Materials Scientist- Industrial Placement Review

My role included running my own experiments, updating my electronic notebook with results and observations, attending department and team meetings. My work was varied; from working on my own specific project, as part my University requirements for my placement year; supporting GSK asset development work; in my spare time I had to complete my distance learning for university, watching lectures and completing coursework.

My own project there was lots of responsibility as it was mostly self-led, independent lab work, and I got to choose the direction it took from planning experiments and the next steps to investigate. When I was working on GSK projects I worked with others, and I felt my contributions where valued and listened too.

During in my placement year I was constantly learning about Materials Science and learning how to operate lots of new pieces of equipment I had never used before. I have been able to grow in competency when in the lab, had lots of practice writing lab reports and presenting my work in a coherent concise manner. In addition to this I have greatly developed my soft skills: communication, teamwork, data integrity, professional conduct, and time management.

I felt very supported throughout my placement year. I regularly had 1 to 1s with my supervisor discussing the work I was doing, if I needed any additional help or support with anything e.g.,. interpreting data, and generally how I was feeling. Also, I felt supported when in the lab especially in my first couple of months because everyone in the lab were very kind and open to help, if needed. The people in the department are great and were very kind and welcoming. It was a pleasure to work with these very talented scientists for the year.

There was a great company culture, tried to make everyone feel included from their different inclusion groups such as the women's leadership initiative. Also there was a focus on early talent, there were many events put on especially for industrial placement students to help guide and provoke conversations about careers and development such as a development week was ran.

I have really enjoyed my placement year, and I am sad to be leaving. This year I have learnt lots of new things; grown in confidence in the lab, and as an individual; experienced what working industry looks like, specifically Materials Science; gained a clearer career direction; and have a fresh/new perspective of viewing problems, which will help me navigate unfamiliar situations in the future. The department was very welcoming and I felt my contributions were valued.
Socially, outside of work I would say my year was a mixed bag of emotions. Stevenage isn't the best place to live, there was little to do in town especially after spending the last couple of years in Leeds, although London is only 20 mins away. I found I often went back up to Leeds a lot throughout my placement year.

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