application guidance 2024

We understand that there are skill gaps relating to academic institution, gender and ethnic background; meaning that many are at a disadvantage when developing their creative, design and communication skills.  We want to make sure that everybody - regardless of academic background, institution and writing abilities - is on equal footing when approaching our application process. 

To do this, we feel it is important to share both the aspects that do and those that do not matter to us when evaluating your application.

 

what is important... 

  • The application is well thought out, and we can see that you have spent time thinking of answers that reflect your interest and abilities.

  • We can see that you have a genuine interest and enthusiasm for the field. This can be seen through specific examples of your projects, other experiences and your aspirations.

  • It is clear that the summer school can benefit you in some way; whether that be through improving technical and domain-specific knowledge, expanding your professional network, practicing design and communication skills, or something else. We would love to know how we can assist you in reaching your most ambitious goals.

 

what is not important... 

  • Your level of technical expertise, for example, your proficiency in Python, R, or other programming languages, or your knowledge and use of specific packages. Sure, these skills will be useful in the summer school tutorial and practical sessions - but equally - these skills can be picked up and practiced before and during the summer school.

  • Your academic institution, employer or supervisors. We are more interested in where you want to be in the future, and how we can get you there: your academic background and achievements are less important.

  • Your publication history; whether you have a specific number of publications, or have published in top journals and conferences. While these are great to have, and demonstrate many of the design and communication skills we are looking for (e.g., writing, presenting, project management), there are other ways to acquire and demonstrate these skills. We also understand that publication history does not indicate intelligence or ability, as academic publishing can be biased by gender, institution or publication results.

 

best application award

The award for “the best application” was introduced in our MLSS ‘22. It aims to honour the applicant who has carefully considered and thoughtfully written their application. The award acknowledges the writer that describes their future ambitions, and knows how attending our summer school can assist them in their journey.

The 2023 best application award went to Carolina Piçarra, a researcher at Imperial College London (you can read our post about it on LinkedIn). Our lecturers applauded her application:



“In her application Carolina demonstrates her passion for ensuring that machine learning has real impact and reaches those who need it most, and explains how the summer school would be a key part of her journey in that direction”

- Mireia Crispin, assistant professor, University of Cambridge; chief digital officer, 52 North


“Carolina’s application shows her passion for interdisciplinary learning, the application of technology, and her motivation to address women's health issues and promote diversity in STEM. Her commitment to integrating science, communication, and technology with a focus on the human, positions her as a strong future leader capable of driving impactful change. It nicely aligns with Bumblekite’s vision to foster those skills making this a great application.”

- Alf Scotland, head of digital biomarkers research and development, Biogen


“I applaud Carolina for her well-written summer school application – she articulated her ambition clearly through her strong sense of purpose to pursue her passion. She underscored the importance of taking a thoughtful, collaborative and empathetic approach to explore science, communications and design…a quality that Bumblekite seeks to instill in all of its participants. I encourage Carolina to continue to lean into her personal and professional interest to serve the underfunded and under-researched areas of women’s health in the future.”

- Katie Kurz, global head, group internal communications and communications partner to group functions, Syngenta Group



Encouraged by the high amounts of top-notch applications we received in 2023 with Romana’s application guidance we are excited to see who will win our best application award in 2024.
We are looking forward to reading your application!

 

application example

Here, we have teamed up with Carolina to share her application with you! We hope that by sharing this with you, you will feel more supported throughout the application process, with a better understanding of what we are looking for.

Please note that the cover letters in Carolina’s and Romana’s applications answer the question “Describe a situation where you were working with people of different backgrounds”. This year the second question of our cover letter is different: it is centred around describing an act of giving.

 

Carolina writes:

The Bumblekite Summer School entered my life quite unexpectedly. I found out about the MLSS through a LinkedIn post, one day before the applications closed. So without much time to think, I got to writing. As I explored their website, it became evident that this would be a safe learning space, giving me the confidence to share my motivations and interests in a personal way, as the previous year application guidance encouraged me to do.

