Rating
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Skills
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Responsibilities
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Support & Guidance
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Culture
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Your Impressions
- 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
- 2. Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
- How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
- How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
- How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
- Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
- 3. Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
- Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
- 4. How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
- How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
- How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
- 5. What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
- How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
- How would you rate the social opportunities?
- How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
- How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
- 6. To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
- Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
- Please rate how your experience met your expectations
- Please rate the future employment prospects at LifeArc
- 7. Would you recommend LifeArc to a friend?
- 8. What advice would you give to others applying to LifeArc
Overview
I was working as a lab scientist in the chemical biology team. I was performing protein production and biophysical testing experiments in the lab. I was responsible for designing and writing up my own experiments and regular presentations in project meeting
Skills
I have learnt lots of laboratory skills such as: insect cell culture, protein expression and purification, SDS PAGE gels, Western blots, qPCR, SPR, thermal shift assays. As well as soft skills such as presenting complex science, critical analysis of published literature, time management, problem solving and teamworking skills.
Responsibilities
Yes, lots. I was responsible for the production of all the proteins on my project. I was able to confer with my supervisors when I was struggling but I organised my time and planned experiments myself. I was liaising with the project leads on the requirements for a £4 million assay and was able to liaise with companies that we were outsourcing to.
Support & Guidance
I was always able to ask my supervisors if I had any issues. My supervision was not very hands on and often I was working by myself but if I needed more help I was always able to ask. There was a lot of staff changes during my placement so my supervisor changed many times and for most of my placement I had 2 supervisors. This may have negatively effected my support, however the guidance worked for me.
Culture
The culture was extremely friendly and supportive. Colleagues regularly gave up time to explain experiments or concepts if asked and often gave opportunities for shadowing in areas of research I was not involved in. I always felt able to ask questions in meetings and felt confident presenting in meetings. Colleagues would ask questions to try to develop your understanding and presentation skills but never with an aim to catch you out.
Your Impressions
I really enjoyed my placement. The science was extremely interesting and challenging. The people were kind and the atmosphere was great. I was really able to develop my laboratory and soft skills and understand further my plans for my future. The opportunities and responsibilities given to me created a great chance to develop and challenge myself.
Yes
LifeArc is a great company, with some great scientists and is performing interesting science. The company is going through a transition and has had some staff changes which may negatively impact the experience. However, I would still recommend LifeArc as they place a lot of effort into creating opportunities for young scientists. You get the opportunity to impact a project and feel part of the team.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Science
South East
October 2023