for further information. If you have questions on any of the above schemes which are not covered by the information on our web pages, please email recruit@sanger.ac.uk.

You can find out more about life at the Sanger Institute and the working environment by visiting the Working Life and On Campus pages.

Accommodation & other useful links

Cambridge has many accommodation options. The following websites contain useful information to help you with your search:

The Sanger provides shuttle buses to Cambridge and various outlying villages.

For further information about accommodation and the local area visit moving to work at the Sanger Institute.

Sandwich Year Placements

Sandwich Year placements are available for students who are following a four year degree with a dedicated year for a work placement included in their course.

Placements are available for twelve months starting in the summer or autumn.

Placements are potentially available across the full spectrum of the Institute's activities. For a list of current openings please visit Current jobs. If there are no vacancies listed, this means there are no placements being advertised at present.

Applicants will be shortlisted to attend an interview based upon the merit of their application. You can find out more about the work of the Institute by visiting our research or scientific resources pages.

The scheme is open to EU students or any student at a UK university who is eligible to work full-time in the UK.

We will pay you a salary of £15,364 per annum. This is subject to UK standard tax and National Insurance deductions. Contracted working hours are 37 hours per week. The Institute's normal working day is 9am - 5pm (4:30pm on Friday).

You will also be entitled to 25 days per annum paid holiday plus bank holidays. More information can be found on our benefits page.

If you are shortlisted for interview, you will need to provide a letter of recommendation from your Course Tutor.

If you would like to receive an e-mail alerting you to available Sandwich Year placement as they are advertised, please register your interest by placing a tick in 'Student Placements'.

Summer Placements

Summer placements are typically available to students studying for their first degree (including medical and veterinary students) who are seeking research/work experience, usually during the summer break. We also welcome applications from master students.

Placements are typically for three months between June and September although it may be possible to accommodate alternative periods on request, ranging from one to four months.

Placements are potentially available across the full spectrum of the Institute's activities. Previous placements have included work that falls within the following subject areas however work in other areas of the Institute may be considered if available:

Molecular Biology
Bioinformatics
Computer Science
Protein Sequence Analysis
Model Organisms
Data Analysis
Laboratory Work
Virus Genomics
Systems Biology of Bone

These placements are limited in number and we cannot accommodate all requests. Applicants will be shortlisted to attend an interview based upon the merit of their application and availability of a placement in their preferred area of research. You can find out more about the work of the Institute by visiting our research or scientific resources pages.

These short-term Placements are open to EU students or any student at a UK university who is eligible to work full-time in the UK.

We will pay you a salary of £1,000 per month. This is subject to UK standard tax and National Insurance deductions. However as a current student, if you have not had any other earnings in the tax year you are unlikely to pay income tax.

Applications are invited from 3rd December 2012 until 28th February 2013 and should be made using our on-line recruitment facility.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview during April and early May.

If you are shortlisted for interview, you will need to provide a letter of recommendation from your Course Tutor.

Work experience placements

Work experience placements are available to school age students (14 to 19 years) who are looking to gain an insight into careers in scientific research.

Placements are typically for one week, although two weeks can be accommodated subject to availability of hosting departments.

Placements are based within specific teams where students will observe and where possible, become involved in the work of that team. When making an application, please indicate any areas you are particularly interested in. You can find out more about the work of the Institute by visiting our research or scientific resources pages.

Applications are invited from 3rd December 2012 until 31st January 2013 and should be made using our on-line recruitment facility.

Successful applicants are selected by team managers on the basis of their written application. All applicants will be informed if they have secured a placement by April.

Useful background information on work experience placements can be found on the following websites:

Please note, placements for students in years 10 and 11 are agreed in conjunction with the employability partnership.