Bio Analyst Review

I thouroughly enjoyed my placement year at GSK. Laboratory work was always interesting and with a very appropriate workload each week. Very informative with lots of additional seminars and lectures throughout the year and support for additional work such as report writing was always offered.

My opinion on laboratory work and results is always taken into consideration. Everyone in the department was particularly welcoming and makes the effort to communicate with students.

Support is always available on request for technical problems, general questions regarding work and day to day support with the task of moving away from home/starting a new job.

Workload from GSK was appropriate each week. Additional university work which was required whilst on placement year (i.e. report, literature review, presentations and assignments) made the work load slightly more difficult to cope with, but support from my supervisor made this manageable.

Considerable responsibility. Often left to organise lab work with very minimal supervising. Manager available on request but not often required.

Working independently in the laboratory, as well as independent report writing, gave great experience prior to returning to university to complete my masters year (and thesis). Also, I feel a year experience in industry gives me a great advantage when applying for jobs or graduate programmes in the future.

Atmosphere on arrival was great - everyone was very welcoming and supportive. Over the year, the office environment has become very relaxed, and I feel I can approach all members of staff with any problems I might have.

Placement at GSK is particulary well organised. Initial seminars and lectures specifically designed for placement tudents were set up in each department, which was vital to my understanding of the department before starting laboratory work. All supervisors have a great grasp of the requirements for university projects and have provided me with ideal opportunities to carry out investigative studies on my year here. Extra opportunities to present powerpoints at meetings have also been provided in order to give me more experience for my return to university which I am very grateful for.

Extra opportunities to present powerpoints at meetings have also been provided in order to give me more experience for my return to university which I am very grateful for. Staff were keen to listen to presentations on the individual student projects towards the end of the year. I was also trusted to be involved in GSKs "Movement to Work" programme, which allowed me to assist in creating a presentation for students on work experience at GSK. I also participated in showing a high school level student the fundamental projects carried out in our lab.

Future employment within this company are extermemly appealing to me. The set up of day to day work, such as flexi-time and numerous networking meetings and events, makes it a very relaxed environment to work in. All staff are friendly and welcoming with endless opportunities for chemistry graduates in a number of different departments.

Social scene among colleagues in my department were particularly good, with monthly lunches or dinners being organised. Student social scene was also good with an "IP Unite" team organising events for students across all GSK sites. Although I attended a few IP Unite events, they were not always particularly well organised, which was disappointing.

Being in close proximity of London made rent in particular more expensive than what I would usually expect to pay. However all other aspects of "cost of living" were around average.

Nightlife in Stevenage was not particularly good, with it being a smaller town. However, being in close proximity to London allowed for social events to be arranged there - if slightly more expensive.

There is an on site gym which allows general gym use, as well as a number of sporting activities. My department in particular organises a volleyball match every Tuesday. IP Unite have also provided some acitivity days, however I have not attended these.