#MarineScience - The annual Marine Institute bursary programme gets underway this month with 23 third-level students from academic institutions in Ireland and the UK joining the institute for eight weeks.
Every year up to 150 of third-level students across Ireland apply for the Marine Institute's highly sought-after bursary programme, which is well recognised in the industry as its purpose is to promote future employment opportunities for undergraduates and postgraduates.
"The work experience programme enables students from a wide variety of disciplines to further their knowledge and research in their particular area of interest and it offers the students to expand their professional networks within Ireland and internationally," explained Helen McCormick, senior laboratory analyst at the Marine Institute and co-ordinator of the bursary programme for 2015.
The students will work in a variety of areas including fish and shellfish assessments and surveys, sampling salmon and commercial fisheries in ports, maritime economics, oceanographic equipment modifications and communications.
The placements will provide students with practical and hands-on experience at different locations around Ireland, including the offices and laboratories at the Marine Institute - Galway, Harcourt Street in Dublin and the Burrishoole Catchment at Newport, Co Mayo. Some students will also be located at fisheries ports in counties Cork and Waterford.
The summer bursary programme has been ongoing since the 1960s in the marine science sector and continues to offer a promising gateway into the expanding areas of marine science and research in Ireland.
Dr Peter Heffernan, CEO of the Marine Institute congratulated all successful bursars on this year's programme, saying: "The institute is delighted to support this excellent learning opportunity for Irish students."
