Category Archives: Biosciences

Assistant Research Scientist – College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences

Access to Internships (A2I), Biosciences, Physics and Astronomy, Science

clinic-doctor-health-hospital

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

After becoming comfortable with the literature, my main role in this internship was to train in the Biophysics labs and learn from a PhD student before going on to help them complete research. After completing this research I was responsible for the production of a paper detailing the process and results, with an aim to getting the paper published in a scientific journal. I have also attended the regular Biophysics group meetings, as well as being given the opportunity to hear guest speakers from other Universities talk when they have visited the Physics department here in Exeter.

Overall, the whole of my internship has been an amazing and extremely rewarding experience. I have learned much more about what life as a scientist really is, got to grips with a wide variety of new scientific concepts through studying the literature, and had exposure to a thriving scientific environment where it was a privilege to listen to scientists talk about their work. I believe my biggest achievement over the course of this internship is either the growth in confidence and ability to network that I have experienced, or the production (with much help and guidance) of a scientific paper that will hopefully be published, something I did not think I was capable of at this age.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

As previously mentioned, I helped to complete a piece of novel research for my employer as well as writing the results into a paper. Moreover, having now had experience in the Biophysics labs I would be more suited to working in this department again if my employer wanted a summer student next year.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I encountered problems as a part of the work, such as a lack of knowledge of the specific vocabulary required to understand many of the concepts spoken about daily in this department. However, I overcame these either through research or asking for assistance where necessary. Everyone in the department has been very friendly and more than happy to offer assistance where necessary which has been invaluable to me.

Research Intern – CLES, University of Exeter

Biosciences, Education, Teaching and Research, Science, Student Campus Partnership (SCP),

report

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I had to write up first-draft reports on British mammal species to be submitted into the review. Other tasks included creating questionnaires, emailing, communicating with other researchers and assisting with the collation of the results. I also worked on developing code in R to produce species-specific population estimates from large data-sets of mammal population densities in different habitats. In addition, I researched using ArcGIS to model species distribution, and to extract habitat data to go towards initial population estimates.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I developed my skills in GIS and R, by a considerable degree. It was fantastic to potentially be the first person to know how many of a particular mammal existed in the UK! It was very rewarding to go through the process, from using GIS, carrying out meta-analyses, obtaining the estimate and finally writing up the species account. I learnt a great deal about the amazing mammalian wildlife we have here on our shores.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

The Mammal Population Review is a huge undertaking, and I hope I hoped to considerably lower the workload needed to be done. I hope others felt I became a valued member of the team. I felt that I was, and had an incredibly enjoyable time working with the others in the lab.

“Luke made an excellent contribution to the team. I believe he also gained valuable skills that will help him get a job in the future” – Associate Professor.

Research Assistant – CLES, University of Exeter

Access to Internships (A2I), Biosciences, Education, Teaching and Research, Science,

clinic-doctor-health-hospital

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My main role was to assist Lisa Butt in her ongoing experiments investigating the population dynamics of co-cultured E. coli and Salmonella, including in the presence of specialist and generalist bacteriophage. This was conducted in the lab, where my main responsibilities were setting up successive generations of cultures, plating out cultures, counting colonies on those plates and preparing samples from each successive culture for long-term storage so they can be studied in more detail in the future. Preparing liquid and solid media, sterilising pipette tips and eppendorf tubes, all for use in the experiments was also a key part of my role. I also set up several growth and infection assays.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I was able to confidently perform experiments largely independently by the end, so my lab skills improved hugely.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

As I assisted Lisa Butt with her ongoing research, I was able to lessen the workload so she didn’t have to spend her time on the more menial/unskilled work that needed to be done.

Market Research Intern – Attomarker

Access to Internships (A2I), Advertising, Marketing and PR, Biosciences, Science,

market

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Researching the many types of blood-testing technologies in the medical and diagnostic industry; comparing cost, method of detection, availability and accuracy into reports.
Attending meetings with my boss, where we liaised with multiple individuals within the NHS and private healthcare sector; engaged with professionals looking to improve their current diagnostics position, save money and improve patient diagnosis from a point-of-care view.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

It has really helped me understand how basic science within a research lab can be applied in a private company from academia. I have learnt lots of business and financial techniques, which will help the way I view the industry and individuals making difficult decisions to respect and mould around a market to make their product work.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I hope that I provided valuable insight into the market which will be delved into; multiple market research reports revealed information that has avoided large costs from focus group studies and professional reports. A naïve and perhaps more basic view from a student could certainly have grounded the project and provided an alternative perspective and viewpoint, which alongside tenacity from myself I hope has provided some work worth having.

Summer Research Student – The Babraham Institute

Access to Internships (A2I), Biosciences, Education, Teaching and Research, Science,

telescope-science-discover-world

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

During my internship I was independently undertaking a research project that would benefit the research of the lab as a whole. I was investigating the effects of knocking down a molecule P-Rex1 on the internalisation of the receptor S1P in rat neuronal PC12 cells. I was responsible for culturing the cells and keeping them uncontaminated, taking immunofluorescent images under the microscope and knocking down P-Rex1 via RNAi and developing the results on western blots. I was also responsible for writing up my experiment in a report and analysing the data so that it can be referred back to in the future.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I learnt how to carry out and plan large experiments on my own with little guidance and supervision.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

My results showed the optimum concentration of siRNAs and time point required to knock down P-Rex1 sufficiently. I also demonstrated that knock down of P-Rex1 does not currently show a significant difference to S1P internalisation compared to the control.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

Initially my cells were getting contaminated due to lack of experience with cell culture techniques. However with more practice and repeating the experiment they no longer got contaminated.

