Pharma R&D IP Student Review

Overall, the year was very enjoyable. It's hard, very different from University, so an extent that I don't think I was prepared for! But the work you do feels important and worthwhile, there are amazing development opportunities, and overall it's a really fun place to work. There's such a big Placement student community too which added to the enjoyment

My line was quite small, 6 people including me so I got to know everyone very well. We worked really well together and I felt like I could ask for guidance and people wanted to hear about my results, my thoughts on questions they raised at meetings etc. Not sure how different it is depending on your group, but mine integrated IP students very well

My supervisor changed during my placement, but both were really good. Had frequent meetings to talk about my progress, any issues I was having and where my work was going next. Managers were very flexible with working hours, holiday, time off for volunteering roles and extracurricular activities onsite. Management were very approachable, it never felt like anyone was 'too senior' to care what you had to say

Due to the nature of my projects, I did have a phase of almost no work to do as I was between projects which was slightly frustrating, and then the new project started and was more busy than I'd ever been. I much preferred the busy days! But generally there was a good balance between time to get experimental work done and written up, with plenty of times for breaks too

Most IP students have their own independent project which may or may not be part of a larger project, but the project is your responsibility. I decided what experiments I wanted to run, when and how I wanted to run them and how to organise my days. The responsibility was daunting at the start but was a very useful skill to learn

The scientific techniques and skills will obviously be useful back at university and potentially in the future, and I learnt things I never would have had the chance to whilst at University. However, the important skills were independence, problem solving and confidence, which will be useful in the future no matter what.

I worked in a smaller office, which I enjoyed as you knew everyone and felt comfortable just leaning over to ask a question to anyone! Others work in bigger offices/hot desking but I didn't experience those. The atmosphere obviously depended on how many people wer in and how busy they were, but generally it was a good atmosphere to work in

Interviews, familiarisation day and starting the placement were very well organised, from transport to the site to tours around the department too. When arriving there was plans in place for projects, training to be done so a lot of thought and planning goes in before we arrive to start our placements

Training was extensive, lots of elearning in the first few weeks! In the labs, there were always new techniques to learn and people to teach them, so people invest a lot of time into you. There are great development opportunities too, from volunteering at STEM outreach to being part of employee groups onsite

GSK have good graduate schemes as well as hiring at different levels of experience. Most positions within lab work would probably need a Masters at absolute minimum, but most likely a PhD so extra study would be required after finishing my undergraduate degree. There are jobs in other areas of the business too, so lots of potential routes

There was a social comittee within the department which organised teambuilding days and events after work sometimes, but these werent very frequent. However there are many IP students at the site and living in the area, so it almost felt like being in a university society of IP students! We had social events outside of work, christmas ball and summer boat party, film nights as well as development talks

Close to London, so rent was much more expensive than I was used to, but the salary compensates for that as we were paid the London living wage, but living outside of London! Again, socialising in the area was more expensive than I was used to, but is relative to the salary

Lots of Pubs and bars which suited my preference anyway, clubs are few and far between in Stevenage, but the proximity to London may compensate for that if people still want to go to clubs instead. Other IP students were always hosting parties for birthdays/achievements/making it to the weekdn so that was a bigger social scene than clubbing

I joined in with activities independently outside of work in the area. Lots of IP's join a gym (onsite or in town), sports teams, running clubs, choirs etc. Within work there are sports teams, some departments have leagues etc. I got involved in lots of volunteering activities through work too