Tag: student voice

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My placement year at Reckitt

By Joel Tyler

Reckitt is a Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company with offices and employees spread out across the world. Founded in 1870, Reckitt started off by selling laundry starch in Hull, now, Reckitt operates in a range of markets and is the owner of various health and medicinal brands such as; Nurofen, Strepsils, Dettol, Vanish and Durex to name a few. 

Some examples of Reckitt products sold around the world. Via Google Images

My placement year was a lab-based role involved in working for the brand Veet, this included both formulation manufacturing and analytical testing for the depilatory cream products currently available to buy in shops as well as a new product being developed and to be released in the near future. 

A day in the life

Due to the fast paced environment (as an FMCG company), I found that there was always something to do all the time and the days/weeks were fairly similar. This is because of the constant manufacturing of different formulations of new products to be tested under different stability conditions, and then followed by analytical testing of the formulations to identify which was the best product.  

Using a light microscope to examine the structure of a hair sample

Therefore, my normal day would start with a team meeting to discuss where everyone was at with formulation/testing work and to discuss steps/processes going forward or if anything had failed/gone wrong with the batch. After, I would go to the lab to complete any formulation/analytical testing which needed to be done.  

I enjoyed this working routine as it meant I gained far more lab experienced than I initially thought I would, it was always very clear what work I needed to be doing and I was always given lots of support if things ever went wrong. I would say I definitely wasn’t treated as a ‘student’ but a very integral part of the team which also surprised me! 

Student Project

In the second half of my placement, I organised and created a project alongside my line manager which involved testing the tensile strength of hair using a texture analyser and a brand new test method. I also presented my results to the rest of the Veet brand to explain my findings. 

During my project I had to test thousands of individual hair samples and as a result became the most experienced within the lab at using the texture analyser, this meant that I had the opportunity to present and perform samples to higher up executives within the company (and even the Global Head of R&D) which was an amazing experience. 

Hair sample being tested in the Texture analyser to investigate the tensile
A Becomix machine used to formulate and manufacture different depilatory creams. Via Google Images

Why I chose to do a placement

I decided during first year of my degree that I wanted to do a placement, specifically a lab based placement, because I was enjoying being in the lab at university but I was curious if I would enjoy working in a lab as a full time job to give myself an idea for post graduate jobs.  

Having completed my full year, I now know I could happily work in a lab after university, so applying for lab based roles isn’t a big risk but also that I know I can work efficiently and thrive under the environment. My placement gave me many challenges along the way (which is natural when learning new things in a short space of time) but I gained valuable and employable experience in overcoming these obstacles and realised that I feel confident within a lab setting.

I would highly recommend doing a placement!

Completing my placement year was definitely one of the most important things I have done within my life. The obvious reasons being all the different skills and attributes which I learnt/developed along the way, but also, the experiences which are available in just one year really surprised me, with the huge amounts of social networking needed to be done for my day to day job, I found myself naturally speaking to and shadowing other departments, creating professional relationships which will last for life. So I would say even if you are even considering to apply for placements, just go for it because you won’t regret it! 

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A year at Pharmaron UK

By Billy James

Most, if not all of you, will have never heard of Pharmaron. Neither had I, till I applied for a placement in their Formulation Development Team. 

A little context 

I first came across Pharmaron when looking for placements back in September 2021. A lecture entitled “Drug Formulation” had sparked my interest in the first few weeks of term, so when I came across Pharmaron’s “Formulation Development” placement I applied straight away.

 In preparation for interviews I did a little research into the company and found out they were a CDMO, or contract development and manufacturing organisation. Essentially, Pharmaron take on client contracts for anything ranging from drug discovery all the way through to manufacturing drug product for clinical trials.

Two of the buildings at Pharmaron’s Hoddesdon Site

My Placement

The placement itself was a 12-month stint within the formulation development team at the company’s site in Hoddesdon (I still wouldn’t be able to point this out to you on a map!). During the year, I was exposed to and involved in much more than I expected. If, like me, you expected a year of photocopying and running errands, then think again.

I couldn’t believe how soon I was thrown in the deep end! The CDMO work environment is very dynamic, any minute a client can email in a request to change or add to a contract and then its all hands on deck to get the work done. After only a few weeks of training (and reading lots of documentation), I was straight into helping my supervisor with the production of a batch of tablets for stability testing. And that was only the start.

Some examples of things I did while on placement include: qualification of fridges, freezers and digital clocks (yes, even clocks have to qualified in a GMP environment), production of stability batches (many, many tablets and capsules), installation and set up of new automatic balances (terrifyingly expensive pieces of kit) and completing a case study for the team.

The case study

Case studies are carried out on topics the team have little experience in or to show off their expertise to potential clients.

