My IDS Adventure!

By: Ben Gardner

What I thought of the summer placement.

My time at ImmunoDiagnosticSystems (IDS) was extremely valuable and interesting, it was great to see what we learn about at uni being used in real-life.

I learnt many skills in the lab including immunoassays, antibody purification, and accurate working. I have also developed my ability to document labwork, process data, and think critically. It was interesting to see the many different departments IDS has and how they interact. IDS is an excellent company for aspiring bio-scientists with special thanks to Michael Gardner, the rest of the Process Development department, and the Quality Control department. They all really helped me on my placement, and I had a great experience chatting with them in the labs and the office. I would highly recommend other students to take up a placement at IDS and I can guarantee they will have a wonderful time!

20th October 202216th November 2022

Spending my summer break in labs in Thailand

By: Cornelia V. Genika BSc Biomedical Sciences

Hi! I am Cita, from Indonesia, and a stage 2 student of Biomedical Sciences, and here I would like to share my experience joining a 10-day science training program in Thailand during the summer break!

Over the summer I joined a science training program ran by Mahidol University in Thailand. I was introduced to this program by my friend, and I decided to join it as I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to develop the lab skills that I have gained throughout the first year and gain new scientific knowledge, meet new people, and build connections, as well as improve my CV.

13th October 202225th October 2022

My Personal Development; Doing a Placement in Drug Development

By: Caitlin Allison

LabCorp Drug Development

Pharmaceuticals are all around us; we probably all have taken a drug, received a vaccine, or known someone who has. These small molecules can not only improve the quality of life but also save lives. All these drugs require drug developmental processes.

LabCorp Drug Development, formerly Covance, is a Contract Research Organization (CRO). It delivers a range of experimental packages for nonclinical, preclinical, and clinical services to many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

I was located at Harrogate North Yorkshire, a site which specialises in preclinical pharmaceutical development. At this site, I was a Dose Analyst- an employee who investigated formulations for preclinical studies. I analysed formulations via High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

Whilst on placement I lived in Harrogate, it’s very pretty. I managed to explore surrounding areas such as Knaresborough and Brimham rocks. My dogs would often visit, they loved it <3. Photos taken by myself

19th September 202225th October 2022

Pengalaman Latihan Industri Harith: Daripada Sains Bioperubatan kepada Sains Nutraseutikal

Ditulis oleh Harith Syahmie Zulfikree

Hi semua! Saya Harith, pelajar tahun satu jurusan Ijazah Sarjana Muda Sains Bioperubatan (Kepujian) dari Malaysia! Dalam blog ini, saya akan berkongsi pengalaman menjalani latihan industri selama 2 bulan semasa cuti musim panas di Institut Pembangunan Bioproduk (IBD), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor, Malaysia.

19th September 2022

Harith’s Internship Experience: From Biomedical Science to Nutraceutical Science

By: Harith Syahmie Zulfikree

Hi everyone! I’m Harith and I’m a first-year BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences student from Malaysia! In this blog post, I will share my 2-month internship experience during my summer break at the Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor, Malaysia.

8th September 20228th September 2022

Regulatory Affairs, not my regular choice but glad I accepted the challenge!

By: Josie Copus BSc Biochemistry with Professional Placement Year

What’s the worst that could happen?

A placement in regulatory affairs? What even is ‘reg’ affairs?!

If, during stage 2 of Uni, someone told me that I was going to spend a full year working on regulatory submissions for one of the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies, I’d have laughed. More than that- I’d have panicked! Why? Because other than it being critical in delivering drugs to patients, I didn’t have the slightest comprehension or appreciation of what regulatory affairs involved.

5th November 202121st March 2022

The Secretive World of the Personal Care Industry

Procter & Gamble is one of the largest personal care companies in the world. If I gave you 10 seconds to find a P&G product, I guarantee there would be at least 5 in the kitchen cupboard. They are responsible for delivering Ariel, Fairy, Bold, Gillette, and so many more brands.

Naturally, working for such a large business means having access to a lot of confidential information, which can be very daunting at first. What if I get it wrong? What if I release millions of pounds worth of information to our top competitor?

25th June 202121st March 2022

Partners: more than just a summer school

decorative header photo introducing foreword by Dr Damian Parry

I have been leading the Partners programme in the School of Biomedical Sciences (as it was then) since 2014 – and have enjoyed every moment.

In “normal times” it’s a great opportunity for students to come onto campus and experience university life in a “snapshot”. It’s my ideal that the experience will minimise fear of the unknown, seeing that Newcastle University’s School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences is a place where students can feel at home, see themselves thriving and anticipate a great 3 or 4 years ahead.

Obviously, last year and this year things have changed, and we’ve had to move the provision totally online, but hopefully there is still a chance to see what university life will be like, meet future colleagues in studies and members of staff, and get to know each other.

28th May 202121st March 2022

Clinics, Catering, and Community Settings: Placement Experiences in First Year Dietetics

September 2020 was just around the corner. I was feeling excited but also nervous to begin the journey as a student in the very first cohort of the MDiet course at Newcastle University. Little did I know that COVID-19 was going to change university life as we know it.

The new norm included logging in to different Zoom classes, communicating with classmates via e-mail or texts, and learning how to measure portion sizes from an online live lab. It was all new at first, but our lecturers were always ready to respond to any request we had. What I love the most is that our cohort is quite diverse with different people, ideas and backgrounds coming together to learn, discuss and debate on Nutrition and Dietetics matters. MDiet is a safe place for us to communicate our thoughts and goals.

13th April 202121st March 2022

A big pharma placement? There’s more to do than just science.

By Kate Jervis

When I first found out I had a placement at AstraZeneca (AZ), I thought I had a pretty good idea of what my days would be – hours and hours working in the lab, writing up experiments and poring over graphs. Maybe, I thought, I can improve my communication skills by presenting data to my team. But even with the unexpected shakeup of lockdown and coronavirus, I didn’t realise just how oversimplified my idea of a lab-based placement was.

Zoom call with coffee. Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash.

I am a fan of lab work, but anyone who knows me well can tell you that one of my favourite pastimes is admin. I have no shame in admitting that I’m the person who finds joy in organising an inbox, or drawing up spreadsheets to track a team’s progress through a big task. It’s a strange hobby, but it’s satisfying, and so when I saw adverts to recruit a new AZ early talent committee, I could hardly not apply for the role of secretary. I had no professional secretarial experience, but it sounded so me!