1. Faculty of Biological Sciences
  2. Laidlaw Scholarship

Laidlaw Scholarship

Winners of the Laidlaw scholarship

The Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Scholarship is a university-wide programme open to all first-year undergraduates to apply for.   

The Laidlaw Scholarship aims to better equip students for the future by giving them a range of diverse and transferable skills that will help them succeed in the workplace and their future careers. The scholarship comprises two main elements: leadership development and a research project.

The Leadership programme includes a two-day summer residential as well as one day workshop, where students will develop leadership styles, public engagement, presentation skills and networking.

The Research project will see students undertake paid research over two consecutive summers each lasting six weeks. The students can either choose to complete a predefined research topic or identify a research topic of their own and will be guided by an academic supervisor who will mentor them through both six week periods.

Here are some of the students from the Faculty of Biological Sciences who are on the Laidlaw Scholarship Programme.

uPaige Stevenson, BSc Neuroscience
“I will be conducting experiments, presenting and analysing data in order to investigate molecules called histone deacetylase inhibitors (also known as HDAC inhibitors) which have shown promise as future treatments for neuronal disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.”

oYu De Chao, MBiol Zoology
“I am currently working on a research project investigating the link between biodiversity and human health in an urban landscape. This is an opportunity I took up to experience how a research job is usually conducted and to further my interest in conservation, especially to understand the different perspectives and angles we can take to approach urban biodiversity and green spaces.”

dLillie Bell, BSc Medical Biochemistry
“During this project I will be carrying out some of these experiments in order to further the ongoing research, and be expected to analyse and present findings both to other's involved in the project and, indeed, other academics outside of this research”