During 2024/25, the Eden Centre offered funds for LSE undergraduate students to work as research interns and assistants, via the Academic Led Research Opportunities (ALRO) fund. Students also benefited from the experience, developing skills, insights into the research process, and up-to-the-minute disciplinary knowledge.
We wish to acknowledge the generous support from alumnus Chandra Patel (MSc Politics of the World Economy, 1988) and Namita Modi of the Antarctica Foundation, for making the 2024/25 awards possible.
Feedback from staff
“He saved me a huge amount of time by helping me direct my further reading and in one case to eliminate a potential research path that would have not borne fruit.”
“This was an excellent experience as a junior academic; it forced me to think more carefully about project design and methodologies.”
“By having to write up concise and clear instructions for this intern, I could articulate the aim of the project in a more compelling way, which will be helpful for the overall output eventually... [the student] fed back things to me or asked me questions which helped me to reconsider some of the details I had taken for granted.”
Feedback from students
"It was a great experience to work on something that would eventually be published, instead of focusing only on assignments. It has changed my future plans since I now want to do a research apprenticeship as part of my weighted university courses."
“On a theoretical level, having the time to really think critically and deeply about a topic is extremely interesting for developing new ideas and trains of thought that probably will follow me in my future career.”
"This project gave me an opportunity to do a new type of history."
Since 2019, the Eden Centre has enabled over 150 LSE students to collaborate with staff to extend and expand research projects. The ambitious Undergraduate Research Internship Scheme was founded with the aim of integrating students into the scholarly research-rich environment of the School – a key ambition of LSE 2030.
Student interns are given opportunities to gain insight into real-life research, building skills and helping to enhance their career prospects. They work in collaboration with staff to introduce fresh ideas and materials, extending the scope of research projects and developing strong working relationships.
We wish to acknowledge the generous bequest from the late Guy R Davies (BA International History, 1974), and his family, for making the 2023/24 awards possible.
“I’m applying to jobs which require the applied skills that I’ve developed further over the course of this internship, and having recommendations from the primary investigator will be very beneficial.” - Wilson King, BSc Accounting and Finance
"I've gained exposure to cutting-edge research and witnessed first-hand the planning and rigour thatgoes into producing it, which has led to a highly enriching and insightful work experience." - Sudhanshu Maheshwari, BSc Accounting and Finance
"My intern assisted me in adding a new dimension to our research study that we wouldn’t have been able to add if we hadn’t had that extra capacity. We wanted to look at the media environment in Kuwait and how it talks about young people. He and I worked together to design a content analysis of online newspapers in Kuwait. He did that brilliantly and he also generated really useful insights on different elements of our research work that I hadn't considered – he did a stellar job." - Sam Mejias, researcher in Social Justice and Community Engagement