University Industrial Placement Student (UIPS) Review

Particle Engineer. Involves development of crystallisations through lab work, analytical characterisation by XRPD, SEM, DSC, TGA etc, writing ELN and TPT reports, preparing slides for various meetings and attending project and team meetings.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility after I had been trained and was comfortable working in the lab independently.

I learnt lots of new lab skills such as setting up reactions with new equipment like the EasyMax and all the characterisation techniques were new to me. I also developed my time management and ability to prioritise different pieces of work in order to meet deadlines at work whilst balancing my university studies.
I've given industry-specific skills a 3 star as my role did not require me to run any LCs or NMRs which are the two most used analytical techniques in industry.

I received a lot of support during my placement through 1:1s, role specific training, general training, academic support through problem sessions and general catch ups with team members.

I loved the company culture and atmosphere. I have not met a single person who wasn't kind and friendly and more than willing to help with anything I needed. My team especially was so welcoming and tight knit and we regularly had team socials that helped build great working relationships.

I really enjoyed my placement, both the team and the other placements students contributed a lot towards my positive experience. I was given lots of opportunities to develop outside of my team as well through conferences, tours of site, volunteering opportunities, work experience, participating in national competitions and applying for awards schemes.
The only negative I would say is that I was not aware that when applying to a synthetic chemistry role I would be placed in a crystallisation and engineering heavy team. It was a great experience to get exposure to different functions that exist within pharma, however, as it is a niche area it was not particularly relevant to my university degree and did not align with my interests or expectations of what I would learn and gain from a placement year. This is why I have rated both 4 stars.

Yes