 

Background - be sincere in your motivations and interests

I started by justifying my genuine interest in the topic of healthcare innovation in general and showcasing my past and recent experience with it. In my case, this was reflected by my degree in Biomedical Engineering and recent research in AI for medical imaging. Regarding this point, my advice would be to explain why you’re interested in this summer school, even if your education or experience doesn’t completely relate: it can be a personal interest, or an area you’re considering moving to and therefore want to learn more about, for example.

“My main motivation to apply for Bumblekite summer school stems from its interdisciplinary approach to learning and technology application. When I first applied for the degree of Biomedical Engineering, I was very certain on why: I had a deep interest in physics, but I needed it applied to people. (...) Fast forward to the current day, I have been working in deep learning applied to medical imaging analysis for around two years. This is a topic that really interests me, mainly due to the potential it has to improve the efficiency of diagnosis and consequently the well-being of those affected by them.”

At a personal level, during this period I found myself amidst a lot of uncertainty. I tried to use that to my advantage, being honest about not only my motivations to apply but also how I thought this experience could help me in my career process. In the second paragraph of my cover letter, I outlined my enthusiasm for the several areas I am interested in, relating them to my daily experiences in an effort to justify my motivations. I find that being interested in a lot of different topics and not completely sure of which one I should follow is commonly seen as a weakness and as a sign of low commitment to one single mission. However, I decided that here I could share my excitement about these several topics, something I usually don’t feel comfortable doing in job applications but that ultimately tell much more about myself than the technical and theoretical skills. Be sure to show your genuine enthusiasm for the topics you present, connecting it with your future goals and what you want to achieve.

“However, these days I find myself with a lot less certainty than my 18-year-old self. In addition to my passion for science, I am deeply interested in science communication and the design of materials that effectively facilitate such communication, as well as medical devices. There are two specific areas for which I have a profound personal motivation. The first is women's health, including (...). Secondly, there is a significant lack of representation of women in STEM subjects, particularly in leadership roles. I witness this every day, and firmly believe that effective science communication among the younger generations can help address and mitigate this issue.”

Set your expectations clear

I proceeded by explaining what my expectations were for this summer school. This is an important factor to include in your cover letter, as it allows the organising team to understand if they can provide you with what you are looking to learn. You can also use this section to show that you understand what the summer school’s mission and program is, and hopefully that you, your motivations, experiences and interests are aligned with it.

“For this reason, at this summer school I aim to not only develop my engineering skills, ultimately necessary for the development of new healthcare tools, but also to learn about the experience of people with different career paths, who were able to find and explore the cross-over between science, communication and design. These are skills I am extremely invested in developing and I’m confident that MLSS could bring me further knowledge on how to turn ideas into efficient projects and results. Plus, as I consider transitioning from academia to industry, my ideal takeaway from the summer school would be not just gaining more technical knowledge, but also getting a clearer sense of which direction to head in the future.”

Showcase your skills

Finally, I provided an example that demonstrated my leadership and communication skills, particularly within an interdisciplinary team and environment. In my case, this was reflected by the time I led a team of students from different backgrounds in an international student competition. The nature of this summer school lies in its interdisciplinary approach. I would advise you to find an example from your past experiences that reflects your ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds, in a collaborative way. You can provide specific details: what challenges arose from this and how did you tackle them? Did you have a proactive leadership role in the project?

"In the first half of 2020, I successfully led Portugal's team in the SensUs Student Competition, an international open innovation contest in biosensors for health. The team was constituted of nine individuals from diverse backgrounds, and the competition required not only the creation of the device but also the development of a complete business model for its approval and implementation in the market. This experience provided valuable insights into managing team motivation amidst uncertainties and while collaborating online with different individuals with varying time and mental availability during challenging times. With numerous deadlines to meet, it was crucial to ensure that everyone was heard and everything was prepared for presentations. This was a situation in which effective and empathic communication was needed to foster team cohesion, boost motivation, and overcome obstacles to achieve our shared goals."

Above all, my advice is to be honest on why you want to participate and how you believe this summer could fit into your career or personal journey. Good luck!

 

For those who are interested in exploring further, we encourage you to also read the application guidance written by our best application award winner in 2022, Romana Burgess.