The Nuffield project: creating opportunity

The Nuffield project is the brainchild of the Nuffield Foundation set up by founder of Morris Motors, William Morris, Lord Nuffield in 1943; funding research for better social policy in education, welfare and justice.

Aside from founding and co-funding the Ada Lovelace Institute, the foundation also seeks to provide opportunities for young people to develop skills and confidence in science and research. Since 1996, the Nuffield project has supported over 1,000 students each year with bursaries and work placements at STEM organisations.

Providing opportunity and experience

One of the biggest challenges for young people on their journey into the job market or further education is the requirement for experience. To tackle the vicious circle of no experience, no job, the Nuffield project was set up to offer a diverse group of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds work experience in a STEM environment.

Working at participating companies, students could utilise their school holidays between years 12 and 13 to improve their skills. Using their school holidays to work at host companies offered them the opportunity to gain valuable work experience alongside researchers and industry professionals - to improve their chances of obtaining a place at university or the promise of a future job.

The opportunity was discussed at an EMBRACE meeting in May 2021 and taken up by BCS members who could offer placements where they worked. GoLiveTest - who specialise in new product development, testing and scaling - offered a placement for 20 students to work in the IT industry.

A placement at GoLiveTest

The placement brief was social research by Gen Z for Gen Z. Students were able to choose their own topic hypothesis to diagnose; the majority of students chose topics centred around technology and its impact on young people. Students submitted projects with a range of focuses - from the correlation between dental hygiene and dietary habits, to the correlation between the use of social media and self-image and happiness.

The mentoring team focused on building confidence and encouraging the cohort to explore their personal areas of interest.

Format of the project:

• kick off meeting
• form groups of five students per cohort
• group daily meetings for update and to prevent complacency
• supervisors had milestone one on one sessions with students to provide tailored guidance and feedback after reviewing their work
• students had to carry out quantitative research involving 20 participants using a convenient sampling method

When students started, they had fixed world views on topics and supervisors steered them to follow the data before holding such beliefs. After data analysis, many students began to question their initial beliefs as the outcome of the research showed a varying view. This was one of the positive outcomes of the initiative.

 Examples of some of the studies undertaken on the project:

• the effects of dietary choices on the teeth and oral health of young people
• social media will affect the way of thinking in teenagers

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• young people are influenced more and made more politically aware by online spaces than by their family
• if you increase your usage of technological devices, it could cause visual impairment
• social media causes a negative impact on Gen Z as a consequence of unattainable standards
• investigation on whether there is hesitancy among gen-Z in taking the COVID-19 vaccination

Feedback from the students:

• ‘This research placement has been really helpful! I have definitely struggled with the early morning Google meets but meeting everyone and discussing ideas has been really enjoyable and fulfilling. I would definitely recommend the research placement with GoLiveTest, as they have been really helpful at helping me develop my ideas and skills with minimal intervention.’
• ‘Thank you to GoLiveTest and Nuffield for giving me this opportunity! The research project allowed me to focus on a subject that I am interested in whilst also being structured with great help and support throughout. This project helped me to research a topic I am passionate about and I am grateful I got to do this over my summer break as this allowed me to create a good work life balance. I recommend it to anyone who is considering this opportunity.’
• ‘Over the last two weeks, I have created connections with many lovely people and have felt incredibly supported by the GoLiveTest team. The daily meetings allowed us to overcome any possible issues and not feel ashamed. It also allowed me to stay productive and use my time more efficiently; overall, I would recommend doing a research placement with GoLiveTest to any future students.’

The benefits of company participation

GoLiveTest supported the Nuffield Research Project because it aligned with their social responsibility mission to empower young people between the ages of 16-24, with real world work experience that allows them to discover their self-worth, esteem and confidence. Working with young people as well as the work carried out with Nuffield Research Placement allows the company to better understand the changing society needs as well as potential user problems of the future.

Why we need to have more placements

We encourage other people and groups within BCS to get involved in future Nuffield Research Placement programmes in order to solve the challenges young people face of ‘no experience, no job’. You also get the added benefit of gaining access to cost effective skills and workforce needed in the future as well as potential access to fresh and innovative ideas.