STEM Summer Research Project List

As a STEM student, we understand that disciplinary focus is often your main priority when selecting the best and most rewarding study abroad experience. We offer a range of exciting summer research projects in five great locations: Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, and Spain. This list below highlights the range of project choices on offer, alongside their locations and their availability.

These programs are highly competitive and fill up fast. Once you decide your project preference please get your application in to us. We would recommend you also keep in mind an alternative project should your preferred option be already taken.

2020 Research Projects

Aerospace Engineering	Agronomy / Agriculture	Animal Behavior	Atmospheric Science / Meteorology	Bioinformatics
Biology	Biomedical Engineering	Biomedical Science	Cancer Biology	Cell & Molecular Biology
Chemical Engineering	Chemistry	Civil Engineering	Computer & Software Engineering	Computer Science
Developmental Biology	Earth Science	Ecology	Environmental Health	Environmental Science
Epidemiology	Food Science	Genetics	Imaging Science	Immunology
Insect Ecology	Large Animal Medicine	Life Science	Material Science & Engineering	Mechanical Engineering
Microbiology	Neuroanatomy	Neuroscience	Pharmacology	Physics
Plant Biology / Soil Science	Psychology	Science Education	Sport & Exercise Science	Virology

Aerospace Engineering

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
The effect of constraint on quench induced residual stresses during precipitation hardening of 7000 series aluminum alloys	Limerick	Reserved

Agronomy / Agriculture

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Discovery and Characterization of New Components Required for the Development and Control of Legume Nodules: regulated by acid soils to inhibit nodule formation	Brisbane	Open
Genomic selection for perennial ryegrass: A simulation study	Brisbane	Open

Animal Behavior

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Abandoning your birthplace: late instar monarch caterpillar movement between plants	Brisbane	Open
Depicting personality traits in fallow deer (Dama dama) fawns at capture	Dublin	Reserved
Human-deer interactions in the Phoenix Park, Dublin: a study aimed at creating a wildlife management model	Dublin	Open

Atmospheric Science/Meteorology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Satellite-based climatology of Australian dust transport	Brisbane	Open
Monitoring volcanic clouds over the globe based on satellite data (*)	Granada	Open
Visualization of NASA satellite data for the observation of Earth's atmosphere	Granada	Open
NOAA HYSPLIT Model: A complete modeling system for simulating dispersión of atmospheric material	Granada	Open
New particle formation and its impact on cloud-forming particles	Granada	Open
Effects of road traffic restrictions on NO2 levels in Madrid	Granada	Open

Bioinformatics

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
The causal effect of maternal coffee consumption on birthweight – A Mendelian Randomization Study	Brisbane	Reserved
The development and validation of the Automated Topology Builder (ATB)	Brisbane	Reserved
Characterization of peptides encoded by short open reading frames	Brisbane	Reserved
Genomic selection for perennial ryegrass: A simulation study	Brisbane	Open

Biology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Nighttime transpirational water loss and growth in crop plants: any systematic difference between grass-type plants (monocots) and broad-leaved crops (dicots)?	Dublin	Open
Nighttime transpirational water loss in barley: its response to photoperiod length	Dublin	Open
Changes in aquaporin expression in roots of barley/wheat in response to a partial reduction (excision) of root system	Dublin	Open
Aquaporin expression in lateral roots of barley in response to nitrogen limitation	Dublin	Open
Apoplastic barrier formation in roots of barley in response to nitrogen limitation	Dublin	Open
Water quality in the small stream network	Dublin	Reserved
Physiological regulation of human urea transporters	Dublin	Reserved
Irish barley under stress: what can we learn from image-based phenotyping?	Dublin	Open
Who cut it? Investigation of protease activity during plant programmed cell death	Dublin	Open
Molecular and morphological analysis of CRISPR-Cas9 genome-edited Arabidopsis thaliana plants	Dublin	Reserved

