Process Chemist Review

I had a great year at MSD. Everyone in my department was very friendly and welcoming and I enjoyed the day to day work involved with my placement.

The first half of the year I was working on MSD project related work, which involved a lot of interaction with other members of process chemistry and analytical chemistry. My work was just as important as any other member of the group and I had the same deadlines that had to met (but obviously plenty of help was available if I needed it. The second half of the year I was working on my own research project, so mostly I was only working with my supervisor and occasionally people in my lab and analytical chemists.

My supervisor was available for help whenever I needed it, and would always make sure I was comfortable with what I was doing before starting any new reactions. It's a small department so there was always someone available if I needed help.

I was as busy as I wanted to be. There was always things I could try or other work to look at, it was all down to my own personal initiative. If I really felt like I had nothing to do I would ask my supervisor. I had quite a lot of work to do for my university so if I had a spare half hour I would get on with that.

I would say I was given a lot of responsibility, particularly in the first half of the year. I was working on MSD projects, running my own batches in the pilot plant (multi-kg scale, API material) and supporting time critical projects.

In terms of practical lab skills I feel I am way ahead of where I was a year ago, the same can be said of my ability to present my results and explain my findings using my own experience and background knowledge. However, partly due to how busy I was with MSD related work, I didn't spend as much time as I should reading through my university lecture notes and reading the background literature of reactions I was doing in the lab.

Everyone was friendly and up for a laugh. Obviously it's not your typical office job as you tend to be in the lab 90% of the time. People are in and out of the labs all the time, so you always feel included in what's going on.

Not great, it took ages for me to get properly registered on the system and to get a laptop and login sorted. There wasn't really any other support beyond the first few weeks of the placement.

Fully trained as a second chemist in the pilot plant, attended consultancy sessions from various leading research chemists, opportunities to attend/present at conferences.

In the current climate it's unlikely that a newly qualified graduate could join Merck process chemistry (or any other company). Most new employees have at least got a phd and most have a few years of postdoc experience.

All the sudents got on really well and we tended to go out at least once every couple weeks. We also went to pub quizzes, cinema, etc. Within my department we had a few meals out and some activity days where we do things like go karting, outdoor sports etc.

I actually stayed at home for the placement but I know it is an expensive area to live as it is close to london. Flat shares for more than two people are hard to come by at a decent price.

Going out in Hertfordshire is expensive and the quality of clubs isn't great. Hoddesdon is small town with not a lot going on, but it is less than an hour outside London so we tried to go out there as often as we could.

I played football three times a week and there is also badminton and netball teams.