Sandwich Student Review

I have really enjoyed my work placement with AstraZeneca. The project has been challenging in all the right ways and I've received excellent support from all my colleagues. The labs are excellent and provide everything you need and the site has a brilliant working environment with lots of alternative places to work or network, for example the Coffee Lab.

Throughout my placement I have felt valued by my colleagues in a number of situations. Everyone is really welcoming and the on-site gym and classes provided opportunities to interact with colleagues outside of work. In addition, my project has been relevant for a few of my colleagues and I have been able to help them with theirs from what I've learnt which has been great!

My manager and supervisor have both given me excellent support throughout my placement. I have never felt that I cannot ask a question and they are always really happy to help with any issues I have. Both have also offered support and advice with the relocation process and any issues we may have encountered throughout this.

I found my days varied quite a lot. Sometimes I would have lots of work to do where as others I wouldn't have as much to do but this provided me with a good opportunity to read up on my project and complete any write ups and lab reports etc. and also provided a bit of time to breath. I think it is important to also take time to look back at what you have done aswell so I don't think these not so busy days were necessarily a bad thing!

I loved that the project I was given was very much my project. Of course, my supervisors had a lot of input and directed my way of thinking as I had no experience of doing a project beforehand but the planning and experiments etc. were all very much my responsibility.

I feel that the skills I have developed will hugely help me in my future studies and in my job prospects. I have developed such a broad range of skills and carried out so many new techniques that will definitely set me in a good position for applying for PhDs or post-graduate positions.

I have a small office with just a few people in so it is very quiet. This is great for getting work done as I am very easily distracted by noise and we have two fika/coffee breaks a day with our work colleagues so lots of opportunity to chat and socialise then!

I thought the work placement was very well organised from both the Universities side and AstraZenecas side. I have always had all my questions answered and haven't ever felt in the dark about any aspect of my work placement. I also received lots of support from both the university and AstraZeneca with regards to relocation which may have been a bit of a daunting process if it was not so well organised by both!

I have undertaken lots of training with regards to health and safety and internal, company trainings. Also, a lot of my colleagues have offered time to train me on equipment I had never used before. I was really grateful that my supervisor's main view was to develop me as a scientist and she allowed me to take my time to learn new techniques and always had my personal development at interest.

I would love a future job prospect with them but I'm not sure how available these are to sandwich sudents. Keeping connections and networks may be useful in the future when looking for work once completing post-graduate studies but for the near future I think they wuold require further studies.

At AstraZeneca Gothenburg there is a committee called AZYouth which enables you to meet other young people at AstraZeneca from many different backgrounds. AZYouth also arrange and organise socials and after works which creates a good place to meet new people and socialise outside of work to make new friends whilst in Sweden.

The cost of living and socialising in Sweden is quite high but I feel the pay matches the expected costs of living and I have not struggled to still be able to do all the fun things I want to do.

The nightlife in Gothenburg is not so busy. The streets can be quite quiet in the evenings but there are still plenty of bars and a few clubs in the city centre. In the Summer the city comes to life a bit more and a lot of people socialise outside, whether in the city parks or in outside bars etc.

There are lots of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. Within AstraZeneca there are lots of different clubs from hiking clubs to photography clubs which arrange activities. Also, there are lots of sports clubs in the city and most will speak English if you ask them to.