Biomedical Engineering

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Role of Meninges in Concussion: Mechanical and Structural Characterization of Porcine Meninges Membrane	Limerick	Open
Capillary Performance of Multi-porous Wicks for two-phase heat transfer devices	Limerick	Open
Trans-thoracic echocardiography using a robotic arm	London - King's	Open
Fetal ultrasound using a multi-arm robotic system	London - King's	Open
Surgical repair of a rib cage using 3D Printing	London - King's	Reserved
Assessment of a physical simulator for a key-hole lung surgery	London - King's	Open
Chest wall motion assessment post-thoracic surgery	London - King's	Open
Use of glasses-free stereoscopic displays for image-guided interventions	London - King's	Open
3D printing of prosthetics using a novel silicone printer	London - King's	Open
Quantifying motor control outside the laboratory	London - King's	Open

Biomedical Science

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Characterization of human ligand-binding proteins of S. gallolyticus strains	Dublin	Reserved
Determining the host response to novel vaccine antigens	Dublin	Reserved
The effects of trauma-induced neuroinflammation on Alzheimer's disease-related pathology	Dublin	Reserved
Investigating the role of disease-causing proteins in motor neuron function	Dublin	Reserved
Examining gene expression in a zebrafish model of drug-induced visual dysfunction	Dublin	Reserved
Production of glycosylated surface structures by Campylobacter jejuni	Dublin	Open
Phenotypic characterization of Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated from different sources	Dublin	Reserved

Cancer Biology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Finding novel anticancer agents from plants	Aberdeen	Open
Role of cytokines in Human papillomavirus (HPV) protein E7 driven immune-suppression	Brisbane	Reserved
Which immunosuppressive pathways prevent natural killer cell activation to kill tumor cells?	Brisbane	Reserved
Association of microbiome biofilm formation in colorectal cancer	Dublin	Reserved

Cell & Molecular Biology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
The role of G protein-coupled receptors in the physiological processes underlying cognition, memory & mood	Aberdeen	Open
The molecular mechanisms involved in wound healing	Aberdeen	Reserved
Screening teratogens to identify mechanisms of action	Aberdeen	Open
Heads or tails? Stem cell programming using electrical cues	Aberdeen	Reserved
Identifying new drug targets for aortic valve stenosis	Aberdeen	Reserved
Understanding the role of inflammation in Type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis	Aberdeen	Open
The impact of sex on the expression and function of GPCR drug targets for pulmonary arterial hypertension	Aberdeen	Open
Study of a new receptor target for brain and spinal cord disease	Aberdeen	Open
Stem cells in the development and maintenance of the eye	Aberdeen	Reserved
Antimicrobial resistance-driven changes in microbe-host interactions	Aberdeen	Open
Focussed on Fat: Understanding the function of genes control human adipose tissue development and how they influence metabolic health	Aberdeen	Reserved
Characterization of peptides encoded by short open reading frames	Brisbane	Reserved
Developing new antibiotics through directed evolution	Brisbane	Reserved
Physiological regulation of human urea transporters	Dublin	Reserved
Who cut it? Investigation of protease activity during plant programmed cell death	Dublin	Open
Molecular and morphological analysis of CRISPR-Cas9 genome-edited Arabidopsis thaliana plants	Dublin	Reserved
Activating AMPK for the treatment of DMD	London	Open
Can extracellular vesicles isolated from cows' milk affect human immune cell responses in vitro	London	Reserved
Cell signaling regulation during endothelial cell growth	London	Open
Do extracellular vesicles play a role in vascular inflammation in hyperglycemia	London	Reserved
Does hypoxia modulate functional divergence and proliferative potential of endothelial cells?	London	Reserved
Effect of early life nutrition supply on the development of spleen and thymus in calves	London	Reserved
Investigation of fluorescence-labeled extracellular vesicles from equine mesenchymal stem cells	London	Reserved
Perineuronal net development in a model of preterm brain injury	London	Reserved
Understanding the role of phosphate in the terminal differentiation of osteoblasts into osteocytes	London	Reserved
Characterizing the equine endothelial cell and its role in exercise-induced angiogenesis	London	Open
Mitochondrial dysfunction in neonatal brain injury – do Prohibitins play a role?	London	Reserved
Identifying Cellular Mechanisms for the Skeletal Benefits of SFX-01	London	Open
Is collagen content modulated in torsed equine umbilical cords?	London	Open

