Industrial Placement Student - Biological sciences Review

I have absolutely loved working at AstraZeneca, I have had so many opportunities to learn new skills, meet new people and find out more about the industry. I have been treated as a full member of staff and not just a student, I felt like an important part of the team.

Colleagues have always made an effort to make sure I have the support I need. when I first joined many different members of the team helped me to become more confident working in the labs. I have often presented my work to both small and large teams, where it felt my work was appreciated.

Throughout my placement my supervisor has been excellent at making sure I know what I'm doing and what's expected of me. She has always been very approachable and helpful with any questions or problems I had.

I was often quite busy trying to balance lab work and office work, however I really enjoyed working in the lab so even though I was quite busy I rarely felt stressed.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility during my placement, I think this was a great way for me to learn how the company functions for full time members of staff. I enjoyed being responsible for my work, it gave me a better undertanding of what it was I was working on, as well as insight as to how large pharma companies operate

The skills i have learnt during my placement have been invaluable. I will be able to apply many of my laboratory skills to the dissertation project I will carry out in my final year. I will be able to transfer my lab skills to any further work I do in industry or academia. I have also really developed skills like time management and working under pressure which will help out greatly for my final year of study as well as when I get a job in the future.

I had a really well balanced office, there were times when everyone was working quietly which helped focus. I also had a really friendly team, you could always chat to any of the team and people were always happy to help. The general atmosphere of the office was friendly, relaxed and easy to work in.

The placement was extremely well organised. Even before we started AZ organised a familiarization day where we were able to meet the other students on the placement as well as our prospective supervisors. once we arrived the AZ inspire committee made sure there were plenty of welcome events available to make sure you could get to know everyone. throughout the year more events were put on, even during lockdown where we had virtual quizzes and escape rooms etc. There was a well thought out plan set out by my supervisor for the work I would complete in the year which gave me goals to work towards. I felt as though I seamlessly fitted into working at AstraZeneca, I've had a fantastic placement year

I feel a lot of people put time and effort into making sure I was well trained in many different laboratory techniques as well as developing my office based skills. I feel I have come a long way, I feel very confident working in a professional lab and I also feel much more confident with things like presenting my work and data to colleagues both in the UK and the US.

I feel that with my years experience of working full time at AZ I stand a good chance of being able to successfully apply for a job with them in the future. I know that many previous placements students have gone onto PhD study straight out of university without having completed a masters. My job and further education prospects both inside and outside the company are positive

There were plenty of events organised for students to socialise. Due to the location of my building compared to where other placement students were working this sometimes made it difficult to socialse with all of the different students employed by AZ. Amongst my team we had a good social scene, we did a quiz as a team and would go for drinks/meals for people's birthdays

Cambridge is not the cheapest of areas to live in, however compared to Brighton where I live for university normally, it is much cheaper. there are many cheaper houses to rent, but are often your typical student house. Cambridge is fairly expensive for things like going to the pub and cinema, there is plenty to do in Cambridge, it is best enjoyed in summertime

Cambridge isn't particularly great for nightlife, there are plenty on nice bars, but compared to most university cities the club options are quite limited. I didn't really go out out in Cambridge at all, club entry was often expensive as were the drinks. I much prefer the nightlife in Brighton (I study at the University of Sussex in Brighton)

There are plenty of things going on in Cambridge, some of my housemates got involved in the university societies. others joined non-university club like badminton. I managed to find a great Taekwon-Do club to join. It was really easy to find activities to get involved in, it's one of the perks of Cambridge being home to Cambridge uni and ARU