About us

Nuffield Science Bursaries Programme for Schools & Colleges aim to inspire, encourage and support young people who are considering working in, or intend to work in, Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM).  We aim to provide gifted and aspirational STEM students from all backgrounds with the opportunity to experience a professional research environment.  Our objectives are:

• To enhance students’ first-hand experience of scientific research to inform crucial career decisions.
• To broaden and deepen students’ understanding of STEM research
• To minimise societal and educational opportunity barriers to progression in STEM.

Over the next 2-3 years, we aim to address the need to widen participation in our school bursary scheme.  Over 2012 we will work with partner organisations who already provide opportunities and support for our target pupils.  By fitting a Nuffield bursary placement into an existing programme, students from less privileged backgrounds will receive the additional support which we believe is important if they are to compete successfully for placements, and if we are to maximise the benefits they will gain from our scheme.

For example, we will work with Teach First’s Higher Education Access Programme for Schools (HEAPS) and the Realising Opportunities group of universities.  Both of these organisations provide schemes of activities and mentoring to support students from deprived backgrounds.  These pilots, along with other regional variations, will explore some different models for widening participation while maintaining the quality of our bursary scheme.  2012 marks the start of a period of iterative evaluation, reflection and refinement of our scheme towards its aims over the next few years.