Chemical Engineering

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Computational studies on materials for sustainable energy applications	Brisbane	Reserved
Lubrication behavior of colloidal solution on different surface morphologies	Brisbane	Open
Phosphor recovery by thermal technologies of dairy waste products	Limerick	Open
Production of bio-based solvents from lignocellulosic biomass	Limerick	Open
Pyrolysis process as a sustainable management option of poultry manure	Limerick	Open

Chemistry

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Antimicrobial properties of silver	Brisbane	Reserved
Computational studies on materials for sustainable energy applications	Brisbane	Reserved
The development and validation of the Automated Topology Builder (ATB)	Brisbane	Reserved
Isolating natural products from Australian native lands	Brisbane	Reserved
Pools of phosphorus in soils of Papua New Guinea	Brisbane	Reserved
Co-creating inquiry-focused experiments for the Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratory	Glasgow	Reserved
3D Printing of Gels	Glasgow	Open
Self-assembly in Polyoxometalates	Glasgow	Reserved
Chemistry of the F-Elements	Glasgow	Reserved
Luminescence Switching using Plasmonics	Glasgow	Open
Block copolymer self-assembly and polymer particles	Glasgow	Reserved

Civil Engineering

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
An Experimental Investigation of Composite Action in Double Layer Bending Active Gridshells made from Engineered Timber	Limerick	Open

Computer & Software Engineering

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Security risks for the modern/electric vehicle	Limerick	Open
Blockchain and the Digital Twin	Limerick	Open

Computer Science

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Crowdsourcing digital content moderation	Brisbane	Open
Extracting Physical Signals from Machine Learning Models	Brisbane	Open
Virtual Reality demonstration of a Humans internal latency using HTC VIVE and an EMOTIVE EPOC (Brain human interface)	Dublin	Open
The Role of the Environment in Learning to Program: Exploring Educational Programming Data with the Blackbox Dataset	Dublin	Reserved
Mini Supercomputer: Reducing the Cost and Carbon Footprint of High-Performance Computing Development	Dublin	Open
"Non-Traditional" Computer Scientists: A Social Computing Project to Help Improve Diversity, Equality and Success in Computer Science	Dublin	Open
Antimicrobial Peptide Prediction	Dublin	Reserved
Textual Entailment for Expert-Guided Document Classification	Dublin	Open
Operationalizing Ethics in AI systems	Dublin	Open
Improving QoE of Chatbots users using Facebook Messenger and Dialogflow	Dublin	Reserved
Dynamic Adaptive Video Streaming over HTTP using Software Defined Networks	Dublin	Open
Can we make the computer identify the emotional moods of our friends from their speech with the robustness of our natural ear?	Dublin	Open

Developmental Biology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Screening teratogens to identify mechanisms of action	Aberdeen	Open
Heads or tails? Stem cell programming using electrical cues	Aberdeen	Reserved
Cell signaling regulation during endothelial cell growth	London	Open
Does hypoxia modulate functional divergence and proliferative potential of endothelial cells?	London	Reserved
Investigation of fluorescence-labeled extracellular vesicles from equine mesenchymal stem cells	London	Reserved
microRNA regulation of embryonic cell development	London	Reserved
Understanding the role of phosphate in the terminal differentiation of osteoblasts into osteocytes	London	Reserved
Identifying Cellular Mechanisms for the Skeletal Benefits of SFX-01	London	Open
Is collagen content modulated in torsed equine umbilical cords?	London	Open
Does genomic copy number variation in failed early equine pregnancies impact on gene expression?	London	Open

Earth Science

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Extracting Physical Signals from Machine Learning Models	Brisbane	Open

Ecology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Depicting personality traits in fallow deer (Dama dama) fawns at capture	Dublin	Reserved
Human-deer interactions in the Phoenix Park, Dublin: a study aimed at creating a wildlife management model	Dublin	Open
Water quality in the small stream network	Dublin	Reserved

