Synthetic Organic Placement student Review

Spending a year in industry was thoroughly enjoyable - especially based in Cambridge working for AstraZeneca. Having the AZinspire network in place (for early careers people within AZ, less than 7 years into their time with AZ) really allowed an enjoyable placement and helped to make sure all the placement students mingled with one another but were also exposed to people on the different graduate programmes and discuss their rotations. This allowed great insight to the whole company as opposed to just your team.

Of course, students will never be at the top of the food chain (quite the opposite!) but regardless, I have been well respected throughout my year in a large part. As the year progresses and you feel more comfortable, your colleagues will gain respect for you as you earn it.

Being in Chemistry, I worked next to my supervisor and he had to safety approve all my experiments so he was always aware what I was doing. This was key as health and safety is such an important factor within chemistry for obvious reasons. He offered useful tips and ways to improve how I go about my reactions, as well as offering support for my university studies (although I personally never prioritised these over my actual work to maximise what I have gained from my placement).

The work environment within AstraZeneca's chemistry department has been fantastic for me. You are never pushed to take on too much work and you find yourself really aware of how much you can do in a well-paced, unrushed manner within a few weeks of starting. Chemistry works by you simply picking up more work if you haven't got enough - there is always something to be doing!

There's only so much free reign that you can be given in chemistry, which is the best way for it to be as a placement student. Your reaction write-ups will always be checked before you carry them out to make sure they are safe and rational. However, in terms of designing synthetic routes you are given a lot more responsibility as this is a theoretical exercise.

As my placement year formed my Masters' year and final year of my degree, I guess this question doesn't really apply so much to me personally. However, I did find doing the organic distance learning packages I had to carry out was much easier as I readily could see how the chemistry I was learning was applicable to real life. Going forward, these skills are priceless. A placement will help in any regard, whether that be getting a PhD or a graduate scheme.

The building I was in was relatively small compared to other placement students I have spoken to. This means that everyone knows everyone and its a lot more personal. Although there was a definite strong work environment. You could go into the office space and knuckle down on your work without distraction from people chit chatting.

I would say that internally my placement has been very well organised, but with minimal input from AstraZeneca due to the simple fact you are treated as a research scientist would be treated in what meetings/events/talks you are invited to. In terms of my university, York often lacked enough input into what they wanted from placement students.

Any event or talk that you wanted to go to, my supervisor and line manager would support me in that, so personal growth is well supported. However, you do have to be self driven in finding these events etc. Also, the AZinspire network is an amazing way to explore what the company does as a whole and offer lots of ways to expand your personal development and increase your transferrable skillset.

AstraZeneca offer a graduate scheme, which is very competitive. This is a very appealing scheme although alumni of the scheme often find themselves doing a PhD so it was my view to go straight for the PhD. Other than this, AZ do not often just hire grads, but PhD graduates so there is not much opportunity to stay on which I have seen from other companies.

Definitely. There are only 2 placement students in Chemistry in Cambridge, but there are around 20 in bioscience plus more people on apprenticeships or graduate scheme. There are a lot of people to be social with, plus the company often has networking/social events open for students to attend with the rest.

Cambridge is very expensive, the average rent is likely around £140 a week. Living out the centre is likely cheaper, but you trade off a lot of the social scene and the ability to go into town in the evenings or weekends. Socialising is fantastic though, with so much going on in Cambridge!

Perhaps Cambridge isn't the best place for a night out, I think that's common knowledge! Although there is enough to get most people by, and you can definitely make the most of what's around here. And if you are desperate for big city life, the trains to London are great.

Like I said, there's so much to be doing in Cambridge, even though its a relatively small place. I can't imagine you'd find yourself bored here.