Computational Chemistry Industrial Placement Student Review

I primarily develop new capabilities for the AI team. During the first half of my placement I was doing my Masters thesis, so most of my time was spent doing either a literature review or doing research. Most of my time was spent doing research which consisted of developing Python scripts, meeting with individuals to learn about different techniques, benchmarking, and writing up. I now work on a different research project which, but the type of work is similar. I also work on a drug project. I sit in meetings to discuss the progress of a given molecule in hit-to-lead, and I can perform computational chemistry experiments (such as simulations) to make new suggestions for the team. I have proposed molecules to the team which were synthesised and tested.

Research skills - How to write a literature review, how to do research to a high standard, appropriately benchmarking and validating methods. Decision making in industry - the priorities of industry are different than academia. I now have a better understanding of the priorities that exist, and also the importance of clearly conveying your ideas to others. Computational chemistry and AI - AstraZeneca is well known for their molecular AI team and REINVENT. Being able to work closely with this team and use this tool has given me an in-depth understanding or the role of AI in drug discovery.

I was given autonomy. My supervisor and manager were very understanding of my need to complete my Masters degree during the placement. My projects I completed were self led, and the current project I am working on I proposed myself. There have been cases where I was personally responsible for running experiments for the drug discovery team. At no point have I felt pressured or stressed by my team to do certain work, and if I wanted to perform certain experiments myself I could.

I have weekly meetings with my supervisor and biweekly meetings with my manager. The team is very supportive and everyone is happy to meet to discuss problems at any time.

AstraZeneca has a really great culture and atmosphere. Everyone here loves what they do. It's a very inspiring place to be.

I have absolutely loved my placement. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in AI, computational chemistry, and drug discovery.

Yes

The most important thing is to love what you do. Everyone here is enthusiastic and curious about their science. Having passion for science makes you a strong fit for the company culture. For computational chemistry specifically it is very easy to do your own projects in your spare time. REINVENT is the AstraZeneca AI tool and is available open source - you can try running this yourself. Additionally there are molecular docking tools that are free to download and play with. Trying these tools is a good way to see whether you would enjoy this placement, but also makes you stand out a bit more on your application. It is also important to remember this is a drug discovery placement. During my technical interview I was only asked medicinal chemistry questions eg explaining the structure of molecules, functional groups, protein-ligand interactions, conformational effects, and wider pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.