Medical Research Scotland - MRS Undergraduate Vacation Scholarships

MRS Undergraduate Vacation Scholarships

You get 420 GBP per week (about 500 EUR) for a summer research placement lasting 6 to 8 weeks, working full time at 35 hours a week. You carry out a real research project on a question linked to human health and gain hands-on lab experience alongside an academic supervisor. The money comes from Medical Research Scotland, a Scottish charity that funds biomedical research and wants to encourage students to consider a research career. It hands out up to 50 of these scholarships each year.

Who can apply

• Degree level: You study for an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree and have not yet graduated by the time the placement ends.
• University: You study at a university in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.
• Where the project runs: The research must take place at a Scottish university or research institution. It cannot be held anywhere outside Scotland.
• Field of study: Any subject is fine, as long as your project addresses a question relevant to human health or disease. This covers the cause, prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness, or the development of medical devices.
• Year of study: Students in their 2nd or 3rd year when they apply are preferred, but this is not a hard rule.
• Separate from your course: The project must be separate from the work you already do for your normal degree.
• First time only: You cannot apply if you have held an MRS Vacation Scholarship before. You may send only one application per academic year.

How to apply

You first find and contact a supervisor yourself, then plan the project together. MRS does not match students to supervisors. Your supervisor submits the application online and adds you as a collaborator. Applications for the 2027 round are expected to open in the second week of November 2026. You normally hear the outcome by the end of May.