Category Archives: Science

Energy Intern – Wattstor Energy Storage Systems

Access to Internships (A2I), Energy Engineering, Environmental Work, Science,

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

I carried out a variety of tasks over my internship, including creating case studies from the data of existing customers, analysing data to gain an understanding of charging cycles, blog posts for the website, and basic organisation and “tidying up” of the company dropbox account.  I also worked on several excel spreadsheets that are in use with the company, to fix any errors and improve usability and appearance.

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

I worked well under pressure, and during days when a lot was going on and others were getting stressed, I was able to remain calm and help lighten the workload for my colleagues.  I have also largely improved my excel skills, and I am proud that I successfully solved any problems I was faced with when working on the spreadsheets.  In addition, I am pleased with my independence and ability to get on with a task, but equally I felt comfortable asking for help when I needed it.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

The work I carried out was to a high standard and will help the company keep track of the work they do, saving them time and problems in the future.  I was also able to carry out tasks for my colleagues that reduced their workload during busy periods.

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

There were some research tasks that I was unable to find complete information on, so I collated all that I could find and presented that.

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.

Research Support Intern – CLES, University of Exeter

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

research

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

My primary role was supporting a Professor with his past and future research. This included performing literature reviews and compiling and analysing data. For future research I learnt how to use the survey programming software lime survey, and programmed a survey to be used in future research. Further responsibilities included producing a written report of my statistical analysis conducted on a large collection of research findings for other Professors, as well as assisting with participant recruitment and attending research meetings.

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

I have learnt a lot about the process of designing, conducting and reporting research that I haven’t seen in practice as such at University. I also learnt new skills, such as survey programming, and developed more confidence and independence.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Primarily, I believe my completion of a written report detailing my statistical analyses would be useful when looking for avenues of future research. I also believe I lightened the workload, particularly by performing tasks such as literature reviews and recruitment.

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

I don’t believe I encountered any major issues, except we found the e-claims system a little difficult to set-up and navigate.

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.

Outreach Assistant – University of Exeter, CEMPS

Access to Internships (A2I), Education, Teaching and Research, Employer Feedback, Mining and Minerals Engineering, Science, Student Campus Partnership (SCP),

creative-desk-pens-school

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

During my placement I spent a good proportion of my time out of the office as well as in. When I was in the office I was helping to create educational resources as well as lessons in a box, in order to send out into local schools next academic year. When I was out of the office I was helping with a variety of outreach activities in order to promote CEMPS subjects to possible future students. In general I was trying to spread the idea that CEMPS subjects are fun and show that learning them will help everyone with their future career prospects.

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

I have definitely become much more confident when sharing my ideas and opinions. I have also done a fair amount of presentation speaking and these experiences have definitely prepared me to go into my final year.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to add a number of resources to the current pool of activities used for outreach in the department, and have also come up with more ideas that could be developed in the future.

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

The only problem  was waiting for purchased resources to arrive. This wasn’t the end of the world though as there was always plenty more to be getting on with.

“Eloise was able to provide a different perspective on the planned activities for sessions and worked well within the team. It has been extremely helpful to have an intern helping through this busy time in the year and has made a great contribution to our efforts” – Line Manager

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.

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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Technical Research Assistant – Centre for Alternative Materials and Remanufacturing Technologies, University of Exeter

Hospitality and Event Management, Physics and Astronomy, Science,

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

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

Working with CALMARE my main focus was helping small and medium enterprises in the South West, in the form of ‘Business Assists’ which involved consultancy on materials testing, development and sustainability. This was part-funded through the European Regional Development Fund. The projects were hugely variable, from competitor analysis to product development; from the deployment of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) systems to the development of aesthetic lighting systems.

I also supported the delivery of an art exhibition “From Cowboys to Astronauts” which showcased work from 25 South West artists. It focused on recycled materials, and was designed to promote the concept of circular economy. This involved setting up and taking down at two venues, engaging with the artists, businesses and general public.

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

I developed my networking skills and ability to present myself professionally to businesses. I also improved my time management skills.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I delivered high quality work on time, and used a variety of skills not assessed in the original application; from the design of marketing materials to photography. I was able to add specialist knowledge (physics) to an already varied team, and was quick to learn both the procedural aspects of the job and the extra knowledge needed for the position.

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

Over the last year I have come to accept challenging circumstances in my personal life, and my internship helped me focus and accept what life throws at us.

Research Assistant – Rothamsted Research

Biosciences, Science,

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

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

Whilst interning at Rothamsted Research, I assisted Dr. Laura Cardenas’ and Dr. Robert Dunn with their research on greenhouse gas emissions from soil. We were interested to see how tillage (a form of ploughing) affected carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide flux from soil beneath pastoral pastures used to graze lambs. To test this, 12 chambers were installed to record greenhouse gas flux from tilled and un-tilled pastures throughout the day and night. My role was to analyse emissions data collected in Summer 2014. I learned a series of statistical tests (e.g. t-test, general analyses of variance) and conversed with world-leading scientists to produce a report of greenhouse gas emissions from grazed grassland.

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

I overcame my fear of statistics whilst simultaneously making excellent contacts in the agricultural research field.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I contributed towards a research project by running statistical tests which lightened the work-load for my colleagues and provided them with insight into their experimental technique.

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

I had very little experience of statistics before starting this internship. Therefore, it was daunting to be given a pages of Excel spreadsheets filled with data. I overcame this by thinking calmly and methodically and arranging meetings with my supervisors to explain some of the key principles.

Badger Cattle Contact and Vaccination Project Assistant – Zoological Society of London

Biosciences, Science

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

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

I was responsible for checking and collecting badger hair from hair snares, bagging them and labelling them so that they were ready to be sent off to the laboratory. I assisted in  surveying for badger sets, the baiting and pre-baiting of badger traps, camera trapping and analysis of the camera footage. In addition, I assisted with the radio tracking of badgers and cows with radio collars on so that information on how they came into contact could be downloaded from the collars.

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

I learnt many practical skills that it would have been difficult to learn any other way. In addition I got to take part in a real life scientific study.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

My assistance meant we were able to cover far more ground with surveys and generally lighten my colleagues workload.

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

The main problems were physical ones, carrying heavy traps through fields of brambles and over/through hedges. However the more I persisted, the stronger I became.