Industrial placement Review

Great experience! Learnt a ridiculous amount in such a short time and have met many lovely people along the way.

I feel like our senior collegues take us seriously and appreciate the large amount of work we do. We get to know most people well on a 1-to-1 level but there are some staff who collectively discuss 'the students' rather than individuals.

Supervisors opt to take on students, and because of that are willing to be supportive. My supervisor was not only supportive of my learning on placement, but also of my academic and personal situation. Although this can vary greatly between supervisors; some letting students find their own feet, whilst others hand-holding their students all year, student-supervisor matching takes into account interests, ability and personality so this generally works out well.

At the start of the year, when you are learning the ropes, doing your e-learning and figuring out the basics, there are some 'boring' patches with little to do. But once you're working independantly and taking charge of your lab and project work you can make it as busy as you like. Days can vary greatly depending on what experiments you are doing; some days are 10 hours long, whilst others may be 6 hours. If you have a project to hand in for uni, the time running up to it can be hectic, but most supervisors are understanding in that you need to focus on that.

Although you are expected to find your feet and get on with things, I was never dumped with resposibilty I couldn't handle, or left to my own devices. It was more a case of taking on responsibilty as I settled into my placement and making my own decisions. I work independently and experiments I develop and data I generate is used in meetings and archived etc. so it's not a case of your work not counting at all!

This year has taught me such an incredible amount. It is very different to uni, where you read books, listen to lectures and follow a step by step protocol in the lab. Here you learn to teach yourself the relevant literature, but mainly how to put to use the information you learn; at uni you take what you read/are told at face value to be true, whilst after this year you learn to question methods, interpretations and decisions made in research. You learn to construct an experiment so that the results are meaningful, and you learn to interpret the results obtained. Along side the investigative skills learnt, you naturally pick up management and admin skills, data itegrity and understanding of how companies work. This year I have really learned to be proactive and incentive, not waiting for someone to teach me. I can now 100% understand why employers prefer students with a year in industry over those without.

Very friendly! A constant supply of cakes and chat in the coffee area. We recently moved to an open plan office so now meet many more people and there's always at least one birthday a week.

An introduction day before we started gave us all of the necessary information and a chance to meet our supervisors and all the other students. On our first day we were met and reintroduced before being shown our way to our offices and kitted out with laptops, keyboards etc. A week of e-learning with some hand-held lab work was a boring but gentle start. Generally the transition into the lab happens 'unstructured' and naturally, with always people around to guide you and ask questions. There was always sufficient supports system in place.

Although we technicially work for the company only, there is room for self-directed work in lab and office time as long as you get the company work done. There are many interesting lectures you can go to, or seminar days out of town and I have attended training days for equipment. You are also given the opportunity to present your project work and receive feedback in meetings.

There are many post-grad opportunities including PhDs. I would most definitely consider working here in the future.

There are many students on site, some of which have really become close friends. There have been many dinners, parties and other socials, including a weekend to the coast.

Rent was cheaper than at university, and because all the studenst live close together socialising often involves BBQs or evenings in the pub, so generally not expensive!

Nightlife didn't progress beyond Wetherspoon's or a local restaurant/bar/'club'.... But we have houseparties instead or go to London occasionally.

There are some sports clubs and gyms around and I know other students found some volunteering. It's really what you want to make of it.