Environmental Sustainability Summer Placement

Overview

Science and Technology Facilities Council - Salary: £23,493 per annum; Contract Type: Fixed Term - 11 weeks; Hours: Full-time; Location: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX; Closing date: 8th March 2026; Interview: Virtually via Microsoft Teams in April 2026; Start date: July 2026.

STFC's Environmental Sustainability Team (ES Team) works closely with other departments, acting as advisors to share best practice, collaborating on initiatives, supporting behaviour changes and embed environmental sustainability to reduce our environmental impact. Our work directly connects to and supports STFC's strategic aims and enablers, UKRI Environmental Sustainability Strategy and STFC's Environmental Sustainability Action Plan.

The role will be embedded within the ES Team, allowing for insights into the complexity of STFC and guidance, however the role will involve communication and interaction across the organisation.

This summer placement will build an inventory list of workspace consumables and PPE across STFC's departments. The project will identify purchasing volumes, highlight sharing opportunities, research sustainable alternatives, produce a cost analysis, and review waste streams. The final project will require the role to present findings to the wider Team and ES working groups, whilst contributing to wider sustainability initiatives.

Engineers and technical staff are essential to the science that STFC undertakes, operating ground breaking science facilities, pioneering new technologies, and developing research and instrumentation across a wide range of fields, such as physics, computer science, and space. Making our engineering and technical functions sustainable is key to making our world-class science sustainable.

Summer Placements at STFC

STFC's incredibly diverse range of placements allow you to work alongside world leading engineers, scientists, and technicians in highly collaborative environments. Whichever you choose, you will become a critical member of the team in which you will be exposed to exciting projects and challenges from the start. You will also be supported every step of the way by our dedicated Early Careers Development Team.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• To collaborate with the ES Team and Workspace colleagues to support the development of improved sustainability practices.
• To build an inventory of lab consumables & PPE equipment available across STFC's lab facilities and workshops, to identify purchasing volumes and sharing opportunities.
• To collect information for and write case studies on sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to consumables and PPE, including cost analysis and waste stream review.
• To engage with and support STFC environmental sustainability working groups and initiatives.
• Support the ES Team in crucial operations, communicating and collating information to key collaborators and information requests.

Person Specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

In order to apply for the role we are looking for the following:

Essential:

• You are in full time education at university, and will be returning to university/your studies to complete your undergraduate degree once the summer placement has concluded (S)
• You have the right to live and work in the UK for the duration of the placement(S)
• Presents and communicates information clearly. Both written and verbally (S&I)
• Can demonstrate good team working capabilities (S&I)
• Interest and enthusiasm for engineering or science (S&I)
• Good time management and organisation skills with an ability to meet deadlines (S&I)
• Ability to work independently when required (S&I)
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office 365 or similar (S)

Desirable:

• Interest and enthusiasm for environmental sustainability (S&I)
• Familiarity with Laboratory and workspace environment (S&I)

Employee Benefits

We are offering a fixed term position with a whole host of benefits including:

• 30 days holiday pro rata
• Flexible working hours.
• Easily accessible public transport links/ free parking.
• Excellent learning and development opportunities.

Link to more benefits:

As this job does not fulfil the UK Government minimum criterion for obtaining sponsored migrant worker status, we will be unable to apply for sponsorship for anyone not eligible to work in the UK. At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK.

You can check your eligibility here:

Application Guidance

Please note that we can only accept a maximum of 2 applications per candidate.

Part of our application process involves submitting your CV and a cover letter. Your cover letter should address your suitability for the opportunity based how you meet each essential criteria stated in this advert.

Please note that we hold the right to close this vacancy early if a sufficient number of applications have been received.

We ask some of the biggest questions in the universe, to answer some of the biggest challenges in the world. Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business support team explore the unknown across every field you could think of. And they turn what they find into work that changes the world around us.

What could you achieve with the world-leading facilities and experts of one of Europe's largest research organisations by your side? Join us and discover what's possible!