Environmental Science

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Satellite-based climatology of Australian dust transport	Brisbane	Open
Effects of road traffic restrictions on NO2 levels in Madrid	Granada	Open
Nighttime transpirational water loss and growth in crop plants: any systematic difference between grass-type plants (monocots) and broad-leaved crops (dicots)?	Dublin	Open
Nighttime transpirational water loss in barley: its response to photoperiod length	Dublin	Open
Changes in aquaporin expression in roots of barley/wheat in response to a partial reduction (excision) of root system	Dublin	Open
Aquaporin expression in lateral roots of barley in response to nitrogen limitation	Dublin	Open
Apoplastic barrier formation in roots of barley in response to nitrogen limitation	Dublin	Open
Water quality in the small stream network	Dublin	Reserved
Irish barley under stress: what can we learn from image-based phenotyping?	Dublin	Open
Nano-Materials for selective adsorption and destruction of aqueous pollutants	Dublin	Open
Photocatalytic and Energy Storage Systems for Transition Towards Sustainable, Low-Carbon Societies	Dublin	Open

Environmental Health

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Potential health impact of ultrafine particles under different urban atmospheric conditions	Granada	Reserved

Epidemiology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Environmental toxicants, micronutrients and neurodevelopmental disorders	Brisbane	Reserved
The causal effect of maternal coffee consumption on birthweight – A Mendelian Randomization Study	Brisbane	Reserved

Food Science

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Lubrication behavior of colloidal solution on different surface morphologies	Brisbane	Open

Genetics

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Focussed on Fat: Understanding the function of genes control human adipose tissue development and how they influence metabolic health	Aberdeen	Reserved
Discovery and Characterization of New Components Required for the Development and Control of Legume Nodules: regulated by acid soils to inhibit nodule formation	Brisbane	Open
The causal effect of maternal coffee consumption on birthweight – A Mendelian Randomization Study	Brisbane	Reserved
Genomic selection for perennial ryegrass: A simulation study	Brisbane	Open
Identifying resistance to Fusarium wilt in wild banana lines	Brisbane	Reserved
Molecular and morphological analysis of CRISPR-Cas9 genome-edited Arabidopsis thaliana plants	Dublin	Reserved
Activating AMPK for the treatment of DMD	London	Open
microRNA regulation of embryonic cell development	London	Reserved
Does genomic copy number variation in failed early equine pregnancies impact on gene expression?	London	Open

Imaging Science

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Image processing and image reconstruction techniques to improve the accuracy of the information extracted from Nuclear Medicine images	Aberdeen	Open
Creating an interactive atlas of canine anatomy, histology and magnetic resonance imaging features	London	Open
Use of glasses-free stereoscopic displays for image-guided interventions	London - King's	Open

Immunology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Role of cytokines in Human papillomavirus (HPV) protein E7 driven immune-suppression	Brisbane	Reserved
Which immunosuppressive pathways prevent natural killer cell activation to kill tumor cells?	Brisbane	Reserved
Control the generation of follicular helper T cells in autoimmune disease and vaccination	Brisbane	Reserved
Determining the host response to novel vaccine antigens	Dublin	Reserved
Animal-free selection of antibody reagents	London	Open
Can extracellular vesicles isolated from cows' milk affect human immune cell responses in vitro	London	Reserved
Do extracellular vesicles play a role in vascular inflammation in hyperglycemia	London	Reserved
Effect of early life nutrition supply on the development of spleen and thymus in calves	London	Reserved

Insect Ecology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Abandoning your birthplace: late instar monarch caterpillar movement between plants	Brisbane	Open

Large Animal Medicine

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Investigating Sleep Disturbance in Dogs with Muscular Dystrophy	London	Reserved

Life Science

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Mesophiles and Thermophiles in the Urban Environment	Glasgow	Open
Bacteria in Freshwater: A Historical Record of Past Pollution?	Glasgow	Open
Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model Organism for Genetic Screens	Glasgow	Open
Investigating the reliability of Daphnia as a model to study the autonomic control of heart rate	Glasgow	Open

