Placement Student - Translational Biomarkers and Bioanalysis Review

I have really enjoyed my placement. The team I'm in (Translational Biomarkers and Bioanalysis) were really welcoming from the beginning and I've loved being part of the team. At this point, 8 months in, I don't want to leave! I've really become part of the team and the training I've received means I feel much more competant and confident in the lab. It was quite slow-going to start with as I needed lots of training and therefore relied on other people in my team to provide this, and there are frustrating days/weeks when things don't work or when I'm waiting for things to be shipped, but all-in-all it's been great. The day-to-day has been really interesting, especially once my project started and I had more independance and I really enjoyed being in an industrial lab and experiencing what that's like, but the other oppourtunities that AZ provide have made the year even better. AZ have a club, called AZinspire, for early talent who organise fortnightly lunch clubs to discuss papers and learn about different areas of the company as well as day-long symposiums, both in the UK (Cambridge and Cheshire) and a free trip to Sweden!! The first symposium provided training on networking which is something I've never been that good at, so I'm more confident in that now as well. One of the other great things about placement is the 9-5. It was a bit of a struggle to get used to initially, but being able to leave work at work and having every evening and the whole weekend free of work has been great. Cambridge is a lovely place to live and there's lots of things to fill your evenings with, especially in the summer.

I felt like a full member of the team very early on, and am relied on in the lab just as another scientist would be and I feel my input/opinion is valued in meetings/discussions. I especially feel valued in my project as it's part of quite a high impact study and I am fully responsible for its progress. I'm really enjoying the responsibility and ability to decide the direction I think it should be going. One of my favourite parts is updating the team with the progress it is making at our weekly meetings. As I'm the only placement student at my site (Babraham Campus), I feel I've integrated better with my team. I've especially enjoyed helping out with the AZ allotment!

I was given a lot of support at the beginning of the placement. My role is mainly based around mass spec so I needed a lot of training at the beginning before I was competant enough to develop and run assays by myself. The training I've received was pretty extensive and I was encouraged to do independent reading to improve my understanding of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. I feel much more confident in using these bits of kit than I ever thought I would be, so I'm really grateful for the training I received! I've also been given a lot of support throughout my project, with weekly 1-on-1 meetings with my supervisor to discuss the progress I've made and next steps. My supervisor changed role mid-way through my placement, meaning he was in the lab less, but the other members of my team have also provided support/advice/help during my placement and it has been good to learn to be more independent and troubleshoot issues rather than just run to someone else to help. My team also changesd and expanded midway through, into biomarkers as well as bioanalysis, so I've had the oppourtunity to learn more techniques than I expected to!

This varied from day-to-day. Initially I wasn't very busy and found this frustrating, but once I had had some training and knew what I was doing I became busier and could organise my time better. I was never too busy, but there were some stressful days when there was too mcuh to do or when machines weren't working. I'd say, after not being at all busy in the beginning, I'd prefer to be too busy than not at all! I don't feel I was overworked, but I was treated as another scientist in the team and once my project got underway, this meant quite a few late stays at work. Luckily AstraZeneca has flexi-time so I could make up for the extra hours I had worked by coming in late/going home early, although I probably worked more hours than I should have anyway!

Initially, during training, I had very little responsibility, but as I gained experience and knowledge, I was given more and more. At the beginning, this meant I was given more fully developed methods to run, and progressed to being allowed to develop methods by myself. I'm now fully responsible for managing and directing my own project within the group. It involves developing one of three assays required for a biodistribution study and I feel quite privileged to be given so much responsibility for a fairly high impact study with a tight deadline.

I've obviously learned a great deal about the technique I use day-to-day (LC-MS/MS) and I feel this is a really great foundation for further study (i.e. PhD). It's not a technique that I would be exposed to at uni due to cost/time to train and a full year's experience using it will definitely benefit me when applying for PhDs/jobs when I graduate. But I think the most important skills I've learnt are things like experimental design. At the beginning of the year I wouldn't be questioning my experiments and data the way I do now, considering things like matrix matching and controls from a bioanalytical point of view. I think this extra training in experimental design will set me up really well for when I start my final year project and also when critically analysing papers for modules etc. I’ve also had the opportunity to present my data and other things, both informally at weekly team meetings and more formally at larger meetings and poster sessions. I feel much more confident in presenting now, and I think this will definitely help in my final year as well as in interviews for PhDs and jobs in the future. I think I’ve gained confidence in general, especially learning to ask questions when I don’t understand or for things I need, or accepting help when there’s too much for me to do. I also speak a lot more at meetings. AZ loves meetings and I’ve slowly become more comfortable in them. I might have learnt to love meetings too! The training I’ve received from AZinspire, from learning more about how a big pharma company works, to improving my networking skills, will be invaluable as I move onto further study and throughout my career. The spare time 9-5 gives you has provided an opportunity to take up volunteering, both with the company at science festivals, and outside the company. Cambridge also has lots of science lectures in the evenings, and I have definitely broaden my interests and knowledge attending theses. I think the science outreach volunteering especially will improve my chances of getting a PhD.

