Biology Labs Apprentice Review

lab work: running experiments, assays, cell culture, preparing stocks of buffers and other substances such as plasma/serum, flow cytometry, qPCR, amongst many other things Office work: analysing data, checking compliance, organising workgroups and presenting new data and project overviews of work achieved, making posters, community outreach programmes and schools careers events

I have learnt a lot of new skills including many of the lab techniques, which I had not encountered before, how to log in samples in to a human tissue and cell tracking feature, using excel and other programs on the computer for data analysis, as well as presenting data to a wider scientific audience

I enjoy my programme a lot, as it is very science-focused. I very much enjoy working in the la with scientists with many more years of experience, and the challenge of having to produce good data and working with concepts that are beyond anything encountered earlier in school or during A levels

the structure seems quite good, but I am struggling to understand the reason for including a couple of the modules in the course. I think the level of independent working is quite good, but I think the academic supervisors should be made easier to reach as it can be quite difficult to reach the support that is needed, which a full time uni student would get

I receive quite a lot of support, or rather a lot is offered. there is a lot of wellbeing services put in place for the employees and if I need academic help, or practical help in the lab, I feel that I can always go to one of my colleagues

there is a decent amount of support, such as discussion forums and opportunity to ask questions. The individual academics that are marking each module also put in a fair amount of time to help the students go through any problems they may face during each module, one thing that could be improved though is that some of the supervisors seem to be available a lot more often than others, and it would be more useful for them all to be available the same amount

I feel that my university work gives me a really good grasp of the theoretical aspects of the work that I am undertaking in the lab. whilst a lot of the concepts in my employment are very advanced, I do feel that the university aspect helps me understand them better

yes there are a lot, there are several sports groups such as volleyball, basketball, football and squash, as well as a choir, and many social and professional networking events, which can include everyone from apprentices to members of the senior leadership and even the executive team, including things like a pub quiz

Yes

I find that working at GSK has a very good atmosphere. my colleagues semm to be friendly and helpful, and are always willing to help out people with less experience than them. there is also a wide range of other activities to get inbvolved with including charity events, and social ones

I would say that it's not about the level of qualifications that you have, it's really about the mindset and showing that you are willing to learn and take part in an active role, whilst you are working. I would also recommend that they learn as much as they can about the processes that go on at the comapny