Industrial Placement Student Review

I really enjoyed my placement year. The people were lovely and happy to help out when I was lost or couldn't find what I needed. I learnt so much. I'm much better placed going into final year (especially for my lab project) but also getting a job in science after uni.

Everyone was very much happy to help out when necessary. Everyone loved talking about science and their data so I learnt a lot just asking people what they were working on. No one talked down to Industrial Placement students which was great because before I started I was very afraid that people would be condescending.

Pretty good, my supervisor was more than happy to help when I asked. She was always very busy so at the start it was a little hard because I felt like I was taking up her time and being a burden, although she never made me feel this way. It was fairly hands off which I personally liked, I prefer independence to being micromanaged.

Its was very much up to me to plan my own time. This meant that I decided every day how busy I wanted to be and how much time I wanted in the lab/office. My supervisor was quite hands off so its very much what you put in, you get back out.

I absolutely ran my own time and ran my own project. My supervisor helped me interpret my results and suggested the kind of avenues we should explore but ultimately it was up to me. This was hard at first because its easy to just defer to an expert but ultimately it gave me more responsibility and control.

Skills for life definitely. The way my project worked, I got to try out lots of different techniques and exposure to lots of different types of data. This has made reading papers and producing scientific writing so much easier, as well as how to perform different experiments. I can't imagine doing my final year let alone entering a scientific job without having done this year.

Good. I sat in the smaller office in my department because it was quieter and my supervisor sat there. You don't have a set desk though so you can move office/seat every day if you want. Everyone is nice though so it doesn't really matter where you sit, its just if you work with background noise or not.

My department have run an industrial placement for many years so everyone knew the deal and how to treat IPs. We had two week at the start for background training which was extremely helpful. After that we were trained by our supervisors which worked well. People were happy to help though.

So I learnt loads over the course of my project in terms of how to interpret data and technique. Also GSK have seminars on in the lecture theatre almost every day that you can drop in to if you have time. These are on all sorts of topics from Chemistry to Pharmacology to Immunology and they get in speakers from industry/academia from all over the world. These were invaluable for expanding my horizons and I learnt things I never expected to. I also had the opportunity to go to a two day internal science conference and poster sessions.

As far as I'm aware GSK hires starting science positions almost exclusively through the IP scheme. Loads of the full time employees were also IPs first. GSK have loads of different roles available whether you want to stay in science or move into management which is great for furthering my career.

I think it varies a lot by department. My department had quite a lot of biology IPs (13) and we all hung out together pretty much every lunchtime and on the weekends. I know some other departments have less IPs or that broke off into cliques over time but there is pretty much always someone to hang out with. The full-time employees were happy to have us sit with them as well for the most part.

Rent is cheaper in Stevenage than in my uni town (Bristol), although I do not recommend renting with TLC, they are pretty useless. Cost of socialising is not very much but Stevenage is not made for walking so I've spent more on taxis to and from town/station than I would like.

There's one club in Stevenage called Bar and Beyond which is okay. Although watch that £7 entry fee after 11 and they don't let in with trainers on Friday and Saturday night and the drinks are quite expensive after 9 when the drinks become full price (half price before 9!). There's a cinema and mini golf, and plenty of pubs and restaurants the leisure park/old town. Also only 20 minutes on the train into London!

I personally didn't get involved in anything but my housemates were very into sport. They managed to find a running club and football club so there are sports clubs. But its quite hard to get around Stevenage unless you drive/cycle so make sure you bring a car or a bike.