
My Summer Placement
I’ve already written about the Gatsby Plant Science Summer School and I mentioned in that post that because I enjoyed it I organised a three week placement working in the University Botanic Gardens and the herbarium with Dr Gornall. It may seem a long way off but the summer is a great opportunity to do […]
Year abroad passed and degree accreditation received!
I can now officially say that I have passed my year abroad! This means my degree title is now Medical Biochemistry with a Year Abroad Bsc (fancy right?). Providing I survive this year of course. My degree is also now going to be accredited by the Royal Society of Biology. I gave my presentation last […]
Year abroad assessment
Today I submitted my dissertation for my year abroad. This was a 5000 word project report, detailing the lab project I undertook during my time in Germany. Thankfully, I managed to generate some constructs during the year and actually had some results to discuss. It was a challenge, but it hit me how much I […]

Studying abroad as part of a Biological Sciences degree
I have discovered that not every student in the Biological Sciences department is aware of an opportunity to spend a year abroad as part of their undergraduate degree. In fact, it wasn’t until second year that I even realised myself. Obviously I knew it was possible to study abroad, but I wasn’t interested in taking […]

How is an industrial placement year marked?
Depending on which university you go to and which course you study, taking a year out after your penultimate year to work in industry will be graded differently. At the University of Leicester and specifically for the Biological Sciences department (which includes Medical Physiology, Medical Biochemistry etc), taking a year out to work on a […]

Commuting 170 miles a day
I’m not sure if it’s been made clear from any of my past posts but I commute to work in Stevenage via train, from Leicester. Whenever someone asks me where I live and I say Leicester, they have an incredulous look on their face as I explain that I commute in to work. It takes […]

Two thirds of the way down the line…Unbelievable!
With the Easter holidays just come and gone, I found myself shocked at how it was already April and I was two thirds of the way into my industrial placement year. It will soon be eight months that I have been at GSK and I honestly have no idea where time has gone. I try […]
Part 5: A watched pot never boils…
So you can sit for hours staring at your email inbox, your phone or even the letterbox waiting to hear the results of your interview but you could be putting that time to much better use. No doubt waiting for a response can be the most mind numbing part of any job application process with […]

Part 4: The actual interview
This is the turning point of your industrial placement application process. If you tick all the boxes at this stage then you can be sure to be offered a position. But the obvious problem is that you don’t know what the boxes stand for, but then again neither do any of the other applicants! […]

Part 3: Here come the interviews! The telephone interview:
I remember the first reply I got from one of the pharmaceutical industries I applied to for an industrial placement was a rejection email stating that unfortunately I was not suited for the role. It was a depressing moment as that was when I thought the rejections would come flooding through and it tastes just […]
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