Tag Archives: southwest

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter

Employer Feedback, Information Technology, Internship Schemes, Student Campus Partnership (SCP), , , ,

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter

Name of Employer: Amy Binner

Job Title: Senior Lecturer

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“The internship culminated in the production of complete and validated code for a pilot project and a well formulated protocol for scaling up the work.

Our intern took the lead on co-ordinating and bringing together six programmers from across three different institutions and organised live coding sprints which played a key role in progressing on the development and validation of integrated code. He succeeded at this intimidating task which required leadership, organisation, clear communication and listening, forward-planning and delegation skills.

It was great to have our intern, the experience was both productive and fun. He was a vital member of the project team and throughout the internship he brought a positive energy and passion for his work. He rose to the challenges of working in an international and cross-disciplinary team and adopted a flexible approach. I particularly appreciated his problem solving skills and his patient and unassuming approach to communicating solutions and transferring knowledge. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again in the future.”

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter

Education, Teaching and Research, Employer Feedback, Graduate Business Partnership (GBP), Internship Schemes, Science, , , ,

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter

Name of Employer: Steven Spaull

Job Title: Technical Services Business Partner

Internship Scheme used: Graduate Business Partnership (GBP) , 

Feedback:

“The role consisted of helping with general laboratory support, preparation of bioscience lab reagents and media, sample handling and storage and lab cleanliness. Our intern only lasted six months before securing a research technician role in one of our research groups. She very quickly developed her skills and confidence and I wasn’t surprised when she told me she was moving on to a different role.

For me, the internship provides an opportunity to develop a young person who is often lacking in confidence. For my team, we had the opportunity to develop our training skills, move staff into new areas and improve the way we interview and select candidates. Having an intern galvanised my other staff into exploring development opportunities themselves, which avoids having a stagnated team. Overall a great asset to the team and would highly recommend.”

Employer Case Study: Morrab Library

Access to Internships (A2I), Charity and Development Work, Education, Teaching and Research, Employer Feedback, Libraries and Heritage, , , ,

Name of Organisation: Morrab Library

Description of Organisation: The Morrab Library is an independent library based in Penzance, Cornwall in the UK. It holds over 60,000 books, and extensive archive collections. Notable collections include the Dawson Napoleonic Collection comprising over 3,000 engravings and prints, photographic collections of over 15,000 prints and negatives, extensive runs of 18th and 19th century journals, the Jenner Collection of Cornish and Celtic books, and over 2,000 books printed from the 16th to 18th centuries.

Name of Employer: Lisa Di Tommaso

Job Title: Librarian

Internship Scheme used:  Access to Internships (A2I) 

Feedback:

“Our intern wrote a lengthy paper on the life of JT Blight within the context of the treatment of the mentally ill in 19th century Cornwall, which will be posted on our website and on social media. The paper will also be added to our archival collections, thus enhancing our understanding of the collections we hold. In due course, the intern will also return to deliver a talk to our members on the topic of her research.

This level of in-depth research and the length of the paper she produced were new to our intern, and she achieved a high standard in her work. She also worked largely alone, consulting myself and colleagues as needed, but essentially taking on the project and her choice of research materials herself, providing her with a great opportunity to learn about the techniques and process of academic research.

We very much enjoyed welcoming the intern as part of the team, and were incredibly sad to see her go when her time was completed. Her contribution to our knowledge of the library’s collections was greatly enhanced. I believe it was a highly positive experience for both us, and the intern.”

Employer Case Study – Quality and Standards Team

Administration, Employer Feedback, Graduate Business Partnership (GBP), Internship Schemes, Sector, , , ,

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter, Quality and Standards Team

Name of Employer: Simeon Paskell

Job Title: Senior Quality and Standards Advisor (CEMPS/CMH)

Internship Scheme used: Graduate Business Partnership (GBP) https://www.exeter.ac.uk/careers/employment-services/recruit/internships/gbp/ 

Feedback:

“Our intern made a huge contribution to the team, helping to not only maintain business as usual, but enable the team to complete additional tasks (such as a module amendment audit) and complete work well in advance of the academic year (such as helping to set up all Accelerate survey’s for 20/21).We were impressed at how quickly he gained confidence in the use of a wide number of systems and also in how the Quality and Standards team work.

I would say my experience of managing/working with an intern has been hugely positive. They were conscientious, professional, enthusiastic, capable and a considerate individual who fulfilled the duties of  their role extremely well. I would have no hesitation in recommending  my intern for other roles within the University. “

Employer Case Study – Global Systems Institute

Administration, Education, Teaching and Research, Employer Feedback, Internship Schemes, Student Campus Partnership (SCP), , , ,

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter – Global Systems Institute

Name of Employer: Andy Richards

Job Title: Global Systems Institute Manager

Internship Scheme used: Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter

Feedback:

“Hosting the internship was an incredibly beneficial experience for both our organisation and the student. It was a productive four weeks, we were able to progress a piece of work that needed to come off the back-burner and the intern learnt new skills. An excellent win-win.”

