Industrial Placement Student - Cell Process Development Review

I really enjoyed the placement. I was doing some really interesting work, which I would not have had the chance to gain experience from if I had not undertaken this placement. I was working in a really friendly team and had opportunities to do lots of things outside of the usual lab/office work.

I felt I was valued as much as any other full-time employee. I was treated as a regular employee would be, and the work I was doing was just as relevant as anyone else's work. Whenever I had the spare time to go an support a different project I know my help was appreciated.

I had regular 1:1 meetings with my supervisor to discuss my work and how I could also balance completing some assignments from my university. I felt happy to chat with anyone in my team about problems I was facing within my project work, and everyone was happy to give suggestions for the future and planning of my work. There was also plenty of opportunities for personal development - in terms of learning and practicing new skills which were encouraged by my supervisor.

For the first few months of my placement I felt I didn't have enough to do, and there were some delays getting my project started, but I could go and help out on other projects when there was a need to instead. Once my project had started I had plenty of work to get on with each day, and towards the end I started to take some of the data analysis home to work on during evenings/at weekends - but this was a personal choice and I was never expected to take work home with me.

I was given responsibility of my project as much as a full-time employee would be given. I had to plan out and run my project, and I was expected to contribute in meetings with external collaborators - but I didn't ever have to run meetings myself. I was never asked to take responsibility for things outside of my immediate project.

I was on a science-based placement and learned many practical skills in the lab which I would not have had the chance to experience at university otherwise. I was also getting experience in data presentation, in meetings or in formal talks which will be invaluable in future. There were also a lot of personal development opportunities which were optional - for example presenting my data at a formal poster session.

We have a large, open office with multiple teams sitting amongst each other. There were often informal meetings happening around the office, and this was great as anyone could join in if they had any ideas to contribute. At times it was frustrating when there was lots of talking, but there were several quiet rooms within the office for times when you needed to concentrate on something.

The placement was organised very well. There were many placement students on site, and there were several events throughout the year for the students to help us learn new skills or just compare experiences to share ideas around. My supervisor had not had a student before, but she was always on top of any admin that needed to be done.

I was learning lab skills throughout my placement, and was encouraged to attend events for personal development. I did not always have the time to attend the events, but I was able to see slides and notes from them afterwards. Since I was technically employed through a third party, I also had opportunities to grow through events set up by them.

I would love to go back and work there again, but there seem to be limited job opportunities for graduates. Many staff working in the labs have higher qualifications (MSc/PhD) so it is not as easy to go back as I would like.

The placement was based in Stevenage, and there is not much going on there, but we made do with what we had. Luckily we were pretty close to London so could go to events there. There was also a social team who put on events throughout the year (e.g Christmas party, summer boat party). A lot of the time it was just smaller groups of friends who got together.

It was relatively expensive to socialise since we went into London for most big events. The cost of living was similar to that at university, but the houses we were staying in were not as nice so were less good value for money.

There was very little nightlife in Stevenage. We could go into London if we wanted to, or we could socialise at houses.

The company allowed all employees and placement students to take one day each year as a charity day, where we went off site in our teams to help out somewhere in the local community. There were also sports and social clubs outside of work which we could take part in.