Wildlife, Veterinary and Horticultural sciences

AGRICULTURE BUSINESS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT (2 Spots)

New student research observation opportunities are available with one of the fastest-growing international producers of risk service for the food and drink supply chain. The business offers a complete range of compliance solutions for farms, fisheries, food processors, restaurants, and retailers. It operates in 40 countries across six continents and conducts over 35,000 audits and inspections each year, in addition to a range of tailored services aimed at protecting customers’ brands.

Students will have the opportunity to review and observe a variety of projects that provide quality assurance for farmers to implement. Students will observe current work to identify, market and deploy a business plan to expand their agriculture customer base within the UK and internationally.  Students will learn about the company’s agricultural division, its research projects, case studies and various market development plans to increase food traceability and improve food assurance. Activities may change at the time of the student’s arrival, depending on summer priorities. Computing skills may be required for certain tasks.

Animal Behavior and Welfare (1-2 Spots) 

Students selected for research on animal behavior and welfare will be integrated into a team of researchers, technicians and senior academic staff based in a university, just outside Edinburgh. This university offers unique expertise and infrastructure to conduct pioneering animal biosciences to achieve sustainable agriculture, control diseases and enhance health.

Activities will include hands-on animal husbandry, assisting with performance of behavioral tests to gain data on animal responses to different social contexts. The primary focus of the research is to design husbandry or breeding interventions that will improve animal welfare. Depending on research during the summer months, projects may include pigs, poultry or dairy cows.

The university is located at Easter Bush, about a 30-minute bus ride from Edinburgh. Outlying research facilities are located at Easter Howgate, which is 40-minutes by bus.

Horticulture and Plant Sciences (2 Spots)

Learn about plant science and conservation at one of the world-leading centers of excellence, covering over 70 acres and just one mile from Edinburgh’s city center. 

Students selected for this research and observation placement may be involved in a variety of ecological and biological research, including plant identification and biodiversity, species discovery, identifying species at risk of extinction as well as assisting the staff with hands-on gardening activities. Projects may differ at the time of placement.

In addition to Edinburgh, the Botanics has three regional gardens located at Benmore, Dawyck and Logan. Each of these gardens is different in topography, soils and climate. Students may have the opportunity to visit and assist on projects at these locations, during their six-week stay. Housing will be with other Adelante Abroad students in a flat located in Edinburgh.

National Wildlife Rescue Centre (2 Spots) 

Students interested in wildlife rescue and conservation may want to consider a summer research and observation internship in Scotland. Working with a team of researchers, you will participate in projects to help rehabilitate and release back to their natural environment a variety of animals, including seals, hedgehogs, foxes, badgers, baby deer and many other wildlife species.

If you are studying animal science, wildlife conservation, ecology or veterinary medicine, this placement will provide a unique experience in the Highlands of Scotland.  

Accommodations will be located in Stirling, near the center of the city. Your housing would be within a short walking distance to the bus for a 30-minute trip to the Wildlife Rescue Center. The train station is nearby for a 45-minute commute to Edinburgh. Stirling is rich in Scottish history, including Stirling Castle and the William Wallace Monument.  

The National Wildlife Rescue Centre, a component of the Scottish Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), treats about 10,000 wild animals every year. The wildlife team also hand-rear all sorts of orphans who would not survive in the wild after being separated from their parents. This includes foxes, otters, badgers, baby deer and more.

Affected by the seasonality of animals and the weather, the type of wildlife in the Rescue Center can change throughout the year. 

Students interested should apply early, as placements are limited to just two students for the six weeks.

PSYCHOLOGY (6 Spots)

Research placements at a major university in Edinburgh are available for psychology students interested in experimental psychology, social perception and cognition, political psychology, leadership and/or educational psychology. Placement supervisors have expertise in memory retention, manipulation of information, social inclusion, bullying, and peer rejection.

Please note that which areas of supervision are available depends on staff availability for that year. Activities relating to these areas of research may include but are not limited to assisting with data collection for on-going projects, research design, creation of study materials, and reviewing existing research.

Research Area 1 

Students may be involved in on-going research that focuses on political psychology, social perceptions to understanding political decision-making and leadership, and social perception of traits related to adverse childhood experiences. Applied research also is conducted in collaboration with the games industry that focuses on the assessment of environmental content in games.

Research Area 2 

Educational psychology focuses on two key research strands. One strand concerns bias-based discrimination in elementary school children and interventions that may help to reduce this. The other strand concerns the role of student identity and social justice on student performance outcomes and wellbeing, in the higher education sector. Adelante students interested in these areas would begin by working on existing data sets and literature reviews to address key research questions. Summer projects may also include other on-going research projects.

