An extra 140 undergraduate students will be funded to do research and development projects for New Zealand businesses this summer, Science and Innovation Minister Wayne Mapp announced today.

"We have huge demand from businesses so this year we have decided to award 341 internships instead of the 200 we initially intended,” said Dr Mapp.

Dr Mapp said funding for the annual programme has increased from $1.28 to $2.4 million and will allow some of our best scientific, engineering and technology undergraduate students to be placed with our innovative businesses over summer.

“This Government wants to see better connections and increased collaboration between the science and business communities. These internships contribute to this goal,” Dr Mapp said.

“This initiative has twin benefits: young, promising engineers, technologists and scientists will be able to prove themselves in a commercial research environment. And businesses have the chance to tap into the latest knowledge, insights and skills to contribute to new products, processes or services,” Dr Mapp said.

The undergraduate internships programme, administered by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, provides funding of $16 per hour (excl. GST) for up to 400 hours of work by the student.

Some 130 of the 341 internships are in the Canterbury region, as part of the government’s support package for businesses affected by the earthquake. Many of the interns from previous years later found jobs with the business.

(Source The Beehive)