Bee Surveyor – Buglife, The Invertebrate Conservation Trust

Access to Internships (A2I), Animal Care, Biosciences, Charity and Development Work, Education, Teaching and Research, Environmental Work,

bee

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Surveying the status of the Andrena Hattorfiana bee across Cornwall and deciding upon the best course of action for its conservation.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I was able to work independently and make important decisions by myself which will benefit the species. Also, finding completely new and previously unknown sites for this bee in Cornwall was a real thrill!

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Helped to ensure the protection and continual survival of one of the UK’s most impressive bee species. As a charity, Bug Life is committed to saving species from extinction and so my work helped them work out the best course of action for the conservation of Andrena Hattorfiana in Cornwall.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

Living alone for a long period of time was hard but just forced me to become more productive. Th e only other problem I faced was working out what was the best course of action for the bee,  as things like Golf Courses and Holiday Parks wanted potentially different things to the bee.

Animal Behaviour Research Volunteer – University of Exeter

Access to Internships (A2I), Animal Care, Biosciences, Charity and Development Work, Education, Teaching and Research, Environmental Work,

panda

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

During my internship I ran 3 of my own research projects. First was the visibility of the red pandas and fishing cats at Newquay zoo. This involved visiting the enclosures 4 times a day and making observations on how many animals were visible and whether or not visitors were present. For the fishing cats this will act as baseline data. The zoo intend to make some improvements to the enclosure and then the new data can be compared to see if there has been any improvement to the visibility. For the red pandas, I observed three view points of the enclosure. My results found a footpath around the side of the red panda enclosure which led to a larger view of the enclosure and a significant increase in the chance of seeing a red panda, but this area was the least visited. Now this information is available to the zoo they can act on it and put up signs to lead visitors to the better view point.

I also continued some training with 4 species of Asian bird, training each species to feed from a different coloured feeding stick. This means if one species needs more food than the others, they can be target fed meeting energy requirements so breeding is more likely to be a success, but without increasing food for all birds which would be an increased financial cost to the zoo.

The final project was some behavioural observations on the same 4 species of birds as they are all due to be moving enclosure in the near future. These observations can be used as baseline data to ensure there are no dramatic changes once they have moved or perhaps even see an increase in activity.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

In the labs at uni we do a bit of data collection, but it is really limited by time and we would only have a few hours in the labs a week. I have now gained the experience of a 4 week research project and learnt what its really like be a field-based research scientist.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

The data I have collected is going to be used in multiple future projects and the bird training I did has the potential to save money on expensive wax moth larvae that is fed to the breeding birds. Also increasing the visibility of the Red pandas and Fishing cats will increase visitor satisfaction and potentially lead to more people coming to the zoo.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

On my first week my supervisor was away at a conference and after meeting 3 times prior to my start date I still had to undertake some pilot studies on my first day. I then had to make an executive decision as to which data collection methods were used as he was in Malaysia and I was therefore not able to contact him.

Communications Assistant – Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope Charity

Advertising, Marketing and PR, Biosciences, Charity and Development Work, Employer Feedback,

telephone

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Within the charity Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope, my main role was Communications Assistant. I was also involved in promotion and organisation of ticketing for fundraising events. As part of communications, my responsibilities included keeping the charity website updated, search engine optimisation, social media, and coverage on the website of recent or upcoming fundraising events. I also had a role in the promotion of a charity concert and the upcoming Christmas Carol Service. Finally, I supported the charity manager with research into suitable trusts and foundations as potential new sources of funding for the charity.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement was that I learnt a lot about the organisation and management of charities, and also about issues in global health and development, which I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to study during my degree.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

During the internship I completed side projects, such as designing new logos and info-graphics, which the other members of the team wouldn’t have had the time to complete. Also I helped make more communications and publicity work towards the charity take place within the time available. Overall I hope my work brings more donations and success of fundraising events to Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope.

“Hazel joined our small charity team for four weeks and supported us with event planning, communications and design, making a valuable contribution to our team and impressing us with her wide range of skills” – Charity Manager

Research Assistant (Ecology and Conservation) – University of Exeter

Biosciences, Education, Teaching and Research, Environmental Work, Graduate Business Partnership (GBP), Mining, Environment and Natural Resources,

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What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?
I assisted in a variety of laboratory tasks, including the organisation and curation of field samples and preparation of samples for analysis. I also had to provide research support in the form of literature reviews, collation and curation of data sets. I provided general administrative support within the group. This included organising and timetabling meetings, processing of expense claims, Booking travel and accommodation for field trips and conferences.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Learning and putting to use new lab skills and successfully managing my workload priorities.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I supported the research group by organising group meetings, collating data and taking on lab tasks such as processing field samples. I also reconciled Professor Bearhop’s expenses and organised his travel to and from work engagements and field trips in the UK and abroad.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

Whenever I had a problem I asked the supportive people in my office for advice and when I had issues with miscommunication I had a meeting with my line manager to clear up the misunderstanding.

Eco-toxicology Development Programme – AstraZeneca

Biosciences, Employer Feedback, Information Technology, Science,

UoE Internships, University of Exeter Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My main role was to create and develop a Microsoft Excel database of historical control data to assist in the interpretation of eco-toxicology studies undertaken as part of the environmental risk assessment of new pharmaceutical products. I compiled hundreds of individual datasets from studies investigating the effects of pharmaceuticals and other chemicals on aquatic flora, fauna, fish and algae. The aim was to identify anomalies, assess overall variability and so determine warning and action limits for the variability within an individual experiment.

“Having Chris work on the project enabled the data to be collected to be collated in an effective way over a short period of time. We lacked the time and available resources to life the project off the ground and Chris has given complete commitment and focus to the research, as well as a keen eye for detail; which is exactly what we wanted” – Statistician, AstraZeneca

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