Eligibility criteria for host universities
To host a research placement, universities must meet the following criteria:
- The university must have a computer science department, or an equivalent department/school that can accommodate the requirements of the proposal. The purpose of this programme is to complement the work university partners are already delivering to encourage more undergraduate students from eligible groups to continue to graduate-level programmes and to enhance research and scholarship in these research areas.
- Proposals must be primarily focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning,
- Hosts must be able to accommodate students in the summer of 2025 for six to eight weeks. All placements without exception will take place in the summer of 2025 between June and 2 September 2025.
- Hosts must provide students with the appropriate supervision and training, and a meaningful project to work on.
- Hosts must be willing to cooperate on the evaluation of the programme, including sharing aggregate data on the demographics of student applications and acceptances.
Eligibility criteria for students
This programme is primarily designed for undergraduate students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. However, depending on the demographics of their student body, universities may broaden the eligibility criteria to include other underrepresented groups, such as (but not limited to) women and individuals from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds.
As a minimum requirement, universities must include the below student eligibility criteria in their student application forms. Undergraduate students applying for a placement must meet all the essential criteria and at least one of the socioeconomic criteria outlined below.
Essential criteria:
- Be a UK resident and eligible to pay UK home fees.
- Have, or expect to have, the right to live and work full time in the UK for the duration of the programme and are able to provide proof.
- Are within the penultimate year of their undergraduate degree, or have already completed an undergraduate degree, in computer science or an AI facilitatory-related technical field.
- Are not currently studying for or have completed a master’s degree or PhD.
Socioeconomic criteria:
- Have been eligible for free school meals.
- Live in an area in the lowest two deciles according to a postcode measure such as IMD or POLAR.
- Have at some stage been in local authority care.
- Be in receipt of full state support for maintenance for their course of undergraduate study.