CENTA Research Experience Placements

• CENTA is normally able to offer approximately 5 – 8 Research Experience Placements each year across our CENTA partner institutions. Please note not all our partner institutions are able to host placements and those partners which do host placements may vary from year to year. (*** The number of placements we are able to offer will also vary each year dependent on the allocation we receive from NERC).
• Projects are advertised internally in those of our partner institutions who are hosting placements, as well as on this webpage.
• The interview and selection process will be undertaken by the host institution, who will notify the successful candidate and put in place the arrangements for the placement. Please check with the host institution for timescales and deadlines.
• Successful candidates will commence their REPs after the end of the undergraduate summer term.
• Duration of the placements will be 6 weeks.
• Placements may be carried out on a full-time or part-time basis.
• It is a requirement that all successful candidates complete an online report at the end of their placement.
• Students will be paid the appropriate National Minimum Wage rate (for those 20 and under) or National Living Wage rate (for those 21 and over) and where necessary receive a contribution towards research and training expenses of up to £500 during the placement. Unfortunately there is not scope to cover relocation or housing expenses. If you are not residing within an easily commutable distance from the host institution for your placement you would need to think about how you would be able to cover any relocation or travel costs yourself.

Students are subject to eligibility criteria to be able to apply for NERC REPs and must be: 

• Undertaking their first undergraduate degree studies (or integrated Masters).
  • Note: students in their final year who have graduated and no longer have student status at the time of the placement start are not eligible.
• Have not previously completed a NERC REP   
• Eligible for subsequent NERC PhD funding (see the relevant text in the Terms and conditions for training funding and associated guidance for further information). 

In order to address a historical imbalance, in summer 2026 it is our ambition to offer up to two of our Research Experience Placements to Home-fee eligible applicants from a Minority Ethnic background who meets the general eligibility requirements for participating undergraduate students. (International students are not eligible to apply, but may apply to one of our standard projects). 

This placement is not attached to any one specific project at the point of application. If your application is successful we will work with you to develop a suitable 6 week placement for you within the NERC remit at our of our CENTA host institutions. Our partners are Cranfield University, Loughborough University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester, the University of Warwick, the Open University, the British Geological Survey, the National Centre for Earth Observation and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Unfortunately we cannot offer placements at any other institutions or organisations. All placement projects must be within the NERC remit

**Home-fee eligible applicants from Minority Ethnic backgrounds may also apply to any of our advertised projects which are of interest to them. Please follow the instructions for applying to individual projects.

Eligibility of participating undergraduate students:   

Students are subject to eligibility criteria to be able to apply for NERC REPs and must be:  

• Undertaking their first undergraduate degree studies (or integrated Masters).
  
  • Note: students in their final year who have graduated and no longer have student status at the time of the placement start are not eligible.
• Have not previously completed a NERC REP  . 
• Eligible for subsequent NERC PhD funding (see the relevant text in the Terms and conditions for training funding and associated guidance for further information). 

In addition, in order to be eligible to apply to this placement Minority Ethnic applicants must be classed as a home student, as follows:  

• Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or   
• Have settled status, or  
• Have pre-settled status, or 
• Have indefinite leave to remain or enter 
• Be an Irish National 

If an applicant does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student and would not be able to apply to this opportunity. 

The full eligibility criteria can be found in Annex B of he UKRI training grants: standard terms and conditions of training grant 

Application process   

Students wishing to apply for one of these placements should apply directly to CENTA.  If successful we will then work with you to identify a suitable placement at one of our CENTA host institutions (University of Birmingham, University of Leicester, University of Warwick, Cranfield University, Loughborough University or the Open University).    

To apply via this route you will need to:    

• Complete the REP Student Application Form 2026 for home-fee eligible undergraduate students from Minority Ethnic backgrounds.    

• Submit a CV alongside your application, CVs should not be longer than 2 pages.    

• Complete the  REP EDI survey, entering the receipt number into your application form.    

Your application should be emailed to [email protected] by 23:59 on Wednesday 6th May 2026.    

At the moment we anticipate that interviews will take place during the week commencing 18th May 2026.    

Please note all applicants, provided you meet the criteria for eligibility for participating undergraduate students listed previously, are also eligible to apply directly for a placement via our standard route.   

The University of Warwick will host one REP placement, for which this is one of several possible projects.  

This project will explore how satellite observations can be used to monitor river discharge across Great Britain, combining geospatial analysis in Google Earth Engine with field-based observations in the West Midlands. You will gain hands-on experience in remote sensing, quantitative analysis, and hydrological research while contributing to an emerging approach for water monitoring.