A case study I was asked to complete while on placement looked at tablet coatings. Specifically, the team wanted to learn more about (and show clients we knew about) titanium dioxide free coatings and how they compared to regular, titanium dioxide containing coatings. I won’t bore you with the legislative details, but to make a long story short, the EU may ban this compound from tablet coatings. This would be a bad thing as it would mean many drug shortages and discontinuations, as it has many very useful properties. Other compounds with similar properties simply do not exist.

I was given free reign on how to complete the case study, which gave me a real sense of pride as the team felt confident enough in my abilities to complete this important piece of work for them. Completing the case study also gave me an excellent piece of work to write my Placement Report on.

Another opportunity which arose from completing this case study was submitting a poster and abstract to the APS (Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences) to present at their annual PharmSci conference.

APS and PharmSci

After completing my case study and placement report, and as my placement was coming to an end, my supervisor suggested submitting an abstract and poster of my work to the APS for their PharmSci annual conference.

I thought this was an amazing opportunity which I couldn’t pass up on, so in the last few days of my placement I worked hard to prepare both a poster and abstract detailing the work we had completed on the case study.

To my surprise, both were accepted for presentation at the conference, and the abstract was also selected for an oral presentation (at the time this terrified me, but I soon realised it was an amazing opportunity)!


Attending the (all expenses paid!) conference was truly the highlight of my year, and being able to present the work I had spent many months on was an extremely proud moment.

Presenting at the APS PharmSci conference

I can’t recommend doing a placement enough, irrespective of if it involves lab work, office work or a combination of the two, it really is a fantastic and formative experience. Not only do you get paid (usually quite well!) for a year, but you also learn and are exposed to so many new things which could eventually be what you decide to do when you leave university.

If you are in two minds over doing a placement or not, take this as a sign to go for it!

You won’t regret it!

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A year in NHS labs

By Chloe Heppenstall

What goes on in the NHS laboratories? 

Rather than a research-based placement, my time in the NHS laboratories involved completing routine assays to test samples and deliver crucial patient results as soon as possible. I was part of the Immunology team within Laboratory Medicine, however there are numerous different departments, such as haematology, virology, microbiology, or chemistry. Having previously worked in the NHS as a domestic, I thought I knew a lot about what happens in the hospitals, but this placement was a huge eye opener as to how much goes on behind the scenes! 

Thank you NHS by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

Why I applied for a placement year. 

As I was heading into my second year of University, I was developing a deep interest for Immunology, however I was unsure on what careers would involve this work, and if I would enjoy it. I figured a laboratory-based placement would be the best way for me to understand what work in this sector looks like, and if it was something that I could thrive in. From enjoying my time in the labs at university, I knew a hands on, lab-based placement would be something for me. By taking on this exciting opportunity in the Immunology laboratory in the NHS, I was able to utilise my skill set and knowledge further in an area I was keen on progressing into. 

Me wearing different PPE

What does a typical day look like? 

Each day differed depending on which bench I was allocated to. Within the department, there are 7 different benches, which a Biomedical Scientist would usually spend between 2-6 months on before rotating. These benches involve techniques such as gel electrophoresis, immunofluorescence, immunofixation, immunodisplacement, and automated and manual assays. As part of my placement, I had the opportunity to rotate around all the benches, and each bench was dissimilar to the last. Depending on turnaround times, any backlogs of samples, or any additional work the lab was taking on from other labs, one bench could be a lot busier compared to other benches, and require more staff members to help.  

Identifying monoclones via gel electrophoresis] 

What did I learn? 

In addition to utilising laboratory techniques I acquired during university, I learnt a range of new methods which I will carry as valuable experience for future job prospects. Furthermore, I learnt the importance of turnaround times, and the impact which can occur for the patient if these are not met. My professionalism also grew, as I frequently had to speak to other healthcare professionals, such as nurses in A&E, or midwives. Outside of the lab, the clinical scientists held lectures and journal club sessions, which focussed on the clinical applications and impact of the assays we were completing in the laboratory. This was useful as time in the lab can become very fast paced and repetitive, and it can be easy to forget why you are doing what you are doing. Finally, I made a lot of friends who share similar interests and hobbies to myself, which enabled me to develop a healthy work-life balance. 

Me extracting calprotectin samples in a fume cupboard

What did I find challenging? 

Although many people warned me, adjusting to the 9-5 working life was extremely difficult. Despite my day finishing at 5 and having my weekends off, I have been just as tired working 9-5 than I was at university with loads of deadlines! On the other hand, there was no stress like there is with university, and if I ever had any problems with work, or I did not understand a concept, the team in Immunology were so welcoming and would give me as much time as I needed to understand and complete something. 

Would I recommend a placement to other students? 

