Chemical Synthesis Industial Placement Student Review

I really enjoyed my time at Lubrizol. The sports and social club had great events/trips throughout my placement including weekly badminton, laser tag. ice skating, go karting, horse riding, etc. These were either free or heavily subsidised. At lunchtime most students when to canteen for cooked meal/lunch which is heavily subsidised and socialise with other students from other departments.

The colleagues are friendly and helpful with many cups of tea being made through out the busy day and a time to have a short break and chat. The head of Chemical Synthesis took the department to local pubs for a free meal paid by our boss making us all feel valued.

From day one to the final day, support and guidance was given.

I was busy most days, someday are quiet and other days are very busy. This type of busyness is a good thing as there are always things to do on the project in the lab or in the office, so not being bored.

Throughout my placement my responsibility increased as I became more independent in both the lab and the office. I was put on a project important to the company and given independence to come up with my own synthesis experiment ideas for the project.

My lab record skills improved a lot during my placement by making detailed observations of the synthesis reactions. This will help a lot for when doing a PhD where detailed record keeping is important. My presentation skills by PowerPoint and by poster presentation really improved to a very high level in terms of both the slides and presenting. This was very useful for my masters project presentation and will be helpful when I do a PhD.

At times the office is quiet as everyone is in the lab and there are times when the office is full. Overall the atmosphere was nice.

The placement was well organised by both Human Resources and Chemical Synthesis. At the start of the placement, a lot of training was organised.

There are good opportunities for future employment if you have a PhD for Chemical Synthesis.

There was a good social scene among fellow placement students both during work and after work.

Derby is reasonably cheap except the nightclubs for drinks

Students readily went out in Derby city centre to many different bars, pubs and clubs.

There are weekly badminton sessions, 5 a side football, and climbing. There are many one off event/trips throughout the year including trips to London, York. Horse riding, ice skating, laser tag, go karting, bowling are a few examples of many activities which go on outside of work. These opportunities are excellent for meeting people/networking from other departments including managers.