
About Summer CAMP
We recognise that certain groups of students are underrepresented in postgraduate study and academic careers, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds or lower socioeconomic status, and we are taking active steps to address this inequality.
Summer CAMP is an opportunity for undergraduate students with a passion for mental health and psychology to develop necessary skills for postgraduate-level research and build connections within academia. This programme is free and run entirely online.
“I was quite nervous since I am just starting my undergraduate, however [CAMP] has been super beneficial because I learnt basic things just as referencing, citing to how to read a journal article and just listening to the talks and what different areas in research there is”
Summer CAMP Participant 2021
Summer CAMP 2022
This year’s programme ran from 22 August – 02 September 2022. Information about next year’s programme will be published in Spring 2023.
The Summer CAMP Experience
A critical research skill is knowing how to turn an academic interest into a concrete research question with a tangible plan. CAMP Scholars will be paired with a Cambridge postgraduate researcher who will provide one-on-one supervision to help develop this skill.
Over the course of the two-week programme, Scholars will write a research proposal (1200 word limit) on a topic of their choice which aligns with their postgraduate supervisor’s work.* They will arrange 4-5 one-hour supervision meetings to come up with a realistic proposal for a masters-level research project. Supervisors will provide guidance on structuring the proposal, reading and citing research articles, writing in an academic style, and other necessary skills.
On the final day, Scholars will each give a short oral presentation on their proposal. After the programme, supervisors will provide feedback on the written proposal and presentation.
The programme will also include:
- Virtual social for Scholars and supervisors to meet
- Q&A panel on postgraduate student life
- Session on postgraduate applications and funding
- Talks from Cambridge faculty members
- Opportunity to attend a Cambridge research group meeting
What is a research proposal?
A research proposal is a document that outlines what you would like to research and how you intend to do this. It includes a background section summarising what is already known and the central aims of your study; a methods section detailing how you will collect and analyse data; and a conclusion discussing why your work is important.
Postgraduate psychology courses often require a research proposal as part of their application, and for PhD programmes, it is arguable the most important document you will submit. It gives you, as the applicant, the opportunity to demonstrate that you have the aptitude for postgraduate-level research can concisely communicate complex ideas, and that your interests are a good fit for the supervisor to whom you are applying.
However, undergraduate students are not typically taught how to write a research proposal, which can make postgraduate applications seem daunting. We hope that Summer CAMP will provide our Scholars will the practical knowledge and confidence to pursue academic research in mental health and psychology.
*Please note that Scholars will not be conducting any research during the programme or carrying out their proposed project.
“CAMP was an excellent opportunity to get to know more about the academic world and all the opportunities it has to offer. I feel more confident now to apply for further education programs, and writing a research proposal does not feel so scary anymore.”
Summer CAMP Participant 2021
Eligibility
Summer CAMP is open to undergraduate students who are currently based in the UK or Ireland and interested in pursuing research careers or postgraduate study in mental health or psychology. The programme is not restricted to students studying psychology.
Applicants must meet at least one of the following eligibility criteria:
- First generation to attend university
- From an ethnic minority background
- Having sought asylum in the UK and/or identify as a refugee
- Having been eligible for free school meals
- Education has been affected by illness or disability
- Having been, or currently are, in care
- Having been, or currently are, a carer
Application Process
You can access the application form here. Short-listed applicants will be invited to an informal online interview shortly after the application deadline, where you will have the chance to discuss your research interests with potential supervisors. Applications closed on Friday, 1 July 2022 at 5 PM (GMT). This year’s programme will run from 22 August – 02 September 2022. If you have any questions about your eligibility or the application process, contact us at Summer_CAMP@medschl.cam.ac.uk.
You may want to think about the following things, before filling out our application form:
- Your motivation to take part in Summer CAMP 2022
- Your academic or career goals
- A piece of academic work that you are proud of
- Your research interests and any ideas you have for a potential research proposal
Meet the Organising Team
We are a group of postgraduate students at the University of Cambridge who came together to recognise that certain groups of students are underrepresented in postgraduate study and academic careers, which is why we founded Summer CAMP.

Nina Lutz
Lead Organiser

Martine Skumlien
Programming

Tess Smith
Feedback

Anna Wiedemann
Admissions

Farah Hina
Admissions

Isaac Sebenius
Admissions

Camice Revier
Outreach
Meet the CAMP 2022 Supervisors
During the programme you will be advised by one of our Summer CAMP supervisors who will help you to write a research proposal.
““During the programme [I] got all the support I needed from my supervisor and I would definitely have to say that I felt like one of them. For the 2 week period I felt as if I was a PhD student at Cambridge. I would highly recommend this programme!!!”
Summer CAMP Participant 2021

Audrey Low
Department of Psychiatry | Cambridge Neuroscience
I am a PhD student undertaking neuroscience research in the field of dementia. Specifically, my research focuses on how the health of small vessels in the brain relate to other brain changes commonly seen in dementia, as a way of understanding the contribution of vessel-related changes in cognitive impairment. As part of this project, I am also looking at the heart-brain connection, by studying the interactions between heart health and risk factors of cerebral small vessel disease, e.g., sex, high blood pressure, exercise, diabetes, etc.