Absolutely. The skills and experience you acquire whilst on a placement are invaluable, and put you in the best position for applying to jobs after university. If you are seeking hands on experience and a taste of the real world outside of university, do not hesitate to apply to placement opportunities! Aside from the unique skillset I have acquired, I have also been given opportunities to meet new people and discuss their opinions on interesting real-life assay topics, and my potential career in the NHS. I feel confident in a laboratory workplace, which is something I never thought I would be saying! 

I now cannot wait to complete my final year at university, obtain my degree, and take my skillset further either in postgraduate studies or in a job. 

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How to feed your gut microbiome on a budget

By Anna Slater

“Gut health”. We’ve all heard it, the latest buzzword that is trending all over the internet. But what’s good about this trend is that it’s not your regular ‘fad diet’, in fact the research is growing exponentially and has shown that your gut microbiome plays a really important role in our physical and mental wellbeing. The gut microbiome is found in the large intestine and describes the diverse ecosystem of bacteria that resides here. Each of us consists of about 100 trillion microbial cells, 10 times more than the number of human cells in our body! They do lots of great things for us, such as digesting food and absorbing nutrients, in particular dietary fibre and keeping our immune system healthy from any harmful pathogens. The most important discovery in the field of research is that individuals who ate more than 30 different plant based foods a week had a more diverse colony of gut bacteria than those who ate less than 10. We all know that on a student budget it can be difficult to get diversity in on a budget, so here are my top tips for feeding your gut bacteria at a lower cost.

  1. Bulk out meals with cheaper cupboard staples, such as chickpeas, lentils or beans. On average tins of these tend to be around 50p and contain all the gut loving fibre that your microbes will enjoy. You don’t even have to remove the meat from the dish if you enjoy this, it just makes sure you’ve got more fibre and plant based protein. Also, the more vegetables you bulk out the portions with the more food you will make so even if the vegetables are a little more expensive you may save in the long run
My prawn, sweet potato peanut butter curry – lots of hidden gut loving ingredients such as chickpeas and lots of added vegetables

2. Rotate your fruits and vegetables. If it’s hard to eat 30 plant based foods a week, just try not to stick to one food all the time. One challenge I’m doing at the moment is to try and get one fruit and vegetable in my shop that I don’t usually go for. This week’s is pineapple and sweet potato! Even using different colours of the same vegetables, such as peppers or onions, each different colour counts as more variety.

Food Love GIF
Via Giphy

3. Try buying frozen vegetables. Lots of people have the misconception that frozen fruit and vegetables are less nutritious, but sometimes they can actually be higher in nutrients as they are picked and packaged and frozen in hours which retains the nutrients more than storing at room temperature.  These options can be very cost effective and last longer than fresh vegetables.

4. Plan your meals for the week so that you know exactly what you need to buy and are less likely to shop. If you write everything down in a list, you are more likely to stick to it, rather than buying lots of random expensive ingredients and not knowing what to cook. I am a serial meal prepper so I love to make big batches of meals, so I find it really helpful to have a plan when I go to the supermarket so I know what I’m eating for the week.

Always making industrial quantities! This is my vegetable filled chicken lasagne

5. Have a go at experimenting with more herbs and spices. Did you know they also count as a ¼ of a plant point? If you add herbs and spices it can really make a dish more flavourful as well as being flavourful for those gut microbes to digest!

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My Experience as a Year In Industry Student

By Joel Tyler, BSc Physiological Sciences

Edited by Maddie Wildridge

Reckitt is a Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company with offices and employees spread out across the world. Founded in 1870, Reckitt started off by selling laundry starch in Hull, now, Reckitt operates in a range of markets and is the owner of various health and medicinal brands such as; Neurofen, Strepsils, Dettol, Vanish and Durex to name a few.

Examples of some Reckitt products sold around the world

My placement year was a lab-based role involved in working for the brand Veet, this included both formulation manufacturing and analytical testing for the depilatory cream products currently available to buy in shops as well as a new product being developed and to be released in the near future.

A Day in the Life

Using a Light Microscope to examine the structure of a hair sample

Due to the fast paced environment (as an FMCG company), I found that there was always something to do all the time and the days/weeks were fairly similar. This is because of the constant manufacturing of different formulations of new products to be tested under different stability conditions, and then followed by analytical testing of the formulations to identify which was the best product.

Therefore, my normal day would start with a team meeting to discuss where everyone was at with formulation/testing work and to discuss steps/processes going forward or if anything had failed/gone wrong with the batch. After, I would go to the lab to complete any formulation/analytical testing which needed to be done.

I enjoyed this working routine as it meant I gained far more lab experienced than I initially thought I would, it was always very clear what work I needed to be doing and I was always given lots of support if things ever went wrong. I would say I definitely wasn’t treated as a ‘student’ but a very integral part of the team which also surprised me!

