Bench Scientist Review

It was really useful in applying theory learnt at university and it was good to put these into practice. It helped things become clearer and helped me to understand if I wanted to have a job in research or not. It was really enjoyable, very sociable and everyone is welcoming and helpful.

I was given real responsibilities and when I met targets and completed tasks you got recognised and everyone showed you their support for the good work you have done. They did make you feel like a valuable part of project teams and the department.

I think they gave me a good start, beginning with shadowing and then starting to pick up techniques and finally leaving on my own to do my lab work. Support was always there if needed, and not always from your manager but everyone around was willing to help out. If I needed extra help then my manager was always willing to sit down with me and go through things in more depth.

Depending on project requirements some days were very busy and some were much quieter. After the first month or so it's up to you how you manage your time and work schedule so I was able to ensure I had a good balance in the lab and enough time to write up experiments, whilst fitting in meetings - and coffee breaks!

I was given a lot of responsibilty, which really made me feel important and that my work really did matter to the progress in our teams.

The skills I have picked up will definitely help me in my last year at university as I will be far more proficient in the lab and also having a better and well rounded understanding of science. I have learnt a lot about the industry also and this year has opened my eyes to opportunities available in science apart from research.

Everyone was working hard in the office but they were all so friendly that it was also fun. They had a lot of social events which helped get to know people out of work and more about their life.

It was well set up, I had a good project and enough work to do. My supervisors ensured that I had enough data for my report and that my work was in on time.

GSK have done placements for about 16 years now and they are very good at them, they invested a lot of time and money in training us and providing us with the correct knowledge, not just in the lab but also safety aspects. I also went to a seminar day in london and there were regular lectures which help scientific learning.

Possible but with the current climate, who knows? However I have learnt that opportunities can come around from people that you know and you do get the chance to network a lot being part of such a large company and people want to help you find jobs.

There were over 100 students on the site where I worked and we all lived in the same town so that provided a lot of week night/ weekend social events, many birthday parties! Even lunch time was a good social.

I lived close to london so it was quite expensive, but you could chose from going to london and having a big night out or staying in the town and having a cheaper one.

Chicagos, the club isn't great but we still have loads of good nights- its more about the company than the place.

I didn't really get involved in any apart from with the other students.