Propose an N8 CIR Internship Project

Each year, the N8 Centre of Excellence in Computationally Intensive Research (N8 CIR) invites academic researchers and digital Research Technical Professionals (dRTPs) from across the N8 universities to propose projects for its internship scheme.

The scheme provides paid eight-week internships for penultimate- and final-year undergraduate student, giving them practical experience of computationally intensive research while introducing them to careers in digital Research Technical Professional roles.

For Summer 2027, N8 CIR expects to support up to four internships at each N8 university. Selected students work with academic and technical supervisors on projects with a strong computational or digital research infrastructure component.

Supervising an N8 CIR intern can benefit both your project and your professional development.

Previous supervisors have highlighted the value of:

• Advancing research projects, developing ideas and submitting research proposals to funding bodies.
• Progressing research software, data and computational projects that can be difficult to resource alongside day-to-day responsibilities.
• Exploring new computational approaches and developing experience of digital research methods.
• Gaining experience of supervising and mentoring students.
• Bringing fresh perspectives and ideas into research teams.
• Supporting the development of the next generation of digital research talent.

Applications are open to:

• Academic researchers who have completed a PhD
• Digital Research Technical Professionals at any career stage

Applicants must be based at one of the eight N8 universities:

• Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York

We particularly welcome proposals from postdoctoral and early career researchers who want to take their first step into supervising a student project.

Principal supervisors may propose no more than two projects.

Projects should give an undergraduate student a meaningful opportunity to develop technical expertise through computationally intensive research.

Projects may:

• Address a research question in Digital Health, Digital Humanities or Machine Learning
• Apply high-performance computing in another research area
• Promote good practice in Research Software Engineering, Research Data Management or Research Infrastructure Engineering

Suitable activities could include:

• Using high-performance computing
• Developing software or code that contributes to a research project
• Improving the user experience of digital research infrastructure
• Improving research data management or demonstrating the value of data stewardship

Projects should have a strong high-performance computing or digital research infrastructure component and demonstrate good practice in developing technical expertise.

Each project should involve a dRTP. This could be a Research Software Engineer, Research Data Manager, Research Infrastructure Engineer or another relevant technical professional.

If you have not yet identified a dRTP, or are still discussing their involvement, you can explain this in the application form and the panel will approach a dRTP on your behalf.

The principal supervisor will be responsible for the intern’s day-to-day activities. The intern will be expected to meet their principal supervisor and named dRTP each week to review progress and seek support.

In addition to the student stipend, N8 CIR will fund one hour of dRTP support each week for each project.

The application form will ask for:

• Contact details for the principal supervisor and co-supervisor
• A project summary of no more than 100 words, which will be used to advertise the project if selected
• An indicative weekly schedule
• A project proposal uploaded as a single-page PDF

Only the PDF will be sent to the selection panel, and must include

• Project title
• Lead supervisor’s name, department and email address
• The context and overarching aims of the project
• The computational aspects of the project and why the proposed resources are important to its success

You may include figures and references and do not need to repeat your schedule in this document. Use a font size of at least 11pt. Applications containing a PDF longer than one side of A4 will not be accepted.

If your project is selected, the PDF and project summary will be published to help students decide which opportunities to apply for. Students may contact you to discuss the project before submitting their application.

Proposals will be assessed by a panel within the applicant’s institution. Successful applicants will be told if their project has been selected and given information about the student recruitment process and relevant deadlines.

Due to the volume of applications, only successful applicants will be contacted.

• Project proposal deadline: midnight, Monday 4 January 2027
• Project assessment period: Thursday 7 January - Thursday 21 January, 2027
• Project selection confirmed with PI: Friday 22 January, 2027

• Student application period: Wednesday 27 January - midnight, Sunday 21 February, 2027
• Institutional panel assess applications (this may include interviews dependent on institution): Tuesday 22 February - Thursday 18 March, 2027
• Interns notified of successful application: Friday 19 March, 2027
• Internship delivery period: Tuesday 1 June - Friday 10 September, 2027

An internship can be completed any 8 weeks within the delivery period agreed between the supervisor and intern. These weeks do not have to be consecutive.

Explore previous N8 CIR internship projects for examples of the subjects, methods and activities supported through the scheme. These projects are not limited to Computer Science and we accept projects from any research background.

For questions about eligibility, project development or the application process, contact the N8 CIR team at enquiries@n8cir.org.uk.