For the full details on this project please view the project description.   

To apply for this placement you will need to:    

• Complete the  REP placement application form 2026.    

• Submit a CV alongside your application, CVs should not be longer than 2 pages.    

• Complete the  REP EDI survey, entering the receipt number into your application form.    

Your application should be emailed to [email protected] by 23:59, Wednesday 13th May 2026. If you have any questions about this project please contact the supervisors listed in the project description.  

Loughborough University will host one REP placement, for which this is one of several possible projects.  

Canals are unique freshwater ecosystems, but they are overlooked within ecological research and routine monitoring efforts. Despite this, they support a variety of macroinvertebrate species, and, as highly connected waterbodies that are regularly used by humans, likely support a large number of invasive non-native species. This project will contribute to a unique canal macroinvertebrate dataset and underpin research seeking to identify the optimal season for sampling macroinvertebrates to support better management and research efforts.  

For the full details on this project please view the project description.   

To apply for this placement you will need to:    

• Complete the  REP placement application form 2026.    

• Submit a CV alongside your application, CVs should not be longer than 2 pages.    

• Complete the  REP EDI survey, entering the receipt number into your application form.    

Your application should be emailed to [email protected] by 23:59, Wednesday 13th May 2026. If you have any questions about this project please contact the supervisors listed in the project description.  

The University of Birmingham will host one REP placement, for which this is one of several possible projects.  

Micro- and nanoplastics can interact with toxic metals in water and may alter how these contaminants move through the environment and affect aquatic life. In this hands-on 6-week project, the student will investigate how biomolecularly conditioned plastic particles bind selected heavy metals, gain training in laboratory and analytical techniques including mass spectrometry, and explore potential effects on the freshwater organism Daphnia magna. 

For the full details on this project please view the project description.   

To apply for this placement you will need to:    

• Complete the  REP placement application form 2026.    

• Submit a CV alongside your application, CVs should not be longer than 2 pages.    

• Complete the  REP EDI survey, entering the receipt number into your application form.    

Your application should be emailed to [email protected] by 23:59, Wednesday 13th May 2026. If you have any questions about this project please contact the supervisors listed in the project description.  

Cranfield University will host two REP placements.

Agriculture is a unique sector, covering 70% of the UK’s land. Alongside producing food, farms offer opportunities for carbon sequestration and biodiversity net gain. In this project, we focus on the role of peatlands within agriculture, viewed through the lens of farms’ pathways toward a netzero future. This student project forms part of the Land Use for Net Zero (LUNZ) Footprint programme. 

For the full details on this project please view the project description.   

To apply for this placement you will need to:    

• Complete the  REP placement application form 2026.    

• Submit a CV alongside your application, CVs should not be longer than 2 pages.    

• Complete the  REP EDI survey, entering the receipt number into your application form.    

Your application should be emailed to Dr Michelle Cain, [email protected], by Friday 29th May 2026. If you have any questions about this project please contact the supervisors listed in the project description.  

Cranfield University will host two REP placements.

Cities are among the most fragmented ecosystems on Earth but play an increasingly important role in supporting biodiversity. This project will investigate how habitat size, connectivity and environmental conditions shape urban pollinator biodiversity. The student will combine a structured literature synthesis with exploratory spatial analysis of biodiversity, air pollution and soil moisture datasets to examine how fragmentation theory from forests and agricultural landscapes applies to urban ecosystems. 

For the full details on this project please view the project description.   

To apply for this placement you will need to:    

• Complete the  REP placement application form 2026.    

• Submit a CV alongside your application, CVs should not be longer than 2 pages.    

• Complete the  REP EDI survey, entering the receipt number into your application form.    

Your application should be emailed to Dr Alice Johnston, [email protected], by Friday 29th May 2026. If you have any questions about this project please contact the supervisors listed in the project description.  

The Open University will host one REP placement.

This project will use a field spectrometer to characterise and compare hydrothermal minerals in basalt samples collected from an extinct volcano in Iceland as an analogue to understand fluid-rock alteration and the implication for habitability on Early Earth and other rocky planets, specifically Mars. You will be working in the interdisciplinary community of AstrobiologyOU where we address scientific, governance and ethical challenges associated astrobiology and related space missions. 

For the full details on this project please view the project description.   

To apply for this placement you will need to:    

• Complete the  REP placement application form 2026.    

• Submit a CV alongside your application, CVs should not be longer than 2 pages.    

• Complete the  REP EDI survey, entering the receipt number into your application form.    

Your application should be emailed to [email protected] by 23:59, Wednesday 13th May 2026. If you have any questions about this project please contact the supervisors listed in the project description.