Data Science Degree Apprentice Review

Developing skills and putting them into practice in providing insights in our commercial performance of our products in various therapy areas. In addition to collaborating with colleagues to develop knowledge in the field of Data Science as well

From a GSK and University point of view, the apprenticeship is well structured. at university starting a new module every 6 weeks with semester breaks - the university has tendencies to react slowly to problems on canvas (virtual learning environment) with regards to the content. at work the focus of the first few months is getting a ground level knowledge on the therapy areas and datasets we use and then building on that by shadowing and supporting on projects to learn from other data science colleagues before taking projects of my own and then learning from those as to what went well and what could be improved

i receive a lot of support if and when I need it, the team is open for answering questions, and with a team of a lead data scientist, plus 2 full data scientists plus a further 3 apprentices other than me, as well as a lead and an associate data engineer, there is always someone to speak to if there is any support needed

module leaders are available via email or via the two seminars to help with any questions

I've learned more from my on the job work than I have from degree studies because there has been content studied later in my first year that I learned in the first couple of months on the job. in addition, there was a 2 week bootcamp at the end of the year that was essentially a recap of the first year of studies and wasn't productive in terms of developing my data science skills

Yes

The employer has been helpful in developing my skills and working for a company that makes a difference to patients is something to take pride in