R&D University Industrial Placement Student Review

Item: R&D University Industrial Placement Student at AstraZeneca
Rating: 4.7
Author: Anonymous

at AstraZeneca

Placement (10 Months+)

Pharmaceutical, Science

Cambridge

Review Submitted: July 2025

Overall Rating

4.7 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

4/5 - Overview of Role

4.5/5 - Skills Development

5/5 - Support and Guidance

5/5 - Company Culture

5/5 - Overall Experience

4/5 - Future Career Prospects

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.

Daily tasks may consist of laboratory work, updating reports, meetings with my supervisor, meetings with extended teams/departments, and voluntary or personal development activities.

Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?

Yes I became very independent with experimental planning and taking the lead in weekly meetings with my supervisor. I worked on active projects and presented my findings to the project teams. There is also a lot of freedom to be proactive and take up other opportunities for example I helped at an event by giving tours to global senior leaders.

Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was

4/5

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?

Yes I have learnt new technical skills in the lab (e.g. cell culture and western blotting) and developed soft skills such as communication and time management.

How would you rate the training provided during your experience?

5/5

How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?

4/5

How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?

5/5

Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development

4/5

Support and Guidance

How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?

My supervisor is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. She provided lots of input for the direction of my project work especially at the start. She taught me a lot about her areas of expertise, supported my personal development non-project work, and provided some career guidance.

How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?

5/5

How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?

5/5

Company Culture

What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?

The facilities are amazing and everyone is really friendly. There is often networking time after meetings, organised cultural event celebrations and dinner on the last Friday of each month, all of which were very enjoyable.