Component Science Placement Student

I had a great time working within the chemical synthesis group at Lubrizol. From the beginning we were welcomed into a friendly, supportive group of full-time staff who mentored us closely throughout the year. Within a few weeks we felt confident to carry out independent work and generate our own ideas. Not only this but we had the opportunity to become fully involved within highly technical projects helping us develop key transferable skills.

There is a great atmosphere within the department, especially with regards to the full-time members of staff. They are keen to offer support and ideas with all aspects of work and helped make the year a great success for me.

From the offset my supervisor was exceptionally supportive. He provided development advice and opportunities in all aspects of work: from explaining the intricacies of patents, to skills in people and project management, career development and importantly support with regards to university commitments. Without a doubt the support provided from supervisors and other members of staff within the year were the most rewarding aspect placement.

As with most jobs this ranged from very busy days, which pushed you hard but could be quite stressful. To days which were quieter and were a bit slower. I felt the balance worked quite well overall.

Within a short period of time I was quickly helping develop new ideas and presenting my work to key members within the company. I felt real ownership of my project and the responsibility around this was nice to have.

I developed massively throughout the year with key technical and non-technical skills developed from project and people management, to presentation skills as well as skills in experiment and molecule design.

The students and full-time staff have different offices, which is nice for the majority of the time. The full-time office has a friendly, approachable atmosphere which is great. The student office depends on the current cohort of students as to what the atmosphere is like.

The placement is very well organised with a familiarisation day in April to help settle the new students nerves. This allows students to meet their supervisors which is a nice comfort. Upon arrival there are plenty of training sessions and this helps set the students up very quickly ready to work.

I felt well invested in with regards to time taken by full-time staff to train and develop us throughout the year. They like to hire previous placement students into the company and they train you and develop you with this thought in mind.

The company likes to hire previous placement students so I feel employment prospects are high within Lubrizol.

There are a large number of placement students on site throughout the year and most lived in Derby. This meant there was plenty of people to socialise with who were also students.

Derby is a very cheap area to live in so this helps save money.

Derby is quite a rough town however there are lots of nice bars available.

There is a Sports and Social club which provide plenty of opportunities to get involved with throughout the year. Not only this but students are part of the committee for this club and help decide on some of the big events throughout the year.