Industrial Placement Student Review

Overall I have enjoyed the placement and am glad that I chose to do one as part of my university course. My department were very friendly and there were around 10 other IPs in the office which made for a good community of students. This also means it was quite easy to make friends during the placement which I think can make all the difference to the experience. The research of the department was very interesting and aligned with the area of Biology I wanted to learn more about. The placement is a very good opportunity to gain insight into industrial research and corporate management more generally. There were a few aspects of the placement that could have been improved but as a whole, the placement was enjoyable.

My supervisors were very friendly and supportive. They were interested in getting to know me personally which was also very nice. GSK are very focussed on the culture within the company as one of their values and recognising outstanding performance. Everyone in the department were very thankful when I would contribute to a task, therefore I felt valued by my colleagues. I would say the biggest problem was being employed through SRG rather than being an actual employee of GSK and so it didn't always feel like you were valued to the same extent as the GSK initiatives did not extend to IPs. SRG did have an IP of the month section in the newsletter but I don't think this shows IPs that their work is valued as much as permanent staff.

My supervisors were very supportive during the placement. They were very patient while I was learning new techniques and didn't mind showing things multiple times. Making mistakes was not a big issue which I think is important during a student placement. I was in the same office as my supervisors so I saw them regularly even if we didn't have a formal meeting. We would have a chat while in the lab which was a good opportunity to talk about any problems I had. There were times when other projects took a lot of my supervisors time and my 1:1 meetings would be cancelled or rescheduled. In general this was not a problem as I could still ask for help with specific issues I had but I think that keeping regular meetings is important, particularly if a student didn't have the confidence to insist on meetings. During COVID-19 my management were supportive in checking everyone was okay but I think more guidance or information about what discussions about students returning to work would have made the time less stressful.

This varied a lot based on what lab work was ongoing and meetings. Some days were very busy with all-day experiments meaning I would stay late whereas other days were spent writing up experiments so felt less busy. We had quite a few meetings which took up a lot of time on placement. Particularly at the start of placement, we were not allowed to do any lab work due to hepatitis B vaccinations becoming mandatory just after we arrived meaning that many of the students had a lot more free time which would have been better spent gaining lab experience. Sometimes I felt stressed about completing tasks but this was mainly due to systems not working and making tasks take much longer than they ideally should rather than the actual number of tasks. I think the student can dictate a lot of how busy they are e.g. by taking on extra training courses or networking with other departments.

I was quite disappointed about the lack of responsibility I was given during the placement. This was mainly due to the hepatitis B issue meaning that students were only allowed to use cell-lines or denatured primary samples meaning that the supervisors had to complete a large part of the experimental work. This prevented the freedom and responsibility to be able to plan our own experiments and learning to work independently in the lab. Students are also not allowed access to some of the core GSK systems, meaning they have to ask their supervisor to so these processes e.g. ordering or tracking biological samples so this also reduces the independence. However, even though my supervisors were always nearby, I did enjoy that they gave me independence with my office work and preferred to let me ask for help rather than constantly monitor my work.

I think the placement in its usual form would be an excellent opportunity to develop scientific skills that would make you a lot more employable, and the understanding that comes with these techniques. Due to hepatitis B restrictions and COVID-19 the development of these skills was severely restricted. However, the placement has been good to develop soft skills e.g. time management or communication by watching experienced scientists present and having the opportunity to give my own presentations. I.T. skills also improved by learning to use specialist software which may be useful in future scientific careers.

My office had a very good atmosphere overall. I think the relatively high number of students made the atmosphere more lively and it was very easy to ask people questions without being judged. There were also a number of sociable permanent staff members who would joke with each other and chat which made the office atmosphere a lot more inviting. There was a general understanding that these loud conversations would move to the Node if they were going on for a while though so the office was still a good place to be productive. It was really nice walking through the office and people would say hello/goodbye which made a big difference to the atmosphere in my opinion.

GSK has one of the largest IP intake in the sector so I expected the placement to be much more organised. The initial events were well organised e.g. the induction day in the summer where we got to meet our supervisors and see the work areas. The initial 2 weeks of the placement were very formally structured with training sessions which were good to familiarise yourself. However, as the placement went on, individual IP experiences varied between supervisors and teams, some had mentoring while others had no formal provision for this. I think being employed by SRG and the total lack of communication, non-parallel work conditions e.g. holiday allowance caused a lot of confusion and disorganisation during the year. Students were consistently told different things from different supervisors, especially during COVID-19 and working from home. I think the hepatitis B problems could have been organised much better as it had a massive knock on impact on students unnecessarily. Health and safety departments and the placement department should have been in more contact prior to IPs starting and resolved the issue quickly rather than going back and forth for weeks/months while students were left unable to work.

Students are welcome to attend seminars, courses and events run for GSK employees which are extremely valuable for broadening biological understanding. There are a lot of eLearning resources and LinkedIn courses which students can do to help their personal development. The department were quite supportive in making sure there were opportunities for students to present in meetings and that supervisors were in contact with their students. Towards the end of placement there have been more targeted sessions for student career progression and a virtual careers fair which were useful. Compared with permanent staff, students do not have the opportunity to go to conferences or have personal development programs which are areas I think the company could invest more in student training and development.

In terms of gaining employment as an undergraduate graduate, there seems to be very little opportunity at GSK, and possibly across the sector. There are a lot of opportunities if you want to leave science e.g. marketing, HR etc but it's a shame that an organisation so focussed on following the science can't offer more opportunities for graduates to pursue a career in science. There was a distinct lack of discussion around future career options within the company, especially as there isn't a biology based R&D Future Leaders programme. I can't imagine many students being offered permanent roles after their placements. I haven't seen many direct entry roles advertised and most require a PhD or significant experience. I thought in this case that there may be more structured industrial collaboration PhD options available but these haven't been mentioned either. IP students can be recommended for one of the FLP roles by their supervisors if they wish to apply for roles outside of science.

I was lucky in that there was quite a large IP cohort within my department so we did a couple of social activities as a group e.g. went out for meals. My department were also relatively sociable compared to others so we had meals for retirements and a Christmas meal/party. We had a virtual event for the placement coming to an end. IP Unite are supposed to organise social events for students at each site and as a whole cohort. They held a New Year's ball which was okay but could have been planned better and was quite expensive for what it was. There was also a summer boat party planned but this obviously had to be cancelled understandably due to COVID-19. However, I feel there was a distinct lack of good social events throughout the year and this contributed to a less lively/community feel to the placement which was a shame.

Being so near (30 minutes on a train) to London pushes rent priced up, for what you get most of the houses are expensive compared to other areas of the country. Bars and restaurants n Stevenage are averagely priced but the nicer places are in Cambridge, London or surrounding towns/villages which pushes the price of socialising up on top of needing to pay for travel. GSK offer a free shuttlebus from the station to site so this reduces the cost of commuting.

Stevenage isn't a clubbing town. There are a number of pubs, especially in Old Town which are nice to meet with friends. People also like Bar and Beyond which is probably the main club in the town. London is very close for night outs which is expensive but a good opportunity to experience it if you don't usually live close. In general the nightlife is more relaxed than student cities, it's more about meeting up with friends and going to London for occasions rather than mid-week clubbing like people expect in universities.

You have to be proactive to get involved in activities outside of work. Some of these may be easier if you have a car, e.g. some sports teams train in nearby towns rather than in Stevenage. There are quite a lot of groups in the town you could get involved with. There are also sports leagues e.g. squash in the onsite gym and various classes that people go to as a group from work or on their own. Probably harder to get involved in activities if you don't enjoy sports but this is quite common anywhere.