Sanjana Chowdhury, a Robotics Engineering student, and Chemical Engineering student Zainab Chohan, have recently been offered a sponsorship programme which will not only support them financially through their degree, but also provide paid work experience.

The Defence STEM Undergraduate Sponsorship (DSUS) is provided by the UK Government’s Ministry of Defence and supports undergraduate students who may be interested in a career in defence.

Sanjana and Zainab are all being sponsored by AWE, with whom they will complete their internships. The scheme will pay their entire tuition fee for their second and third years as well as giving them a £5000 bursary per year.

The students will also have the opportunity to intern with AWE through the summer for nine weeks, with a salary.

After graduating from their undergraduate degree, they can also apply for a three-year graduate programme.

Zainab said “The Defence STEM Undergraduate Scholarship (DSUS) is an exciting opportunity I have achieved with AWE. It will provide me the opportunity to gain experience in the defence sector and help me understand how my engineering knowledge can play a part in helping the nations security. The scholarship encourages my studies in engineering by funding three years of my degree whilst fostering an interest in the defence sector. This is an invaluable, unique opportunity like no other.”