Cell and Gene Therapy Industrial Placement Student Review

I was given my own project, so I had a lot of independence. I managed my own project, for example managed my time (lab and office), arranged meetings with professionals to learn how to do different things and presented data. It was very rewarding when the years worth of work finally came together at the end of the year to give a good result to my project.

The final result that I got at the end of my project was very useful and significant to my team, so they were very excited and supportive of my work and I felt like a very valued team member. They are very inclusive of students in meetings, events and in day-to-day life at work.

Initially, there is a lot of support from managers, supervisors and all team members. This support and guidance is what then leads students to become independent in the lab and in day-to-day office life. However, the support doesn't stop as you are always welcome to ask for advice and help from anybody throughout the year even after you are more independent.

Due to the nature of research work, some periods of time may be busy than others. Some may be very busy with a lot of lab work and write ups while others will be less busy with few experiments and more office time. However, on average, there is a good amount of work which is manageable and you won't be bored. here is never work to take home at the end of the day or weekends/holiday which is very good as you leave work at work.

I was responsible for my own project and managing everything to do with it e.g. planning experiments, managing time, writing everything up, gathering and presenting my data, ordering reagents that I needed and seeking help from other people. I was given more responsibility than I imagined I would have been given at the beginning which I enjoyed because it made me feel like a more important team member and that the team could trust me.

I gained a lot of lab experience and skills that I would not have otherwise learnt at university or small lab placement. I have been trained on many machines as well. All the skills that I have learnt will be extremely useful for the rest of my studies at university and wither PhD or Job.

Very positive and very friendly. Everyone talked openly to each other. Senior managers and industrial placement students could sit next to each other etc so it was very integrated. The open plan office definitely promotes a more friendly atmosphere as everyone sits next to each other and can sit next to different people every day so they can get to know more people, which is especially important for students as they can network. Lots of cake in the kitchen every day and for people's birthdays!

In GSK, the overall placement was very well set up. The company has been running placements for many years so they are well established. The only disorganisation came from SRG, the company that employs the students. There was disorganisation around holiday days etc and their communication with GSK. The GSK staff were often unaware of how the holiday days etc worked with SRG as they differ to the GSK employee rules. Therefore, it organisation would be better if SRG and GSK communicated more.

The first couple of weeks of the placement were only for training. We had a lot of online learning exercises and some lab exercises such as learning how to culture mammalian cells (basic lab technique). However, because everyone has very different projects that require different skills, people are trained on equipment they need to use when they need to use it. In terms of development, the year as a whole is a development experience but no particular sessions for development and about future steps (jobs, PhD's etc) were set up.

I haven't heard of many IP students being offered jobs at the end of their placement. If somebody would like to return to GSK to work as a full time employee then they will have to apply and go through the same selection process as other candidates. However, having done a placement here does put you at an advantage as you already possess a lot of the knowledge that is required. There are a few employees in my department who are old placement students which shows that many do return.

There were a few socials organised by the 'IP Unite' team but they were not very successful. We didn't have socials with students from other GSK sites either. Placement students did all form groups of friends that they socialised with outside of work but in terms of large socials there were not many.

Stevenage is relatively cheaper than London but due to limit in housing myself and my other housemates ended up staying in a house which was very expensive compared to the average housing costs in Stevenage. People did not often socialise in Stevenage as there is a limit of places and often went to London instead which increases the costs due to travel and costs in London being higher.

Non-existent. Stevenage is mostly just housing with a very small town centre. All pubs etc close very early (9-10pm). There is 1 bar only which could be classed as a 'going out' place but it is very small and usually very quiet. Most 'work drinks' are located there so people get so bored of going to the same place that they usually stop going after the first few times. London is close to Stevenage so people tend to go to London for the nightlife. However, trains between Stevenage and London stop quite early on in the night so either you go back home early or you have to pay for accommodation in London which is expensive.

GSK has got a gym and some sports clubs which they offer, allowing staff to get involved in activities outside of work. There are limited activities to do in Stevenage. I do know of one colleague who joined the local golf club. I would say that there are a few opportunities but not many.