Technician Scientist Apprentice Review

Varied lab work, time split approx. 50% office involving planning experiments, preparing/giving presentations including of data, university study, meetings, emails etc; and then ~50% time spent in the the lab on a variety of practical lab techniques to support bioscience projects.

Practical lab skills continually developing; new lab techniques being learnt. Non lab skills such as organisation always developing and responsibilities increasing.

Generally highly.

Organisation and structure are very good, including on the academic side with the UoK since they improved their apprenticeship services (getting more AP advisors, improving email communications etc) a couple of years ago.

Usually very supportive.

Support usually has to be reached out for by me to the UoK, for example the module convenor for my 3rd year project module has not actually reached out to me to see how it was going. However, my AP advisor is readily contactable and reviews are valuable.

Topics in the uni modules are often very relevant to my day job, so this certainly helps my understanding in the workplace and therefore does make a difference in helping me understand my role.

Apprenticeship networks, rounders club in the summer, team/department socials, speakers coming in to give talks sometimes.

Yes

Very nice working environment, very professional, high standards, welcoming, patient orientated, and leaders in exciting, novel science fields.

Be prepared for the first few weeks to be quite quiet in terms of workload as you find your feet and settle into your niche within the team/department. Be prepared to give presentations on a regular basis, especially after your first few months.