Applied Sciences Placement Student Review

In all honesty if I didn't have to leave my placement I probably wouldn't, I really enjoy the work I get to do day to day.

The people I got to work with were fantastic and really made going to work enjoyable, I was treated as an employee rather than a student a lot of the time with people willing to help me out when I needed it.

My supervisor was really helpful and supportive reading the endless drafts of reports I seemed to have to write for university. They gave me space to grow and learn on my own whilst being always willing to listen and offer advice when I asked for it.

There were a couple of weeks when my workload just didn't ever seem to diminish but this was mainly due to urgent incoming work, but for the majority of my time I had enough work to be getting on with without too much that I felt overwhelmed.

When appropriate I was allowed to conduct my own experiments to gain greater understanding, but my responsibility mainly came in the form of multiple projects. I was often given a number of different projects, each with a clear set of aims, after some discussion of how these should be achieved I was allowed to work on them as I saw fit providing the deadlines for results were met.

I feel I learnt a lot about time management and organisation of multiple projects as well as communicating with a variety of personnel, that I have no doubt will aid me in the years to come.

My office was one which worked hard, but knew how to relax. The working atmosphere was good, but with a relatively relaxed feel. People were happy to have chats during the day if you just needed to talk things over or were unsure of anything. Overall I feel the relaxed/informal environment led to a more productive work day.

On behalf of Lubrizol the work placement was very well organised with relevant training and experience provided.

Relevant training was provided for the use of technical instrumentation and general health and safety.

I have been offered (and accepted) a PhD funded by Lubrizol, retaining a link to the company for the next couple of years.

The students all got on well with a number of nights out and other social activities throughout the year. Socialising with colleagues was also frequent with a number of activities organised through the company ie trips to York and London, go-karting, quiz night

I would not consider it overpriced but it was not 'cheap as chips'.

I do not really go out to nightclubs but I heard that it was not as good as other places.

Sports and social club activities were held most nights, although these were generally sport based. Other activities, such as trips out or bowling, were generally held once a month or so.