We are delighted to announce the awards that we made under the first round of our Joint Undergraduate Research Placement scheme with the British Geriatrics Society (BGS).
Launched in 2025, the scheme aims to increase opportunities for undergraduate students, from any discipline, to explore and develop their interest in ageing-related research at an early stage. Centres could apply for funding to support three six-week placements, funded at the real Living Wage, and had to demonstrate a strategic commitment to ageing-related research alongside robust plans for training and support for the placement students.
The deadline for applications was in July 2025, with applications being assessed by the review panel. The panel’s funding recommendations were then approved by our Research Grants Committee and the BGS Board of Trustees. The review panel consisted of the following members:
- Dr Amy Roberts (King’s College London)
- Professor Claire Pryor (University of Salford and academic representative of the BGS)
- Dr Hannah Moorey (University of Birmingham and Joint BGS / Vivensa Foundation Doctoral Training Fellow)
- Dr Sanjay Thakrar (Director of Research at the Vivensa Foundation)
Thank you to everybody who gave their time and expertise to assist with the assessment of applications to the scheme.
Following the assessment process, four awards were made (equating to a success rate of 44%) to support 12 placements. You can find more details of the awards below.
The recruited students have been undertaking their projects over the summer, and are now coming to the end (or have recently finished) their placements. We hope the last six weeks have provided a valuable taster of ageing-related research, that will support them in the remainder of their degrees and in their future careers.
In addition, earlier this year we launched the latest round of the scheme, with a deadline in July 2026. We look forward to announcing the outcome of this round in due course.
Please expand the list of awards below to read more information about the centres and placements that were funded:
2025/26 Awards:
Award amount: £11,726
Students and project titles:
- Gabriel Matin – Scoping review of health and care adaptations for managing dementia in the context of multiple long-term conditions
- Lottie Park – Improving timely identification and support for Young-Onset Dementia in primary care
- Monika Grabowska – How is delirium superimposed on dementia (DSD) recognised in the community and what is the impact on carers and people with dementia?
Award amount: £10,808
Students and project titles:
- Chloe McGinty – Environmental and clinical antimicrobial resistance in Northern Ireland care homes
- Emily Lavery – Public transport accessibility to community pharmacies for older people
- Katie Lloyd – Use of non-steroid injections for hand osteoarthritis
Award amount: £10,525
Students and project titles:
- Millie Duguid – Qualitative research exploring the views of older people from diverse backgrounds on lifestyle and diet factors related to ageing well
- Shuzeda Chowdhury – Scoping and engagement activities with older people from different backgrounds on priorities for diet and nutrition in later life
- Vadym Duchenko – Metabolomics to inform muscle health in ageing
Award amount: £10,831
Students and project titles:
- Chris Happs – Predictors of sarcopenia-associated functional decline in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936
- Ganre Akpubi – The relationship between objective sleep and circadian markers and delirium outcomes in older adults: a systematic review
- Maria Amoah – Use of every day digital devices to monitor physical and cognitive changes in people with motor neurone disease (with an aim of ensuring that learning is transferable to older people more generally)