Material Science & Engineering

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
The effect of constraint on quench induced residual stresses during precipitation hardening of 7000 series aluminum alloys	Limerick	Reserved
An Experimental Investigation of Composite Action in Double Layer Bending Active Gridshells made from Engineered Timber	Limerick	Open
Finite Element modeling of quenching of aluminum alloys to account for thermal fluid interaction	Limerick	Open

Mechanical Engineering

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Computational modeling of mechanical behavior of lightweight carbon fiber materials	Limerick	Open
Computer-Aided Motion Analysis of an Electric Vehicle using Solidworks	Limerick	Open

Microbiology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Antimicrobial resistance-driven changes in microbe-host interactions	Aberdeen	Open
Antimicrobial properties of silver	Brisbane	Reserved
Developing new antibiotics through directed evolution	Brisbane	Reserved
Characterization of human ligand-binding proteins of S. gallolyticus strains	Dublin	Reserved
Production of glycosylated surface structures by Campylobacter jejuni	Dublin	Open
Phenotypic characterization of Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated from different sources	Dublin	Reserved
Animal-free selection of antibody reagents	London	Open

Neuroanatomy

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Creating an interactive atlas of canine anatomy, histology and magnetic resonance imaging features	London	Open

Neuroscience

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Environmental toxicants, micronutrients and neurodevelopmental disorders	Brisbane	Reserved
Investigating the role of disease-causing proteins in motor neuron function	Dublin	Reserved
The effects of trauma-induced neuroinflammation on Alzheimer's disease-related pathology	Dublin	Reserved
Examining gene expression in a zebrafish model of drug-induced visual dysfunction	Dublin	Reserved
Perineuronal net development in a model of preterm brain injury	London	Reserved
Mitochondrial dysfunction in neonatal brain injury – do Prohibitins play a role?	London	Reserved

Pharmacology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
The role of G protein-coupled receptors in the physiological processes underlying cognition, memory & mood	Aberdeen	Open
Identifying new drug targets for aortic valve stenosis	Aberdeen	Reserved
Finding novel anticancer agents from plants	Aberdeen	Open

Physics

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Simulating interacting particle systems	Brisbane	Open
Reflectance Spectroscopy of Organic Thin Films	Brisbane	Open
Precision atomic theory and tests of the standard model	Brisbane	Open

Plant Biology / Soil Science

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Discovery and Characterization of New Components Required for the Development and Control of Legume Nodules: regulated by acid soils to inhibit nodule formation	Brisbane	Open
Identifying resistance to Fusarium wilt in wild banana lines	Brisbane	Reserved
Pools of phosphorus in soils of Papua New Guinea	Brisbane	Reserved
Irish barley under stress: what can we learn from image-based phenotyping?	Dublin	Open
Who cut it? Investigation of protease activity during plant programmed cell death	Dublin	Open
Molecular and morphological analysis of CRISPR-Cas9 genome-edited Arabidopsis thaliana plants	Dublin	Reserved

Psychology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Psychology of behavior change: Healthy and sustainable food choices	Glasgow	Reserved
Exploring adolescent wellbeing in the #sleepyteens research project	Glasgow	Reserved
Spatial Skill Development in Engineering: An Intervention to Support First-Year Engineering Students in Working with Spatial Information	Limerick	Open

Science Education

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Understanding the role of Science Faculty with Education Specialties	Brisbane	Reserved
Microbiology Online - Video and Animation Development	Brisbane	Open
Playground Science for School Teachers	Limerick	Open
The underlying mathematical framework in the architectural process of Christopher Alexander	Limerick	Open
Paper folding Axiomatics	Limerick	Open

Sport & Exercise Science

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Assessment of various experimental protocols during the assessment of exercise intensity and lactate metabolism	Aberdeen	Open
Quantifying motor control outside the laboratory	London - King's	Open

Virology

PROJECT NAME	LOCATION	PROJECT STATUS: OPEN / RESERVED*
Molecular detection of novel canine circovirus (CCirV) and bocavirus (CBoV) in the UK	London	Open