Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS) Internship Programme
Added to website: 21 August 2006
This is a programme that will fund SCCS delegates from developing countries and Eastern Europe to spend up to one month after the conference working on a conservation research project with a UK-based NGO, agency or university department. Interns must attend the conference.
To apply, applicants need to:
· have an agreed host organisation and an outline of the work they will do during their internship period;
· or ask the conference organisers to seek a host organisation for them by providing details of their interests by a prearranged deadline.
See below for further details of how to apply.
PROJECT SCOPE
Applicants must present an outline of the project or piece of work they intend to do during their month at the host organisation. Eligible projects include:
· analysing data
· writing a research proposal
· detailed library research, provided it has clear aims and outputs
· preparing a policy document
· learning a new technique
· attending a training course
· producing a paper for publication
It is important that being at the UK-based host organisation should significantly enhance the proposed work; for example because it enables access to advice, training or resources. Eligible hosts include any conservation-oriented NGOs or agencies, or university-based conservation research groups, anywhere in the UK - what’s important for us is that the host is as committed as you are to making the project succeed.
COMMITMENTS
The SCCS internship will cover:
· the intern’s costs of travelling to the UK from their home country and attending the conference;
· a stipend of £200 per week for accommodation and food for up to 4 weeks;
· travel costs within the UK;
· the SCCS will help coordinate logistic arrangements.
Host organisations are expected to:
· provide facilities;
· provide advice or supervision needed;
· help with any expenses not covered by the internship.
SCCS will not pay overhead costs of hosts. Interns are expected to submit a brief report on their project within one month of the end of the internship.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
There are two ways to prepare your application:
1) You contact a host organisation and agree a project with them before applying.
If you know a UK organisation or research group you would like to be hosted by and which is willing to host you, discuss your project with them, agree on its aims and what it is likely to achieve. You will need a contact person at the host organisation who is responsible for your internship. Look at the questions in the internship section of the application form and draft the answers. Discuss these with the contact person at your host organisation and finalise all of the answers with them. Only when you have done this and have the full agreement of the host should you complete the application form, answering all questions.
Once you have submitted your application, we will ask the contact person at your host organisation whether they support it. We need to have received both your application and the host organisation’s support by 15 November 2006. So, submit your application in sufficient time in advance of this deadline and make sure that your contact person is able to support your application by that date. Applications which falsely claim to have the agreement of the host organisation will be rejected.
2) You do not yet have a host organisation and wish us to contact the host on your behalf.
If you are unable to approach potential host organisations yourself, think about the kind of project you want to do and the type of UK-based host organisation you would like to work with. Then fill in the application form, answering no when asked whether you already have a host organisation. If you apply in this way, you must do so by 15 October 2006.
If we can identify host organisations that match your interests, we will show them your application. If they are interested in hosting you, they will contact you directly. Then you and your host organisation need to revise your application exactly as described above. We must receive your revised application, including the support of the host organisation, by 15 November 2006. Please do not contact us after 15 October - wait to be contacted by a host organisation. If you are not contacted, it will be because we cannot find an organisation willing to host your proposed project.
Your internship application will only be considered if you apply to attend the conference as well, using the conference application forms. If you are eligible for the SCCS bursary scheme you may apply for a bursary on the same form. In the event that your internship application is unsuccessful, it may still be that you are awarded a bursary to attend the conference.
Remember - the only information we have for judging your internship application is what you write on your form, so make sure that your application form describes clearly what you want to do, why you want to do it, and your experience and interests.
As with the general conference applications, we will inform everyone who submits a final application by 15 November about their application in early December.
For more information: See http://www.sccs-cam.org
