Undergraduate Research Fellowships
What is the Undergraduate Research Fellowship scheme?
The Department of Geography and Environment Undergraduate Research Fellowships (URF) scheme seeks to engage students with the research of our academic staff.
Undergraduate Research Fellows gain invaluable insight into the work of an academic in conducting and disseminating research.
A great opportunity to strengthen bonds with the department’s professors, both on a professional and personal level.
What does an Undergraduate Research Fellow do?
During (up to) 70 hours of paid work, students contribute to a research project, enabling academic staff to improve their research and its impact.
We are excited to present a diverse range of fellowship opportunities, which include a variety of tasks such as conducting literature reviews, planning events and interviews, and analysing datasets.
How do I get involved?
All undergraduates receive an email in Autumn Term outlining the URF opportunities available that year. If you would like to apply for a project, you need to fill in a short application form, demonstrating why you are interested and well-suited for your chosen project. Students are typically notified in early Winter Term regarding the outcome of their application.
What are the 2024/25 projects?
The CHIPS and Science act was one of the most significant industrial policy instruments of the past fifty years. What impact has it had? This project would be an exploratory literature review and potentially initial data gathering for a potential project on the economic impact of CHIPS.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Sami Doyle (pictured)Academic supervisor
Prof Neil Lee
The TPI Centre, part of the Grantham Research Institute at LSE, conducts independent research on the transition to a low-carbon economy. Undergraduate(s) will contribute to one or more of its projects, such as Carbon Performance, Management Quality, Climate Action 100+, Banking, or ASCOR, with the specific focus tailored to their interests and the Centre's needs.
Undergraduate Research Fellows
Jinjun Pan, Yuija Feng
Academic supervisor
Alisha Tauro
The research will contribute to a section of a forthcoming book that examines planning practice through a Bourdieusian framework. Central to this analysis is the concept of planning as a field of practice, which, according to Bourdieu, can be understood by tracing a trail of effects. One method to identify the field and its impacts is by analyzing both academic and professional publications to determine the most frequently discussed topics.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Julietta Gramigni (pictured)Academic supervisor
Dr Alan Mace
This project seeks to enhance public engagement and outreach for a recently published book that examines the intersections of race, environment, and development in Colombia. The URF will help translate academic research into accessible formats and expand the audience reach of the work through targeted community outreach, media strategies, and collaboration with local stakeholders.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Anoushka Tripathi Joshi
Academic supervisor
Dr Austin Zeiderman
The project involves supporting the organisation of the 8th Annual Workshop in Environmental Economics at LSE. The workshop provides a platform for academics to present cutting-edge research on environmental and resource economics. The undergraduate research fellow will assist with a variety of tasks essential to the workshop's success, including managing the call for papers, coordinating with the scientific committee, organizing logistics for the conference, and maintaining the event's online presence.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Haoying Li
Academic supervisor
Dr Eugenie Dugoua
My research examines local electronic repair economies and everyday neighborhood repair shops in London, highlighting their role in reducing e-waste and enabling the reuse of devices like computers, phones, and tablets. Unlike the focus on repair collectives or DIY movements, this study maps and accounts for the often-overlooked environmental and social value of repair work. It explores how the skills and relational approaches in repair practices can inspire more equitable and sustainable socio-ecological futures.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Honor Bridgman
Academic supervisor
Dr Julia Corwin
This project examines how cross-border shopping opportunities influence retailers' pricing decisions in frontier regions. Focusing on grocery stores near the Uruguay-Argentina border, it leverages detailed price data to analyze the impact of significant local real exchange rate differences on consumer behavior and local pricing strategies. This natural experiment offers insights into how retailers respond to cross-border competition driven by price arbitrage.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Yihan Li
Academic supervisor
Dr Felipe Carrozi
This project represents a preliminary step in studying the geography of violent attacks on local politicians in Italy.
Undergraduate Research Fellows
Diego Picchi, Jack Quantock Shuldham
Academic supervisor
Dr Elena Renzullo
The project aims to categorize all patents granted in France from 2010 to 2023 into three dimensions: augmentation, automation, and workfrom-home enhancement. This will be done by replicating methodologies from studies by Bloom, Davis, and Zhestkova (2021) and Autor, Chin, Salmons, and Seegmiller (2024).
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Sebastien Grech
Academic supervisor
Dr Filippo Boeri
This project investigates the dialogue between artists and exhibition viewers in an Anthropocene-themed art exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, taking place in October-November 2024.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Jia Ren Tan
Academic supervisor
Dr Thomas Smith
This project examines how the COVID-19 lockdown, as a focusing event, coinciding with exceptional weather in 2020, influenced public perceptions of environmental norms and expectations for future springs and summers in the UK. The research involves analysing media and social media articles from 2020 onward to explore changes in public attitudes. Findings will be summarised in a report, with potential for adaptation into a conference presentation or journal publication.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Irini Sasha
Academic supervisor
Dr Thomas Smith
The work entails editing interviews for the Displacement Urbanism podcast. This is a monthly podcast that goes out via the LSE as well as on Spotify. Interviewees entail a range of people from NGOs, UN people, researchers, displaced people themselves, activists, journalists and so forth.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Cassandra Chong (pictured)Academic supervisor
Dr Romola Sanyal
This project aims to understand how public protests influence transportation policy by examining the "freeway revolts" of the 1960s and 70s.
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Ben Jacob
Academic supervisor
Dr Sara Bagagli
This URF project entails documenting the history of different airlines, their changing geographical coverage, and their shifting business models — tracking any available data on their profitability (which, in some cases, may not be made public, so there will be some dead ends) and stated future plans.
Undergraduate Research Fellow
David Baev
Academic supervisor
Dr Ryan Centner
The main responsibilities will include soliciting new articles from current and past students in the department. Articles may take the form of extended original research pieces (e.g. first-class dissertations) as well as review articles (e.g. excellent examples of student courseworks).
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Sylvain Chan
Academic supervisors
Dr Thomas Smith
Undergraduate Research Fellow testimonials
Can you tell us about the project you worked on?
The project is entitled "the technological relationship between microtechnological firms and the extraction of resources in Central Africa". The main objective is to establish global production networks of all the steps in the production of new technologies. From the extraction of resources (such as cobalt, tantalum etc…) in African mines, to the finished products across the world (whether it be batteries used in electric cars, apple products, Huawei phones etc). This is particularly interesting as it is a key starting point for future policies focused on African inclusive growth, as well as highlight the paradox of the "green revolution".
How did you find your experience of working with your project supervisor, Prof Simona Iammarino?
This is a great opportunity to strengthen bonds with the department’s professors both on a professional and personal level. I had a great time working with Professor Simona Iammarino, and even got the chance to present our co-authored paper (with Andreas Diemer) at the annual Regional Studies Association in Santiago de Compostela. This possibility, as well as the connection with Simona really enriched my first year as an undergraduate at the LSE.
What would you say to a geography student who is thinking about applying for a research fellowship?
I strongly advocate applying for a research fellowship, as you get the opportunity to work on a subject you’re interested in with academics from the department. They are amongst the best in the world in their respective fields, and you have the chance to learn from them. They are all very kind and supportive and make this experience a real pleasure. I was quite stressed about the skills required when applying, but you learn in a non-stressful and reassuring environment. In addition, you are paid for this position as a research fellow, which is always a good prospect as a university student.