Calum Guinea
Department of Psychology
I am a first-gen academic and the first person in my family with an undergrad degree. I studied at Royal Holloway, UCL and worked at the University of Oxford before coming to Cambridge to work with Prof. Rebecca Lawson on the computational psychiatry of anxiety and depression symptoms and their implementation in the brain. I am generally interested in using computational models and neuroimaging to improve our understanding of mental health in a way that is clinically relevant.

Camice Revier
Department of Psychiatry
I am a final year PhD student in psychiatry and a first-generation university student. I dropped out of high school at the age of 15 due to a specific learning disability (ADHD) and only returned after my own daughter graduated. I’ve completed an AS at City College of San Francisco in Environmental Science and Studies, my BS at UC Berkeley in Molecular Environmental Biology, and my MPhil in Medicine at Cambridge. My current research is aimed at expanding the evidence and understanding of the relationship between sleep and social recovery in psychosis. With a secondary aim of examining the mediating effects of changes in cognition as part of the causal pathway. My research is motivated by input from people with lived experience with psychosis and based on what they have reported as an issue when becoming unwell and the most important components of their recovery.

Caoimhe Dempsey
Centre for Family Research
Hi, I’m Caoimhe, a second year Psychology PhD student from Ireland. I’m part of Cambridge’s Centre for Family Research. My PhD looks at families during the transition to primary school. I examine the experiences and processes that face not only children, but the whole family, and how we can use this knowledge to better support families during the start to school.

Dianna Ilyka
Department of Psychology
Hello, my name is Dianna and I am a third-year PhD student whose research investigates how social experiences following birth relate to infants’ development of brain mechanisms involved in the processing of social information. Typically I work with babies from birth up to their first year of life, and use a variety of methods ranging from infant-friendly neuroimaging approaches such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to recordings of parent-infant social interactions. Understanding how environment shapes the developing brain is crucial to informing us about the ideal conditions for babies’ growth and developing interventions for those at high risk for developmental disorders.

Elena Zevgolatakou
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
I’m Elena, currently a 1st year PhD student at the MRC CBU. My research focuses on post-stroke aphasia, which affects approximately one-third of stroke survivors and leads to language deficits; I will be using an app to deliver a novel therapy that targets its most pervasive symptom: word-retrieval difficulties. At the same time, I will be using neuroimaging (fMRI) to explore the neural mechanisms that underlie recovery.

Elizabeth McKiernan
Department of Psychiatry
I am an Alzheimer’s Society Clinical Research Fellow researching dementias in the Old Age Psychiatry group under Professor John O’Brien. I use ultra-high resolution MRI scans to investigate Dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer’s disease. I work and study part-time as I have two small children. I am the first in my family to undertake a PhD and I am interested in helping to widen participation in academia.

Eva Kaulich
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology | Cambridge Neuroscience
I am very curious understanding what makes organisms behave and how behaviour depends on its environment. I am researching how a group of molecules, called ion channels, influence behaviour. Ion channels are on the outside of every cell and they are responsible for communicating to the outside world and other cells. What I love about science is that it never gets boring, you can think about problems from so many angles and you need to come up with creative experiments. Outside the lab, I enjoy doing Parkour, traversing obstacles in an urban environment; as you can imagine there is also a lot of creativity involved in that.

Farah Hina
Department of Psychiatry
I am a second-year PhD student in Fletcher lab, Department of Psychiatry. My research focuses on understanding the experience of self and interoception in schizotypy and psychosis. To understand these mechanisms, I intend to use state of the art measures of interoceptive processing and examine the integration of interoceptive and exteroceptive signals in shaping the experience of the self. I also work in NHS (NHFT) where I am currently working on a number of projects investigating how can we improve mental and physical health using wearable technologies.

Grace Leung
Department of Psychiatry
Hello, my name is Grace and I’m from Hong Kong. My research focuses on biofeedback in virtual reality (VR), which is a promising way for individuals to learn the ability to control their own physiological responses. In particular, I aim to understand how individual differences may affect the efficacy and therapeutic outcomes of VR biofeedback in stress management and anxiety regulation. With a strong interest in digital mental health, I’m curious in knowing how we can utilise technology and game design to improve people’s psychological wellbeing.

Isaac Sebenius
Department of Psychiatry
I’m a first-year PhD student interested in developing new computational methods that leverage biological knowledge to address open questions related to mental health and psychiatric disorders. In particular, my work seeks to characterize and predict the spectrum of psychotic disorders by using machine learning to combine multiple types of neuroimaging-derived brain connectivity as well as genetic and other biological data.

