Industrial Placement Review

I greatly enjoyed my placement year at GSK. As my placement was lab based I learnt lots of lab skills and how to work in a team in a lab setting. I enjoyed it much more than the Uni labs and I would recommend a placement at GSK to anyone. The placement was impacted by COVID but we managed to keep working from home which was good. I managed to meet lots of different people, learn a lot about the area of research in my department and gain invaluable experience.

Colleagues treat you like just another member of the team and take you and your ideas seriously. In the lab when working in a team I did all the same steps in the experiment as any other member of staff, ideas are equally valued and colleagues were welcoming and friendly. In team meetings you could mention any concerns, ideas and they always listen and value your feedback. Your work is appreciated and you can see its true impact.

I was supported by my supervisor, she ensured that I had enough work to do, I was appropriately trained and felt confident when doing any experiments, questions were welcome and encouraged during training. Personal development was valued and during COVID my project and tasks were modified accordingly to ensure I could carry out my tasks well. It is hard to be closely involved with higher management as they are normally very busy but my supervisor made an effort to support me always.

This greatly varied depending on the day and week. There were very busy days either in the lab or in the office and some others when not too much is going on. The last weeks of the placement normally result quieter as well as close to Christmas. Normally there is a good mixture of lab and office days and on the quieter days you can catch up in other stuff like your project writeup, personal development or networking with some tea breaks!

I was given some responsibility during the placement. At first you shadow people in the lab, then you carry out things with your supervisor and then I was able to do things alone for a big part of my placement. My lab project got cancelled because of COVID but I would have been able to conduct that project all on my own and be given full responsibility of it which was empowering, this could not happen in the end and this is why I have rated it slightly lower.

My skills greatly developed inside and outside of the lab. I was trained in multiple techniques, worked in a team, got an insight on how working in industry is and got lots of different skills such as communication, presentation skills, experience on how to write reports, literature reviews, lots of experience in reading papers, organisation skills, time management and research skills. I believe this experience in research will make me more prepared for my end of year project.

The office was shared with different departments and hot desking was used which made you meet lots of different people. I typically sat next to the other IPs in different departments and it was fun and relaxed, you could always talk quietly and have some nice tea breaks, there are also other areas specifically for quiet work and many meeting rooms. The office felt quite modern. There is plenty of space, lockers, a kitchen with microwaves to heat up food etc.

This was quite well organised, however there was a lack of communication with our employer (different to GSK). They didn't communicate well amongst them and specially during the COVID situation this was quite confusing. The placement itself was well organised and it has been done for many years so it will run smoothly, it is just in unforseen circumstances they struggle to cope. There are plenty of introductory talks in the beggining and the end and lots of networking and lecture opportunities.

There were lots of opportunities for training and development as they want you to contribute as much as possible. There are lots of opportunities for online development as well as lab development.

Some people you meet have previously done a placement there and returned as scientists so there are definitely some opportunities around, for higher job opportunities in the science field you typically need a PhD so most opportunities are just offered as bench scientists. There is also possibility to return after further studies as some people have done and they value positively that you have spent some time in their company. I would enjoy returning back to GSK.

There was more of a social scene at the beggining of the placement with more free time but as the year goes around and people have other commitment it went down a bit. There was still a good social scene and people would still meet at the canteen but there wouldn't be that many nights out. Amongst colleagues we did some team lunches, pub nights and events like the GSK Christmas party. COVID also impacted this greatly so I dont think the experience can be compared to other years.

The cost of living in Stevenage was not too cheap. It was definitely cheaper than London and some of the South East but most other University towns in England were cheaper. Socialising almost always involved going down to London which was around 10 pounds on weekends. Near the train station there are some cinemas, minigolf, restaurants and spoons which are always fun but to do a more variety of thigns you need to go to London and can add up and be slightly expensive!

The nightlife was not too varied in Stevenage, there were some pubs in Old Town and a couple in new town but not enough variety compared to a student town, however the train to london is around 20 minutes so you can always go on nights out in London, this was popular amongst most people in placement. There might be 1 or 2 actual nightclubs in the city and the rest of it is pubs which doesn't give much variety.

Depending on your interests there were some sports opportunities, cinema, pubs, restaurants but there wasn't a big variety of other activities to do in Stevenage itself.