Vacation students at the ATCA, January 2026 (Image credit: Carmen Martinez Harris)

The CSIRO Undergraduate Studentship Program (previously known as the Summer Vacation Student Program)  provides students with the opportunity to work on real-world problems in a leading R&D organisation. Each scholar undertakes a research project under the supervision of a staff member, and gives a presentation on their work at the end of the project. The Space and Astronomy students are traditionally also given the opportunity to visit at least one of the ATNF telescope sites. Previous ADAPs have shown the students at the Parkes Observatory — today’s image was taken at the Australia Telescope Compact Array, where some of the group took the opportunity to spell out their favourite national science agency! (Image credit: Carmen Martinez Harris)