Analytical Chemistry Industrial Placement Student Review

My day-to-day work involves independently setting up and running HPLC and ion chromatography experiments to carry out analytical analysis of drug substances. This involved setting up the instrument, weighing and diluting the samples, running the analysis, collecting and processing the data, and drawing conclusions from this to convey to my team. I had to do this to GMP and data integrity standards, and record my experiments in the online laboratory notebook.

Both. I increased my knowledge of the theory behind how HPLC works, and I was able to learn how to independently run HPLC, SEC-HPLC, cIEF-HPLC, and CGE experiments, how to successfully troubleshoot the instruments if I had any issues, how to run an ion chromatography instrument, run experiments to GMP/ data integrity standards, and how to use the software associated with each instrument/database to run and process experimental data. I also learnt how to carry out analytical method development experiments and method validation.

Yes, as soon as I had received the required training and carried out my 3 training experiments, I was allowed to independently run my own experiments to GMP standards, which means I had to ensure I was carrying out my experiments to exactly follow the protocols in order to ensure the safety of the patients, and that accurate data was collected. But my supervisor was always around and able to help me if needed so I had a lot of responsibility, but also a good safety net.

My supervisor was really good at teaching me what I had to do and guiding me through the process, and he provided me with plenty of support so I never felt like I was struggling or couldn't talk to him when I needed to. But he was also really good at stepping me back and letting me try things on my own at times so I was able to build up my confidence and therefore be more successful when working independently. I knew that I was always able to go and ask for help when I needed it, but I really appreciated being given the independence to test what I was and wasn't able to do because it helped me see where I could develop myself further.

There were some good company-wide events throughout the year (e.g. a Christmas market/ ice cream vans on site) and my team also had a few socials which were always fun. There was also a good emphasis on charity and sustainability initiatives for example a Biodiversity day, and a charity abseil down one of the buildings. Among the placement students, there are also a lot of fun events that get organised throughout the year, e.g. pub crawls, book clubs, a new year's party, a summer sports day/picnic... so the atmosphere is really fun and social

I really enjoyed my placement. I met a lot of interesting new people and was able to really grow and develop my skills within an industry leading people doing work that will actually go on and impact patients in the future and improve their lives. I feel really grateful that I could be part of that. My team were all lovely, the company culture is amazing, and it fully exceeded my expectations. If I could do it again, I would.

Yes

Make sure that you're really familiar with the job description they provide- copy it off the job ad and save it somewhere so you can look back on it to prepare for the interview. Also, don't worry if you are struggling to answer some of the interview questions. It is okay to admit when you don't know something- just try to come up with something and talk them through your thought process. It's most likely that they are more interested in learning how you think when solving a problem, rather than you getting the correct answer.