Industrial Placement Review

I enjoyed the variety of lab work that I was able to do. There was no delay when starting my placement - my supervisor got me in the lab straight away to teach me to use all the different machinery and equipment we would be using regularly, as well as understanding important concepts. I also really enjoyed the social side of my placement, and have established good friendships with both fellow IP students as well as permanent staff.

I felt highly valued by my colleagues. Whenever I posted data for the two programmes I am involved in, I always received multiple emails from other team members appreciating my work. The programme leader also often thanked me in person whenever I bumped into them at work. I also feel my colleagues valued my opinions on how to improve various assays that I was responsible for.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the project work that my supervisor and I had planned, we weren't able to do. This was due to the programme being canned. Therefore I ended up switching my project to something based on a different programme that my supervisor wasn't actually involved in. Nevertheless my supervisor still supported me with my work, keeping me on track to meet deadlines, and also helped me to fix issues I encountered with some of my screening assays.

Busy, but not too busy. I had a nice balance between lab work and data analysis, as well as other responsibilities such as meetings etc. Due to being involved in multiple programmes and screening panels, my lab work had a lot of variety. However inevitably I was busier on some weeks than others.

I was given a comfortable level of responsibility. I was assigned to run a set of screening assays that were very important for safety profiling of our compounds. Not only was it my responsibility to run the assay, but also to ensure it was performing as it should, and that the data I was generating was of high quality. I was also responsible for most of the lab work at Stevenage for my main programme, which also included several screening assays that provided essential data moving forward from the 'hit to lead' stage of drug discovery.

I now feel much more confident in the lab, and will return to university lab work with new ideas and better understanding of various concepts. I have also gained an important insight into the working life of a scientist in this field, and it has helped reinforce my confidence that this is the career path I would like to pursue.

Everyone is always friendly, and always greet everyone else in the office when arriving at the start of the day. It also helps that everyone in the office has a good sense of humour. Also, everyone is more than happy to help if you don't understand how to do something, or need guidance. This was especially useful at the start of the year when everything was new to me.

The placement itself was set up very well once we actually knew what my project was going to involve. As I've mentioned earlier, unforeseen circumstances left me without a project towards the start of the year, but I was quickly found a new programme to work in and base my project on. It was also well organised in that all the IP students in the department had been assigned screening assays prior to us arriving.

All important aspects of work, from general lab work and safety to the use of GSK-specific software's, I was taught very well and to the right level of detail. I was provided with all the things I needed to complete my years work, including access to software packages that allow me to do various types of data analysis and graph plotting.

Very appealing. I look to apply for the Future Leaders Programme in order to try and return to GSK after I graduate. Having been trained by GSK, and having a good understanding of the way you work here, the transition into working here after I graduate would be smooth, and much easier than it would be if I hadn't undergone a placement here.

Yes. The 5 Industrial Placement students in our department formed a very strong friend group, also joined by the 2 apprentices that started a week after we did. We have also established strong friendships with other Industrial Placement students in other departments, and often meet them outside of work. We also all get along really well with the permanent staff here at GSK, and have established good relationships with some of them.

Rent, bills, food, etc all equates to approximately £850-900 a month, which I would deem quite expensive, especially considering the relatively poor quality of housing that I am living in. Socialising itself isn't too expensive though - trains to and from London are relatively cheap. But going out to drink in London is inevitably very expensive!

Stevenage nightlife in my opinion is quite poor. I actually have a flat in Hitchin, and me and the other placement students usually chose to go out in Hitchin if we were going out locally. Hitchin nightlife isn't too great, but its definitely better than Stevenage! For better nights out, we usually chose to go to London.

Yes, there were various charity events to take part in, as well as some volunteering activities that GSK colleagues would collaborate and take part in. One of the most recent activities was the Tough Mudder Challenge - a 10 mile run / obstacle course to raise money for Save The Children charity.