Aiming High - Supporting Nuffield Future Researchers

The Nuffield Foundation supports less advantaged yet talented students in Year 12 to complete research projects in STEM subjects. This provides a valuable platform for making connections and evidence for their university applications. Due to the pandemic they have lost a large number of work based placements and have changed their approach to offering online placements named Nuffield Future Researchers.

We have been working together with a number of pilots and researchers to create a research question and resources around the following topic - COVID-19 and its impact on the aviation industry. We are asking students to complete research around the social, financial, environmental impact of the pandemic on air travel across the globe. We are supporting an incredible 36 students this year supported by 27 supervisors. The students will receive supervision via Google Classroom to write a research report and create a poster throughout July.

Hear from Krishna, one of the Year 12 students we are supporting with the Nuffield Future Researchers this summer. He’s supervised by UCL Teaching Fellow Bettina Bajaj.

"This programme has given me the opportunity to explore events which have impacted the aerospace industry in the past and see how they compare to the impact that coronavirus pandemic has on the industry. As an aspiring aerospace engineer, looking at the different ways in which global events have frequently affected aerospace companies has given me an idea of the possible challenges that I could face while working in this field. The human factors research that I carried out also educated me about the effects that a global event like COVID-19 has on engineers. Additionally, while working on this research programme I have also got the opportunity to improve my time management and organisation skills, both of which are important skills which I believe will be very useful during my time at university and in my career. Overall, working on a research report closely with a professor has been a great experience as I have been able to learn a lot about researching and report writing in a relatively short amount of time."

Meet Lily Ayres - one of our volunteers supporting the Nuffield Research projects this summer.

"I am really enjoying supervising Year 12 students on the Nuffield Future Researchers Project through the Aviatrix Project. It's a fantastic opportunity to help students build their confidence through the completion of this research project, which is in itself a huge achievement. It's great being able to offer guidance and help to students, and has created something so positive during this un-certain time with the research itself being based on the impact of COVID-19 on the aviation industry. I am really excited to mentor the students through to the finish line and see the research skills they develop along the way."

With the uncertainty of when students will return to school and the amount of teaching time Year 12 students will lose, we believe it is even more important than ever to provide this key group of students with some relevant experience over the summer to support and inform their university application. It is wonderful to be able to support so many students in a way which will have such a positive impact on their life chances.

Find out more about Nuffield Future Researchers 2020