Industrial Placement Chemist Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my year at GSK and did not want to leave. The environment was friendly and welcoming and I feel privileged to have worked with and learnt from such highly experienced chemists.

Being a placement student didn't mean that I felt less valued, we were made to feel 'one of the team' and were treated as such. Praise and encouragement from my supervisor and managers was given when it was deserved.

At the start of the year I relied on the guidance of my supervisor and learnt a great deal from the training provided. From then onwards I was able to become increasingly independent and in the last few months of my placement required minimal guidance. I was always able to ask for support when it was required both from my supervisor and other colleagues who were always happy to offer guidance.

I always had enough work to do and the workload was manageable the majority of the time. Sometimes the amount felt overwhelming but prioritising my work helped as did discussions with my supervisor on how to manage my work load. My time management skills also developed greatly over the course of the year.

Over the course of the year I was responsible for making the set of targets assigned to me, this involved designing the synthetic route and undertaking the synthesis/purification and finally submitting the product.

My organic chemistry knowledge has expanded greatly which I'm sure will be an advantage in my final year studies and beyond. My laboratory work has also benefited thanks to the thorough training provided. As a result I have become a more productive, confident and efficient chemist which will help in my future studies.

It was a very friendly, welcoming and enjoyable place to work.

From the start things were well organised - a theme which was continued over the year.

There were multiple lectures from external and internal speakers, many opportunities to present in team and programme meetings and tours of other departments were organised.

Talks were arranged to inform us on the wide variety of graduate programmes available. From this Graduate / PhD positions in R&D seem highly competitive and relatively rare but I would be interested in exploring such opportunities in future.

Yes amongst the students there was always something to do. Pub lunches were organised fairly regularly which was a nice way to get to know colleagues better.

Socialising costs in Stevenage were average, most restaurants had deals on to make meals and drinks cheaper. Living costs could be fairly high with rent at £300-£400 depending on house type and location.

There are a couple of clubs in Stevenage and pubs / restaurants in the Old Town were always quite busy. London is ~25 mins by train which was more popular for nights out.

There were events organised by a team of IPs including a Christmas party and nights out. Amongst fellow placement students there was always something fun to do.