Student Project
In the second half of my placement, I organised and created a project alongside my line manager which involved testing the tensile strength of hair using a texture analyser and a brand new test method. I also presented my results to the rest of the Veet brand to explain my findings.

Hair sample being tested in the Texture Analyser to investigate the tensile strength

During my project I had to test thousands of individual hair samples and as a result became the most experienced within the lab at using the texture analyser, this meant that I had the opportunity to present and perform samples to higher up executives within the company (and even the Global Head of R&D) which was an amazing experience.

A Becomix machine used to formulate and manufacture different depilatory creams during my placement year

Why I Chose To Do a Placement
I decided during first year of my degree that I wanted to do a placement, specifically a lab based placement, because I was enjoying being in the lab at university but I was curious if I would enjoy working in a lab as a full time job to give myself an idea for post graduate jobs.

Having completed my full year, I now know I could happily work in a lab after university, so applying for lab based roles isn’t a big risk but also that I know I can work efficiently and thrive under the environment. My placement gave me many challenges along the way (which is natural when learning new things in a short space of time) but I gained valuable and employable experience in overcoming these obstacles and realised that I feel confident within a lab setting.

I Would Highly Recommend a Placement!
Completing my placement year was definitely one of the most important things I have done within my life. The obvious reasons being all the different skills and attributes which I learnt/developed along the way, but also, the experiences which are available in just one year really surprised me, with the huge amounts of social networking needed to be done for my day to day job, I found myself naturally speaking to and shadowing other departments, creating professional relationships which will last for life. So I would say even if you are even considering to apply for placements, just go for it because you won’t regret it!

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From One First Year Student to The Next

By: Caroline Elaine

I’ll give you a little teaser of your first year at Newcastle University if you’re planning to study at BNS school.

When I was giving the offer holders’ students a tour of the school, I noticed that some of the questions they asked were quite similar. For example, how are the lectures, what modules are we studying, and so on.

Therefore, I’ll go over some of the things I believe you should all know. Hopefully, after reading this, you have a better idea of how your first year of university will go. Okay, let’s get started! 

Continue reading “From One First Year Student to The Next”
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The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks

By Evangelia Rakou Stage 2 Biomedical Sciences Student

Who is Henrietta Lacks?

It might come as a surprise to you that one of the people who changed the course of medical research was not even a scientist herself. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman and mother of five who died from cervical cancer in 1951.

After complaining of vaginal bleeding, she was diagnosed with the disease and sadly passed away several months after her diagnosis. However, her cells continue to impact the world and revolutionise modern medicine years after her death.

Continue reading “The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks”
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Dr Marie Maynard Daly: The Mother of Genetics and Heart Diseases

By Luisa Roa Gil 3rd year Physiological Sciences student

Illustration of Dr Marie Maynard Daly
Illustration of Dr Marie Maynard Daly by Matteo Farinella on Tumblr

You might expect to instantly recognise the name of someone that contributed to the discovery of DNA structure, revealed the cause of high blood pressure, and became the first African-American woman to obtain a chemistry PhD, right?

However, you may be shocked by how many do not know the story of Dr Marie Maynard Daly – a woman who made multiple advances in science and opened doors for young scientists.

Continue reading “Dr Marie Maynard Daly: The Mother of Genetics and Heart Diseases”
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Our Student Secrets For Your First Year of University

By Elysia Marrs and Elayna Hugh – Jones

#1 “Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan!”  

Picture this, it’s 6pm on a Thursday, you’re just back from a long day of lectures, you’re hangry as hell and those birds-eye potato waffles are calling your name…but trust me, there is a whole world of foods and flavours at your disposal if you just meal plan! As Iona Gannon, 2nd year nutrition student swears by, “an extra 30 minutes spent planning at the weekend will save you so much time and money, even just three speedy meals a week and you will thank yourself”. You never know, you might even be the next Gordan Ramsey, minus the raging temper hopefully!  

The Late Late Show with James Corden News on CBS
Continue reading “Our Student Secrets For Your First Year of University”
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My role as an EDI rep

By Alex Washington, MSci Biomedical Genetics

For a little while now I’ve been looking for ways to help the LGBT+ and disabled communities but was never sure where to go or what I could do. I do still want to find other ways to help, but I found my starting point as an EDI (Equality, Disability, and Inclusivity) representative in the School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences.

How I got the role

I originally applied to be the LGBT+ rep, thinking “well I’m really queer so that’ll work,” but Dr Parry, head of the EDI committee at the time, thought I’d be better suited for the marginalised genders role, seeing as I’m very vocal about being trans. I didn’t have much of a choice when I was 19 going on 12 but I’m still open about it now, when I easily pass as a cis man (not looking quite 20 yet but getting there).

Continue reading “My role as an EDI rep”