pharmaceutical biology industrial placement student in R&D Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this placement. The work was engaging and challenging. I have learnt a lot from this year.

I felt very valued. I contributed to projects and helped them to advance. I felt like I could be relied on especially in the middle and at the end of the placement after I had got my bearings

My supervisor supported me with all my work. If I had questions it was easy to go to her and she always had time for me. Regular 1:1 meetings helped this. She supported me not only in this career path but also when I was thinking about pursuing another career path. She also was very understanding with the amount university work I had and allowed me to allocate some time for this.

There were quiet periods especially when learning but I found this was important for learning as I could focus on one thing at a time until I was comfortable with it.

I contributed to projects and helped them to advance. I felt like I could be relied on especially in the middle and at the end of the placement after I had got my bearings. I was in charge of my own experiments and had my own objectives to resolve. I was also in charge of my own time and this was good as I could be flexible and make lectures I found interesting. However, I could always ask for help and although I was responsible for my own work, I did not feel left alone or lost at any point.

I have learnt a lot from this placement. I have developed people skills and time management skills that have exceeded my expectations. I have also become more comfortable with reading and getting the most out of scientific papers which is a valuable skill for my degree that will help a lot in my final year. I have also gone from only feeling comfortable with a lab partner in the lab to feeling completely independent and confident to get things right and do experiments on my own. Lastly, I feel the skills I have learnt in terms of how to behave in the work place have been invaluable and will be very helpful in any job I decide to pursue, in any field of work.

There were jokes but also it was quiet enough to get work done and focus

There were no problems at all. My department were ready for me when I arrived on the first day and I had a list of work to do most of the time.

I went to scientific lectures in the lecture theatre, I was taught how to do the basics required for my job. I did a lot of e-learnings on how to handle things properly and I even did an employability workshop to help improve my CV and interview/assessment centre skills.

I would love to work for this company again.

There were plenty of opportunities to meet people and there was also an industrial placements committee to organise events and socials.

relatively cheap considering it was close to London. I paid a very good price for rent even though all the rooms in my house were big double rooms with en suites. Socialising is also relatively cheap. There wasn't that much to do but things such as minigolf and the trampoline park were fun and local and if not, London was not far.

there was 1 club, 1 bar and quite a few pubs but London is only a 20 minute train away.

There are lots of social clubs (hockey, dance schools etc.) and the gym membership for the local gym is a very good price and includes things like swimming and table tennis.