At my site, quite senior members of staff are mixed in with everyone else and the office is friendly and relaxed, open plan with hot-desking. It's normally quite casual, unless the senior leadership team are here, which isn't that often. It's quite a small site and there aren't many windows in the office, and none in the labs. This sounds kind of walled in, but I think the jokes about the windows have brought the office together a bit more and you get used to it! Plus the Babraham campus is lovely, with walled gardens and sheep etc. so my team often take walks at lunch when the weather is good! There is also an AZ social club which organises site events, such as wine tasting and pumpkin carving!

The intitial set up is contracted out to Hays. They aren't that great, and there was very little communication from them after I got the job before the placement started. I did worry sometimes that I'd dreamt it! But AZ organised a familiarisation day at the end of April where I got to hear a bit more about the placement and meet the other placement students. This was a great oppourtunity to find people to live with and ask questions about the placement. AZ don't help you with housing, but they gave lots of information about where to look etc and in the end it wasn't too stressful organising housing in Cambridge from York! As I don't work at the main site in Cambridge, my supervisor organised a visit in August so I could see where I'd be working and meet the team. This was a really good idea and meant I felt much more relaxed on my first day! The pay/holidays etc is also done through Hays. It's not that bad, but their communication isn't great and they can be a bit rubbish with sorting out holiday pay etc. It can be a bit frustrating, but I haven't had that many problems. I think there were more problems with some of the students based in Cheshire, and AZ chased them up so there is support at work if you're having real issues. There was lots of support from the people in charge of the placement at AZ and they're really good at answering questions/helping out. It's just Hays causing a small number of issues.

I've been given extensive training on LC-MS/MS (the main technique I use), but I've also been allowed to attend training for bits of kit I might only use a couple of times or never use. I've also been allowed to attend conferences etc without having to take holiday. AZinspire have also provided lots of oppourtunities to learn more about the company as a whole, and develop skills such as presentation and networking.

AZ don't offer jobs to placement students. They do have a graduate scheme and a lot of the people I've met from the scheme seem to have done a year in industry with AZ, or at least one with another company, but the students on this scheme have found not having a PhD a barrier to employment at AZ and many of them are going back into education after the scheme. I'll definitely be pursuing further education before I come back to the company, but I do think it might help your chances of a job in the future having already worked for AZ. Having worked here for a year, it is a lovely place to work and I'd love to come back, but it suffers from the problem that most big pharma companies do, you have to move out of the company for promotions.

Yes! AZinspire also organises social events, such as bowling, cinema trips, drinks/pub, days out etc. As there are quite a lot of placement students, it's quite easy to organise things outside of work and you can always find people up for going to the pub etc. A lot of the sites also have sports clubs, such as football and touch rugby, that some of the students have joined. Often teams go out for work drinks on Fridays etc, and the work Christmas party was something else!

Compared to where I go to uni (York), it is quite expensive in Cambridge. My rent isn't too bad, about £450 a month not inc. bills, but I live to the north of Cambridge. Living in the centre/on Mill Rd etc is quite a bit more expensive. You'll pay about £4.50-£5 for a pint here, and the good clubs aren't cheap, although you can get free entry to some before midnight on the guestlist. Most of the food shops in town are Sainsbury's local, M&S or indepenedent shops. There are cheaper shops fairly near the centre (asda), but these could be quite a walk from where you live. There are a couple of big Tescos nearby, but these are really only accessible with a car. The transport in Cambridge is quite expensive too, over £4 for a return into town (a 15 min bike ride), so having a bike will make living here a lot cheaper!! It's quite cheap and easy to get into London, but if you want to visit some of the closer surrounding area/ the coast you'll need a car.

There aren't that many clubs in Cambridge, and no big ones, so if you're coming from a uni in a big city, e.g. Manchester, it'll be a bit of a shock! But there are lots of really nice pubs/bars and a couple of decent clubs. I've had some really good nights out here, but they're always a bit more like a pub crawl!

Loads if you go looking for them. AZ have a stall at a couple of science festivals over the year. It's a lot of fun and they're always looking for more volunteers. There's a website called 'The Guide' which posts events in and around Cambridge, some organised by work, e.g. kayaking, wine tasting, subsidised cinema etc., and some just happening in Cambridge, e.g. museum lates, science festival, food markets. I also attended lots of free evening lectures which can all be found on Eventbrite.