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NOTICE:  The 2023-24 applications will be open towards the end of the Michaelmas Term. Eligible students will receive an email directly. The information found within these pages will be updated over the course of the October/November 2023.

Application Procedure

You must submit your application, using the form below, by 5pm GMT on 12 January 2024.  The application is at the end of this page, but please read the page so you have an understanding of the process before committing your choices to the application.  Please note that the scheme is operated on a well-defined schedule and unfortunately we cannot accept any late applications.

You will be informed by around the end of February/beginning of March, via email, of the overall outcome of your application. If a place is confirmed, then, particularly for foreign placements, you might then like to contact your Tutor concerning College sources of financial support for travel costs. There are various College and University sources of funding for academically-related travel in the vacations and your Tutor should be able to offer you some guidance about these.

The nature of the commitment we expect from applicants, and the associated timescale, should be clearly understood. Once a student has been provisionally allocated a place by the Department, which is usually done by late January or early February, a proposal is made to the prospective host and student informed of the placement they are proposed for. This can only be done ONCE REFERENCES HAVE BEEN RECEIVED (University-related referees prefered so current information can be obtained), so you might like to check beforehand with your referees that they will be able to provide their references promptly (and to consider nominating alternative referees if there is any uncertainty about this). In order to facilitate this, it may also be advisable to submit your application well before the deadline (for example, before Christmas), since references are often solicited soon after an application is received. At this point students are expected to make an application to their College or other funds for additional financial assistance, sending proof of application as soon as possible to Mrs Lianne Sallows.

We expect to receive a response from the prospective host, which is commonly an agreement to accept the student, by mid- to late-February. In the case of Research Projects in Cambridge, or a place in the DoITPoMS summer school, these consultations will clearly be with people within the Department, although they might nevertheless take a little while to complete. In any event, at that point (mid to late February), a definite offer of a place at a specified location will be made to the student concerned. This offer should be accepted or declined by the student within a short period, with the deadline for decision set out in the offer email. It is recognised that the student may simultaneously be pursuing other possible arrangements for the summer, and could conceivably decline an offer at that stage. However, once a definite offer has been accepted by a student, THIS COMMITMENT IS REGARDED AS BINDING (on both sides). Since many of the arrangements are made well in advance, including preparations at the host institutions, allocation of funds from the Armourers & Brasiers etc, it is not regarded as acceptable for a student to withdraw after this stage, unless, of course, there is a good reason for this. It is important that this point should be understood and accepted.  However, we are mindful that short notice changes/cancellations may be required if a government introduces/changes entry restrictions or through ill-health of yourself or your host.

It is also possible that you may not receive a definite offer of a place by the end of February/early March. In that case, you are likely to be offered the option of being put on a "reserve" list. Students on this list may be offered a placement at any time during the period up to around mid-May. Such offers might, for example, arise as a result of us obtaining agreement from a host to take more students than they had originally intended. It's also possible that the offer may relate to a host other than those of your original preferences. Such offers must be accepted or declined within one week. Any student who declines more than two offers will be removed from the reserve list.

You should visit our Departmental intranet Working Away from Cambridge pages for links to relevant University policies relating to this matter, and familiarise yourself with the content of the Safeguarding Working Away website, including the University Policy to Safeguard Students Studying and Working Awayand HSD089M: Guidance for Travel, Fieldwork and Work Away from Cambridge.

NOTICE OF BRIEFING MEETING FOR EUROPEAN PLACEMENTS

There will be a briefing at the start of the Easter term for all students with confirmed EUROPEAN placements. More information on the format will be sent closer to the time.