Research & Innovation Intern Review

The placement was rather enjoyable as it had the right balance of research vs paperwork and administrative stuff. I felt my scientific background was very useful and served me to achieve the goals we set from the start. There was a nice, relaxed atmosphere and I also felt valued during my placement.

There was constant feedback between me and my supervisors during the extent of my placement. Feedback was always positive and made me improve significantly my work. My supervisor's comments were always motivating and encouraged me to do a better job, so overall I cannot complain about this aspect of the internship!

From the start my tasks and objectives were very clearly laid out by my supervisory team and they supported me in achieving such goals by providing me with the necessary guidance and materials. They were always there to help and our recurrent meetings made it easier for me receive feedback and support when I needed it.

I always had something to do, whether it was reading, writing, completing forms, making phone calls or something else. We also had meetings several times a week and there were other opportunities offered by the internship programme which I would often attend. Occasionally I would get my work done early, which is great, but it did not happen that often.

I was responsible for organising an entire event from beginning to end, for which I needed to liaise with staff from several institutions and participants from several networks. The success of the event hinged upon my work and fortunately it went pretty well. In addition there were other events and tasks I helped my supervisors with.

I learned and developed many new skills, mainly transferable skills, which I would not have otherwise had the chance to learn. Particularly, the most useful aspects of the placement were getting first hand experience on the organisation of scientific events and learning how research is funded from the point of view of a charity's research department.

The general atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming, with all members of staff being very friendly at all times. There was a sense of community and shared views as we all strove to keep the organisation's goals present in our work on a daily basis.

the internship was very well organised and it clearly showed that they had learned from previous experience. Inductions, skills workshops and fundraising events were all well times and spaced out throughout the internship so everyone could enjoy what the liked and find time to do as much as they wished.

They offered a personal development pack and many different sessions and materials to develop the skills we felt we needed the most. There were many opportunities for us to decide what we wanted to learn and to get feedback on our progress. They also provided us with many options to develop our CV and interview skills, and to continue our career in the charity sector.

For those interested in the charity sector, anywhere from fundraising and marketing to research funding and policy making would probably find the company very appealing from the start of the internship. In my case, my immediate future is based in science and not on this side of it, so I do not consider working here in the near future. But that's just me!

We would frequently go out for a pint on Thursdays and have intern events at least once a month, involving dinner and some sort of activity, such as pin pong. There was also social events to attend with departmental colleagues such as leaving do's etc. Overall I felt that if wanted to have fun on a regular basis going out with colleagues I could!

Generally very expensive, as this is Central London. Some restaurants and even pubs were prohibitively expensive, although it is true there usually was a cheaper option just around the corner. I lived 20 minutes away and obviously rent was expensive. Since my cohort and I did not receive a salary, this was definitely a limiting factor for applicants.

There was a nightlife in pubs and the like although not comparable to other areas such as Shoreditch or Soho. The best places to go are probably Islington Townhouse, Radicals & Victuallers and of course Wetherspoons.

As a charity, Cancer Research UK offered many activities related to fundraising such as sports events, bake sales, clothes sales, pub quizzes and many more. They also circulated emails on a regular basis announcing other events related or unrelated to the organisation. Within my department there were also opportunities to do external activities.