IP student (Respiratory Biology) Review

Really enjoyable year and a great insight into the pharmaceutical industry. It seems very daunting at first but there's lots of guidance from supervisors and other students. As there were so many other students there was a great social atmosphere. It's also great that each student has their own project so it really feels like they're making a difference and getting to generate data and work through problems.

Everyone's really friendly! The students are in no way treated as second class citizens and are expected to act as full time staff- for example you're expected to keep track and be honest about the hours you've worked each week. There's a really good atmosphere with lots of tea breaks that all members of the office are invited to, and there was also Friday breakfast at the canteen which was a great chance to catch up with people. As each student has an individual project you become almost a specialist in your area and other people that want to try similar techniques to you will often ask for help (even those that have been with the company for 20 years!), which is a great way to make you feel valued.

Students are normally in the same office as their supervisors so it's really easy to speak to them if you have any queries. At the beginning of the placement there's much more interaction between students and supervisors as there's lots to learn with regards to lab skills and the direction that the project is going to take. Later students become more independent and need to speak to the supervisors less often; after Christmas my supervisor would arrange hour-long meetings once a fortnight for a general catch up. However, there was ample opportunity to arrange additional meetings if I wanted to discuss a difficult concept or had some interesting results.

At the beginning of the year the balance is great and there's lots of time for experiments and write ups. My main concern was then having to juggle a dissertation at the same time which definitely made me struggle to get everything completed. Supervisors are very understanding of this and will sit with you and work around things if you so require. I think my main problem was that I didn't want to stop doing experiments and start writing! Another great aspect is being able to plan your own time and when you want to run you experiments, allowing you to have a write-up day or an office day depending on your mood.

Once you feel competent with the lab techniques and what you're actually trying to achieve during the year you have lots of responsibility. Additionally, once you know the students and staff around you, you might wish to learn how to do experiments that your supervisor hasn't done before and hence it's up to you to arrange shadowing and meetings with other members of staff. It's a little daunting to begin with but a great way to feel like you're becoming more professional and have lots of responsibility.

With regards to my final year at Uni the lab skills and critical analysis of both results and papers will be invaluable. The labs are very well equipped which means you can learn how to perform lots of different assays: luminex, MSD, ELISA, primary and secondary cell culture and flow cytometry were some of the ones I've learnt. The students set up a journal club that met once a fortnight and we took it in turns presenting papers which gave a great insight into how to be critical of papers. Also, you're expected to read quite a lot at the beginning of the placement so you learn to read papers much faster. There are other skills such as presenting, IT, and communicating with other members of staff which greatly improve during the year. It also gives you a good experience of working a full time job, which was a shock for most of us to start with!

We had 5 students in our office and 6 permanent staff which meant there was a great mix of people. Whilst a lot of the time the office was quiet to allow people to be productive there were tea breaks twice a day and plenty of opportunity to chat. All staff also have access to office communicator, which allows you to have conversations with people online- a great way to chat and organise without disrupting members of the office.

GSK have been employing industrial placement students (IPs) for years so they have a very competent system. All students have a similar introductory week which includes lots of online courses and reading with a small amount of lab work. Supervisors then have different approaches to teaching depending on the student's project. Most of the supervisors have had students before so they know exactly what they're doing. There's also a meeting with you University supervisor to check everything's going smoothly. If students have any concerns with the placement then supervisors, as well as the overall student organiser for each department, were very approachable.

There was no occasion on which students were refused a chance to learn. All lab skills were very well taught- after all you're generating data for the next 12 months so they want it to be reliable! There was also lots of opportunities to attend seminars which were either research or patient based. A tour of the animal facilities was also really interesting and we are touring the pilot plant next week. There's also an opportunity to meet with leaders within the company and let them know any concerns or improvements that could be made.

Personally, I have decided I don't want to embark on a pharmaceutical career. For those that do there are lots of opportunities- the company takes PhD students in conjunction with Universities and there is also an invitation for students to apply to a global leadership programme that would begin following graduation. Students that send a good application and have the support of their supervisor are then permitted to avoid the initial selection stage of the programme.

As much or as little socialising as was desired. Students generally socialise with their department as opposed to with housemates. In my department the students had a Wednesday social evening which involved anything from trips to the science museum in London (free entry to exhibitions with a GSK ID!) to cinema outings, DVD nights, meals and parties. Most students hosted a party for their Birthday and there was never a shortage of things to do. The company also organised social events including a Christmas meal with a murder mystery, a day-long retreat and barbeque, and a meal and visit to a late night at the science museum with an open bar.

I study at Bristol University and live on the south coast so Stevenage is very cheap in comparison. I pay £360 for accommodation each month, which includes a large double bedroom and a bathroom between two in a very new house. Students can expect to pay anything from £300-400 and bills come to no more than £30 a month. Meals in Stevenage were quite cheap and generally less than £15 for a good meal and a drink. We also took advantage of Orange two-for-one cinema tickets which with a student card meant it only cost approx. £3 a time.

There's a good cocktail bar and lots of pubs in Old Town, plus a club near the train station. The club is 'Chicagos' and could definitely be improved. In general we had house parties instead, and would often follow it with trips to 'Cinnebar'.

GSK has a gym and sports clubs such as netball and squash, there are also lots of gyms in the surrounding area. With regards to sports clubs most people who looked around found one. I spent my year dancing with the University of Cambridge and I know other people have found trampolining, orchestras, rugby etc nearby.