Jodie Rawles
Department of Psychiatry
After my psychology undergraduate degree, I worked in mental health and social care before doing a Masters in Mental Health Ethics and Law. I have continued to pursue my interest in the intersections between mental health, ethics, and human rights through my PhD research. I am using a socio-legal approach to examine how adults with intellectual disabilities are supported to make decisions about contraception. My PhD has two parts: 1. Interviewing people with intellectual disabilities and surveying their supporters to find out about their experiences of contraceptive decision-making. 2. Analysing how their experiences compare to what two legal frameworks say about people making their own decisions in life.

Keith Liang
Department of Psychology | Centre for Neuroscience in Education
Hi, my name is Keith (he/him) and I am from Taiwan. My doctoral research aims to understand how immigrant/refugee children struggle to learn to read in an East Asian context. To this aim, I am currently doing neuroacoustic research on the rhythm of the poetry that we learn to read in Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and Hongkongers’ adolescence. We hope that this doctoral research will serve as a touchtone to further psycholinguistic research on reading and learning difficulties in an East Asian context.

Martine Skumlien
Department of Psychiatry
My research aims to understand the impact of cannabis on reward cognition, including apathy and anhedonia, and reward processing in the brain. I am especially interested in the impact on adolescent cannabis users. I am also interested in the effects of other psychoactive substances on brain and cognition, use of psychedelics and other substances to treat mental health conditions, and drug policy reform. I am funded by the Aker Foundation.

Mishika Mehrotra
Centre for Family Research
I’m a Gates Cambridge Scholar and for my PhD, I am examining the link between parent-child conversations and children’s executive functions. I administer cognitive assessments to 4- to 6-year-old children and obtain recordings of family talk unobtrusively in the family’s natural environment via wearable audio processing devices. I’m particularly interested in conversations that occur at mealtimes and finding ways in which parental talk can promote children’s cognitive development.

Molly Rowlands
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
I’m a PhD student studying the relationship between memories and our emotional well-being. I’m interested in understanding how we might control and prevent the recall of unwanted memories, and how this control might positively impact adaptive behaviours and psychological health. To this end, I analyse neuroimaging (fMRI) data and behavioural experiments to better understand these processes.

Nina Lutz
Department of Psychiatry
My PhD uses quantitative statistical methods to address gender-based stereotypes about self-harm. This work is contextualised within the history of academic literature on self-harm (1960s-present), which has perpetuated the idea that self-harm is “something girls do” because women lack self-control and are more emotional than men. I also supervise student dissertations which consider the societal contexts which place some groups of people at higher risk of self-harm, namely LGBTQ+ identity/discrimination and intersections of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and childhood trauma.

Rebecca Williams
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
My name’s Rebecca and I’m a first year PhD student specialising in dementia research. I use behavioural tests, neuroimaging and computational modelling to explore how the brain works and what might go wrong to cause dementia symptoms such as apathy. I’m originally from the North of England so love a good brew while I work. I also enjoy baking (a hobby you can eat = win-win) and taking part in theatre around Cambridge.

Saashi Bedford
Department of Psychiatry | Autism Research Centre
I am a second year PhD student at the Autism Research Centre, studying brain development in autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions using structural MRI. I am particularly interested in how brain development in those with neurodevelopmental conditions deviates from typical brain development, and what factors contribute to the huge variability that we see in these conditions and the association neuroanatomical alterations and trajectories. For example, my research looks at the impact of sex differences, differences across age, symptom profiles, and scan quality.

Sonja Stiebahl
Department of Psychology
I grew up in Germany and moved to England for university where I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford in 2019. Throughout my undergraduate degree, I undertook several research internships relating to topics ranging from learning theory to cellular mechanisms in neurodegeneration in the UK and the US. In 2020, I completed my MPhil in Basic and Translational Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge where I am currently a PhD student in Professor David Belin’s lab. My work mainly focuses on the plasticity of amygdala neurons in substance use disorders, which I investigate using behavioural rat models of cocaine addiction. I use whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology and molecular biology methods to elucidate these mechanisms.

Tess Smith
Department of Psychiatry
My research aims to elucidate the ways in which early life adversity, genetic propensity, and neural connectivity interact to shape one another and thereby influence early childhood development. In doing so, I utilise methods such as polygenic risk score analysis, partial least squares regression, and structural equation modelling.

Yufei (Cornelia) Cai
Department of Psychiatry
I am a second-year PhD student at the Department of Psychiatry. I am interested in understanding the emotional symptoms and specific behavioural symptoms in children with ADHD and comparing them with children without an ADHD diagnosis but with similar behavioural symptoms, children with multiple diagnoses, and typically developing children using a transdiagnostic approach. I am also interested in understanding whether the relationship between behaviour, cognition, and mental health in children with ADHD change across the childhood years.