Industrial placement Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement. It was great to be a part of relevant research and carry out experiments independently that were actually significant. There was a great morale and team structure which made it more enjoyable, and a good amount of training and support from senior staff members. I would recommend to anyone interested in research.

The team structure really highlighted the value of everyone within the company from all different levels, with input encouraged from all at team meetings. I was consistently asked to show and present my data to the team where we could all discuss. I was also asked to present my work in other meetings and encouraged of its significance

I was given an amazing level of support from both my manager and supervisor. At the beginning of the placement my supervisor would demonstrate lab techniques and gave me an in depth understanding of the science behind them, before gradually letting me do the work while they observed, before I was left to do things independently. My manager would check in weekly to see what I'd been doing.

This varied throughout the placement, with some days being long days in the lab to get everything done, while other days were much less busy in between experiment days. However these less busy days provided time for experiment write ups, data analysis and reading around my project to enhance my learning so were still valuable.

A significant amount and more than I expected! Once I was comfortable with a technique I was left to do it independently, however my supervisors were always happy to answer questions. I was also asked a few times to give updates in various meetings about my work towards the project and answer questions.

Hugely, the training in lab competencies (and data analysis) will help me greatly with the rest of my degree and final year research project. I also developed my presentation skills massively throughout the year which will help my confidence in future presentations both at uni and beyond in my career. Also computer skills eg excel, graphpad will be valuable

The atmosphere was friendly, I felt like I could ask other staff members besides my supervisors questions too. My team went out for several meals together which helped and there was a whole-department volunteering day in the local community. There were also several efforts to come together virtually while working from home during covid-19 which boosted morale. Day to day the office would be fairly quiet though.

Very well organised, there was a familiarisation day before starting which prepared me for where I would be working and allowed me to meet everyone. There was also an amazing amount of support given to all students who each had their own individual supervisor throughout the year who gave the perfect amount of training and guidance throughout the year, as well as being a huge help with writing a report for uni.

There was a two week training period at the beginning where you learn the lab basics as well as non-lab aspects eg calculations and online training. Supervisors also dedicate a lot of time to their students, especially in the first couple of months where my supervisor wsa in the lab with me most of the time.

I would love to work for GSK in research following my experience this year, however the graduate schemes are all for non-lab based roles such as finance which I am not interested in. Some IP students seem to go back and do phds at GSK but I'm not sure how common this is.

Great, at Stevenage there were loads of placement students which created a real community and social side outside of work. There is a committee of students in charge of putting on events for all students, including a New year ball in London. Stevenage isn't the best place for social life but there is enough students to make something of it.

Standard, living costs in Stevenage were far lower than in London which was only a short 25 minute train journey away which was great, but London is much more expensive for socialising. Also Cambridge was accessible by train and easy to visit, but not much to do in Stevenage at all

The nightlife in Stevenage is generally not great, with one bar/club which wasn't recommended. However there were a few pubs including 2 whetherspoons which most students tended to go to. Stevenage isn't the safest place to be walking around/ going out at night but again London is nearby which is handy for nightlife with trains back until quite late

Not many, students generally organised these overselves in Cambridge or London, some students would leave Stevenage at the weekends to go home or visit friends etc because there wasn't much to do in Stevenage. However we should have had more events going ahead such as an annual boat party in London which were cancelled due to covid. There was a good gym at GSK though which was really cheap.