Research Area 3 

In the area of experimental psychology, studies include the nature of cognitive adaptations and the role they play in memory, attention, and social and cultural phenomena. Other research projects may include philosophical issues in psychology, epistemology, adaptive memory, cognitive science of religion and factors affecting cohesion in groups.

Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (1 Spot)

Research placements are now available with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which operates the Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park. This placement provides a unique opportunity for plant science and horticulture students as well as students in animal nutrition, zoology and habitat management.

RZSS is an international organization supporting a wide variety of research and conservation projects throughout the UK and around the world. Situated on 82 acres and located just three miles to the west of Edinburgh city center, students accepted will observe and assist the Head Gardner with a variety of projects focusing on animal nutrition, plants that animals eat, such as bamboo, and creating plant profiles. 

There are many other on-going research projects related to the RZSS, but it’s important to note that candidates would not be directly handling animals for health and security reasons. RZSS also has a strong education component, including a “Wild about Scotland” traveling bus, that goes to schools and community events.  The Zoo’s Wild Genes Laboratory works on cutting-edge genomic research.

The Scottish Plant Hunters Garden (2 Spots)

Located in the town of Pitlochry in the Scottish Highlands is public garden that commemorates the Scots who travelled the world looking for new species of plants. The Garden is divided into different areas of the world over six acres of Woodland on the slope behind the famous Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Several improvements have been made and are still on-going to enhance the Garden for visitors. Housing would be in a self-catering apartment in the village of Pitlochry. 

Pitlochry, in the Scottish Highlands, is where the Scottish Plant Hunters Garden and Explorers Garden commemorates the Scots who travelled the world looking for new species of plants. The Garden is divided into different areas of the world over six acres of Woodland on the slope behind the famous Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Several improvements have been made and are still on-going to enhance the Garden for visitors.

Students will have the opportunity to assist the Garden team to learn about a variety of plants, their origins and garden uses, and work on specific garden projects and designs.

Pitlochry is the largest town in Highland Perthshire, with a population of just 3,000 inhabitants. On weekends, students can explore the many walking trails in the surrounding hills, stroll along the River Trummel, as well as visit the historic Pitlochry Dam and Fish Ladder, and watch the salmon swim upstream. The Pitlochry Festival Theatre, which is adjacent to the Explorers Garden, attracts over 100,000 people each year for its high-quality theatrical productions. The train ride through the countryside to Edinburgh is just under two hours. 

SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES  (2 Spots)

**New Observation & Research in Scotland** – 2 spots in Speech & Hearing Sciences at a prestigious university in their graduate lab.

Calling Speech and Hearing Science students: Continue your interest in Speech and Hearing Sciences in Scotland. Six-week educational research visits are available on a competitive basis with faculty at a major university in Edinburgh. Studies include normal and disordered speech and hearing, including stuttering and stammering; memory and speech production; and hidden speech phenomena. 

Candidates will be involved in several ongoing research projects in the Clinical Audiology, Speech and Language Research Centre (CASL), many of which involve measurement of typical speech, language or hearing. Student also may participate in experimental data collection and analysis in English or any other language, collecting new speech data or learn aspects of speech production analysis using existing data. Active topics this year include bilingualism, dialectal variation, speech intelligibility in noisy environments, and a range of other topics. In CASL one of the main areas of research focus is in the use of ultrasound to study speech production, where you can learn about articulatory analysis. Other projects may include students running online experiments using the GORILLA experimental package, for example, to test listener attitudes to certain accents of English. There will be opportunities to mix with the research students at both the doctoral and masters level, and students are welcome at talks and seminars.

Candidates will enjoy visiting the city of Edinburgh and experiencing its rich architecture, history, and culture. The summer months offer many opportunities to explore other parts of Scotland even as short trips, including vibrant, romantic and beautiful location both urban and rural, from Glasgow to the Highlands, and mid-summer provides many hours of daylight in which to sight-see, with Edinburgh as a base.

Apply now, spots will go fast and are first-come, first-serve.

VETERINARY PRACTICE  (4 Spots) 

Candidates observe veterinary services and care of healthy, sick and injured animals, as well as surgery procedures and consultations, typically in local veterinary hospitals or clinics. 

Students will participate in all, including the day-to-day duties of the clinic. Services provided include surgeries, consults, medicine dispensing, grooming and urgent care. When observing operations in progress, the student will learn a variety of surgical procedures with cats, dogs and some exotics. The student will have ample time to interact with the team veterinary surgeons and nurses and gain an international perspective on operations and pet care. 

The placement is for four or five days a week, and the practice can be up to a 30-minute train ride from downtown Edinburgh, which is where the Adelante Abroad housing is located.