The Mary Lister McCammon Summer Research Fellowship

For women in mathematics and statistics

The Mary Lister McCammon Summer Research Fellowship is a funded opportunity to spend the summer before your final year at university working in research with a leading mathematician or statistician. In essence, this is a chance to try out being a PhD student for the summer, and to gain the research experience which will make your PhD application more competitive.

In addition to your research project, you will have the opportunity to gain insight from current PhD students into what doing a PhD is actually like, and you'll receive a briefing on how to go about applying for a PhD and the PhD programmes and funding streams which are available.

Being a PhD student is about much more than doing lots of mathematics or statistics. The ability to communicate your ideas to diverse audiences is absolutely essential to being a successful researcher. The programme will therefore also include communications training. Among other benefits, this will help you sell your ideas at an interview for a PhD.

The programme

• 10 week research project starting 30th June 2025.
• Stipend of £410 per week - the same as a PhD student.
• Supervisors based at Imperial College London and University College London.
• Up to 16 places available distributed among different areas of mathematics and statistics.
• Cohort activities at Imperial College London including communications training, PhD briefings, and social activities.

What our fellows think about the programme

"I am almost certain I would not now be doing a PhD if I hadn't had the MLM Fellowship."

"It was also the first time I was ever in an all woman group (or even woman majority group) studying maths. I didn't realise how much that helped me until I had this opportunity."

"I had the best summer on this fellowship, it was fun to be in London and spend time with Cohorts; exciting to learn about my topic; accessible in terms of difficulty and financially (I would not have been able to cover cost of living on my own); and I felt respected by staff as a "Pseudo-PhD" student."

Sponsors

The fellowships are supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council through the following Centres for Doctoral Training:

• Modern Statistics and Statistical Machine Learning 
• Collaborative Computational Modelling at the Interface
• Mathematics for our Future Climate

I-X and by the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London and University College London.

Areas

Fellows are available to work in any area of mathematics or statistics covered by one of our supervisors, though most places will be reserved for projects within the scope of the sponsoring CDTs. You will have the opportunity to nominate preferred areas of maths and/or supervisors in your application.

• View supervisors and their research interests

Eligibility

To be eligible for this programme you must be a woman who will be undertaking the final year of a masters degree (integrated or stand-alone) in the academic year 2025-2026. Your degree will be in mathematics, statistics, or a closely related subject such as physics or computer science, and you will be interested in exploring the possibility of undertaking a PhD in mathematics or statistics. You will be on track to receive at least upper second class honours, with a strong preference for candidates on track for a first class degree. You do not need to be an Imperial student.

No previous research experience is expected. 

Fellowships are not restricted by nationality or fee status, however it is also not possible for Imperial to sponsor visas under this programme. 

We expect fellows to be working full time on the project during the 10 weeks of the fellowship, with the fellowship their main occupation during this period. Further details can be found in the FAQs.

How to apply

Applications for summer 2025 are now open! Please apply using this application form. The form will ask you for a CV, transcripts, and a personal statement about the areas of maths or statistics you would be interested in working in. You are also advised to consult the supervisors list on the link above and to consider with whom you might wish to work. The application deadline is 18th February 2025 midday GMT.

Mary Lister McCammon

In 1953 Mary Lister McCammon was the first woman to receive a PhD in mathematics from Imperial College London with her thesis "The Relaxation Method Applied to the Solution of Problems of Viscous Flow". She was then a postdoc at MIT before going on to have a long career as a professor in the Department of Mathematics at Penn State University, who also have two awards named in her honour.

Enquiries 

Informal enquiries can be directed to Dr Ciara Pike-Burke.