Expand your research knowledge and skills over a summer in Scotland. The city features a fascinating blend of Old and New Towns with luscious gardens and historic buildings. Explore the Edinburgh Castle and Calton Hill on the weekends. Our one-of-a-kind programs allow you to grow your work foundation while exploring a new country.
Adelante Abroad offers multiple five-week Observation and Research Programs to students who want to earn credit for around 200 hours of research in Scotland over the summer. Placements include Psychology, Horticulture, Veterinary, Animal Behavior and Welfare, National Wildlife Rescue, Royal Zoological Society, Speech Pathology & Hearing Sciences, and Agricultural Business & Supply Chain Management.
One of the most popular sectors is our psychology internships abroad, where candidates can research eyewitness identification or visual-spatial memory. Students may be required to have relevant skills for their chosen sectors.
Applicants should be current students looking to add knowledge and expertise to their resumes. Submit a $500 application deposit to secure your spot!
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Updated Aug 11, 2026
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18-30
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Hear what past participants have to say about Adelante Abroad
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Review this ProgramShowing 1-18 of 18 reviews
My time in Scotland was absolutely incredible! So much more than expected while also changing and improving my life and who I am. It allowed me to be in a place and have the opportunity to work with animals in a new and unique setting that I wouldn't be able to find anywhere else. From working with the birds to spending time with the seals and large mammals I fell in love with the SPCA!
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I absolutely loved working at Vet for Pets in Falkirk! Everything from work environment, learning opportunities, and hands on experience was phenomenal. Loads of surgery shadowing time, helping to recover post op patients, and watching consults. I would recommend this opportunity to anyone interested in small animal veterinary careers! I would love to come back one day!
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I had a great time interning with the professors in Dundee, Scotland. They helped us integrate into the culture and navigate our new surroundings while also providing us with useful professional experience. I do feel that the admin of Adelante was a bit unorganized as far as knowing important information and providing context. I also found the meetings leading up to be a bit un informative and I would rather it be a time for us to meet each other than ask personal questions to a large group (many of which weren’t answered anyway). Overall I had a great time with this program, I just wish I had some more clarity in the earlier stages of the trip.
I was stationed with the best group of girls! The work we did was really fun and I created valuable relationships with people that work in my desired field of study. Every weekend was spent exploring and taking excursions! A great way to spend the summer!
I truly enjoyed every day i spent at Moredun. Everyone is so welcoming and friendly which made me feel at home. From farm life to cells under a microscope, I saw it all. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I had and I couldn’t have asked for more. This experience exceeded my expectations and I will miss everyone dearly. Until next time!
Internship Abroad Review — Queen Margaret University, Scotland I completed a research project on pseudo-neglect and soft faction during my internship at Queen Margaret University. The professors were very kind, supportive, and accommodating throughout the experience, which made the academic part very rewarding. Scotland itself is absolutely beautiful, and having weekends free allowed me to explore and travel around, which was a great way to balance work and leisure. I highly recommend this internship for anyone interested in combining research with the chance to experience life abroad. That said, I found the program to be quite expensive relative to the overall experience, and five weeks felt a bit too short to fully benefit from the opportunity. If I had the chance, I would definitely do it again, but I hope the duration could be extended or costs reconsidered for future students.
Response from provider
Hi Katerina, Thank you so much for the review! We would LOVE for this program to be 2 or 3 months long. As a professional and experiential program, longer is always better. The price point is widely published and we have worked hard to not raise the price for years. Edinburgh is just a very expensive location. It is so great to hear when candidates say that they want to return again and we frequently get people who return for another abroad program with us! This experience will widely impact your resume and future psychology endeavors, of course! Thanks again! -The Adelante Abroad Team
I have absolutely loved my time working at Queen Margaret Univeristy within the psychology department. I got to work with 3 different professors on their research projects, and they gave us lots of flexibility in shaping their research projects . This is an experience unlike anything I have done before, and I got real world research experience that will help me further my academic and professional goals. I have also loved living in the city of Edinburgh, and I don't want to leave!
The program is what Adelante advertises- adequate housing is provided and collaboration with researchers in the psychology department at QMU is arranged. Our program had a significant amount of free time which is ideal if you plan on traveling outside of Edinburgh.
Going into this program, I was extremely nervous about everything from living situations to transportation. I have never been outside of my home country and I have never traveled by myself. Adelante Abroad made this experience extremely easy and less nerve-wracking. The Adelante staff are extremely nice and friendly. They are happy to answer any questions you have and they will gladly recommend places to visit based on past experiences from students. The housing I was given was perfect. It was just a short distance from a train station, a grocery store, multiple bus stops, a tram stop and multiple restaurants and cafes that were delicious. The housing allowed me to truly be immersed in Scotland's culture. My placement was absolutely phenomenal. The staff were absolutely amazing. They answered all of my questions and were super friendly. They also gave me great recommendations for food and travel to do outside of Edinburgh, which was where I was living. This program was a once in a lifetime opportunity and being able to participate in such a great program is the best thing I have ever done.
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For a person who had never traveled to the other side of the pond, I have to say that it did not disappoint. Scotland was beautiful, its city, its culture and its people. The intership placement was incredible and full of knowledge and learning. I loved the balance that the program has planned for you so that you can get to know your surroundings and meet and share with new people. Although everything is a little expensive there because of the difference in currency, I have to say that I would love to do it all over again. I’m very grateful for the experience.
Ive loved the program, they supplied everything they said the would and I have gotten to have an amazing time in Scotland. It feels like the program is a little unorganized at times but that's understandable because it's not an easy task and since they are willing to be patient with me I will be patient with them.
