Please note: these internships are only available to current undergraduate students in Lancaster University Medical School.
This internship is offered as part of an exciting pilot of research opportunities for Medical School undergraduate students (MBChB and SaES). Each internship will be supervised by an academic member of staff. These opportunities are designed to give students experience of contributing to university research. These internships would be ideal for students considering postgraduate study, intercalated degrees or specialised foundation programmes.
Project Summary:
We have worked in partnership with our industry partners (OMM and Vibram) for almost two years to design and test a new footwear for off road running and walking for civilians. This shoe is called the “fell shoe” which is currently being tested by a MSc Res student, but OMM are also preparing two other models, the “trail shoe” and the “ultra shoe” which have not been tested yet. We would like a student intern to lead on testing the biomechanical function of this footwear in runners.
The student intern will support an existing MSc Res student project focused on testing the OMM fell shoe and utilise the same participants when they come in for data collection. Biomechanical function of the foot and ankle will be measured during running using our 3D motion capture system in the Human Biomechanics Laboratory and outdoor testing where participants will run outdoors on a pre-defined loop to test the comfort and performance of the footwear
A unique opportunity for the student intern as part of this project is the opportunity to travel to Vibram Headquarters in Albizzate (Italy) if they would like to. Vibram and the PI have recently started collaborating on a variety of projects and have invited a student to work with them to experience their laboratory set up and will host the student for up to 1week. They will provide soles in-kind to be tested as part of this project and free use of their testing facilities which will further strengthen the product testing of the new footwear developed by OMM. They have equipment to test the following which will provide the student with an incredible opportunity to see testing from an industry perspective and gain skills in product testing.
i. Feedback ramps: This test assesses the safety perception of the sole on various inclined surfaces under both dry and wet conditions.
ii. Maximal Traction Test: This evaluates the static coefficient of friction of the sole on various flat surfaces, also in dry and wet conditions.
iii. Instrumented treadmill: This test examines dynamic gait and contact pressure on a variety of inclinations and speeds, both uphill and downhill.
iv. Drop tower test: This evaluates the cushioning properties of sole units and materials.
v. Instrom machine: This test assesses the visco-elastic properties, stress-strain curves, durability, and behaviour at different frequencies of various polymeric materials.
Interview date: Late March
Start Date: April 2026
End Date: End August 2026
Hours: Up to 25 hours per week
Duration: 16 weeks (there is some flexibility over the vacation periods)
Location: Work from home, the campus library, and use the Biomechanics lab and hot desk space in Health Innovation One.