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The program and my time at QMU were really positive - working at the psychology lab was really fun and informative and I’m sure having the experience will help me in the future. The housing was really central and the uni as well as all tourist attractions were easy to access via public transport. There were a lot of restaurants close by as well as some bars and pubs for going out and having a nice time. The weather during June was also surprisingly nice and overall there was nothing to complain about.
I had a great time in Edinburgh through Adelante Abroad. I found it very last minute but I am so glad I decided to commit as I met some friends that I would consider myself very close to, was able to have an internship, become more independent, live in a new place, and explore new places and landscapes all in one trip.
Learned and did a lot, but only at the end of the program in the last week. We got to shadow some amazing people that week and do some amazing things. The earlier weeks were just being passed around to varying agencies around the country with the intent to learn. Some was learned, most of it was confusion, since everyone was busy and had better things to worry about than us 2 interns.
Response from provider
Thank you Sarah for taking the time to leave a Review for Adelante Ecology program. Our response is very long, because we were quite surprised by your low score and sparse comments regarding at truly one of a kind and epic 6-week summer program. We also sent your review to our on-site Ecology Program Manager, who you worked with during the summer program, and these notes come directly from him: “I am surprised and disappointed by the comment especially after having read their weekly blog written while here in the program this summer, which was all positive. Their first week with us was spent with various members of my team on campus (Oatridge College) where they were introduced to the programme by myself. Day 2 was spent with Ignacio where they were introduced to survey methods day 3 was spent with Oatridge rangers and countryside stewards (ORCS), doing surveys. ORCS are a student led group who are undertaking our Wildlife and Conservation Management course. I also took them out and introduced the girls to woodland management tasks including tree felling which the girls participated in. They also visited Beecraigs Country Park to see first-hand how visitors to the park are managed. I opted to have the girls spend that week with various team members as each member of the team has their own areas of expertise. At no point other than the evenings and Weekends were the girls left without anything to do, in fact they were actually invited out by myself to join staff and students for an evenings ten pin bowling, drinks and a meal, while they initially accepted the invite, about an hour before I was due to pick them up I received a message to say they would not be coming along. No staff stayed with the girls while they were camping at Creag Meagiadh or and the Isle of Rum. In hindsight this was probably a mistake on my part if Sarah is saying Nature Scotland staff were too busy. This is something I will change for next year. However, two of my own Scottish Ecology students were also on the Isle of Rum for 10 weeks and spent a lot of time with both Caroline and Sarah during the one week they were there. While they were camping / in the field at Creag Meagiadh they participated in Dotteral surveys, and they were involved in numerous practical tasks from Habitat management to path Construction and even involved in preparing and delivering a seminar to Nature Scot staff. They had ample opportunity to pursue their own areas of interest in relation to the conservation of wildlife at each of the sites. The girls were repeatedly instructed by myself during the first week and in between each visit to inform staff at Nature Scotland and Forestry and Land Scotland, with regards to what their areas of interests were, this is something that Sarah never did. We do not spoon feed in this program! While camping / in the field on Rum they were involved in Red throated diver surveys, bat surveys invasive species control, wild goat surveys. Sarah chose to undertake some basic maintenance tasks around the NNR on one occasion while Caroline opted to take out a Polaris ATV to travel to a remote part of the island to carry out a wild pony count etc. The week they spent with Forestry & Land Scotland involved ringing Osprey and Barn owl chicks, bat surveys and other small mammal surveys. They visited numerous sites throughout the central belt of Scotland. Week 5 was always given over to completing either a report or blog on their experience. However, I also organised for someone to come in for a day and along with myself we carried out some small mammal trapping with the girls. Week 6 has historically been given over as a free week where the participants do their own thing as noted in the Review” To anyone reading this: the Ecology Program each summer in Scotland has always been good, however this summer 2022 it was phenomenal – with two weeks of in the field work and camping included. We have the ability to take 4 candidates in Summer 2023, and we hope all of the above detail really helps give a balanced view of this one of a kind Summer opportunity,
There's a lot of good to be said about this internship experience. The supervisors at Queen Margaret University for the Psychology program were fantastic and the work was enjoyable and engaging. The housing was right in the heart of Edinburgh with access to everything you could possibly want to explore and discover. Very grateful to have gotten the chance to spend 6 weeks assisting in research and for all of the opportunities I was provided with during my time in Scotland.
I had such an amazing time here and I am so sad that it is time to leave! The relationships I made at Apex vets as well as the other students through Adelante have all been wonderful and I am so happy with my placement! I know some of the others were unhappy with their placements but I think it really depends on the location for each person as practices run very differently!
Had a great time in Scotland thanks to Adelante. The internship was interesting and in line with my goals. I worked on literature reviews and hypothesis formulations with a nice professor. The weekends were full of adventures and lots of exposure to the rich Scottish culture.
This study abroad program is extremely organized and willing to work with you. I felt really safe throughout my trip and the location of our apartment was absolutely perfect. I could hike Arthur's seat but also visit New Town all within 10 minutes away from my apartment. The city itself is absolutely magical, and there is so much to do. I recommend going in the summer because Scotland weather is divine during June and July. The internship was great, I was able to work with a professor who was really conducive to my interests and passions. I would highly recommend this program. If you have any specific questions, dm me at nataliemalluru on Instagram!
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FAQs
Get answers to all the most common questions about Adelante Abroad.
The Adelante Abroad Observation and Research programs fill up early each year. We have limited spots with some subjects only taking 1 or 2 students. If you are interested, apply as soon as possible.
You will live in a shared apartment with a local. You will have your own, fully furnished bedroom with a shared living room, bathroom, and kitchen.
Although experience is not required, having specialized expertise in the sector you are applying for makes it easier for us to place candidates and secure their acceptance.
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