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter Biomedicine

Access to Internships (A2I), Biosciences, Employer Feedback, Internship Schemes, Science, , , ,

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter

Name of Employer: Sarah Richardson

Job Title: Associate Professor in Cellular Biomedicine

Internship Scheme used:  Access to Internships (A2I) 

Feedback:

“Our intern worked with the team to immunostain a collection of pancreas samples and then established an state-of-the-art AI image analysis pipeline to interrogate these. The results are likely to contribute towards preliminary data within a NERC grant application with some of our collaborators.

Learning the lab and image analyses methodologies, and increasing his confidence to work on these independently. This will have deepened his understanding of the practicalities of research, working with a team and applying knowledge gained during his degree.

Our intern has been great – enthusiastic and committed to learning. We have some great preliminary data for an interesting project extension that is likely to result in a publication and potentially more research funding for the university.”

Student Case Study: University of Exeter Internships Dept

Administration, Advertising, Marketing and PR, Degree subject, Education, Teaching and Research, Internship Schemes, Psychology, Student Campus Partnership (SCP), , , ,

Name of Student:  Harry Moreton

Degree Subject:  BSc Psychology

Job Title:  A2I Internships Administrative Assistant

Company Name:  University of Exeter Internships Dept.

Type of Internship:  Student Campus Partnerships (SCPs)  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Creating employer/student internship contracts
Maintaining email box
Updating spreadsheets
Creating some marketing posts/posters
Chasing essential paperwork

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

Nominated for student employee of the year and gaining valuable work experience with a fantastic team

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

Working from home for the first time was something to get used too but this came with practice. Besides that, it was tricky once I broke my arm but was helped enormously by Hannah who was really understanding of my circumstances.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Organisation
  • Teamwork and collaboration
  • Communication
  • Time and workload management

Attributes Developed:

  • Motivation
  • Confidence
  • Independence
  • Work Ethic
  • Professionalism

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

A fantastic experience of which I would recommend (and have) to any student. You gain valuable skills alongside your degree that you would not get otherwise. I have since gone into an admin role through the GBP scheme and am using the skills I gained from this internship already. A fantastic department to work for full of great people, the experience ended too soon!

Student Case Study: Climate Emergency and Energy Intern

Education, Teaching and Research, Environmental Work, Geography, Internship Schemes, Physics and Astronomy, Student Campus Partnership (SCP), , , ,

Name of Student:  Janka van der Merwe

Degree Subject:  BSc Physics with Astrophysics

Job Title: SCP 6029 Climate Emergency and Energy Intern

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship:  Student Campus Partnerships (SCPs)  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Conduct research of rainfall, doing analysis on rainfall observations in the Northern African/Sahel region.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

Creating a report of the findings of the research.

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

Working remotely was challenging, and making sure I did the right amount of hours each week. I kept up with this by going onto campus and joining a friend who was also doing an internship, where we would work together.

Another big challenge was the high level of knowledge that I had not entirely been experienced with, regarding the climate field. Luckily my supervisor gave me access to a few of his lecture slides on the code that I was working on, and that was really helpful. I would also google the keywords, and that gave me a much better understanding.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Organisation
  • Researching
  • IT

Attributes Developed:

  • Independence
  • Work Ethic
  • Professionalism

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

This internship opened my eyes to a field that seems so exciting and up-and-coming. It has allowed me to refine my career interests, and I feel more confident in what I want to do after my undergraduate degree. I gained valuable skills working in 2 different coding languages; Python and R. I have developed the skills to perform a rainfall analysis thoroughly, which has been engaging and interesting to learn. Discussion with my supervisor also gave me a wider understanding of what the results from the analysis mean, and what could further be investigated. I am proud to have identified that the Northern Sahel region has different dominant frequencies in their rainfall spectrum than the Southern Sahel, which has implications in understanding the two Hadley cells that occupy that space on Earth.

Student Case Study: Professional Pathways Administrative Assistant

Administration, Advertising, Marketing and PR, Archaeology and Anthropology, Education, Teaching and Research, Internship Schemes, Student Campus Partnership (SCP), , , ,

Name of Student:  Lucia Janigova

Degree Subject:  BA Anthropology

Job Title: Administrative Assistant

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship:  Student Campus Partnerships (SCPs)  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Helping with the adminsitrative aspect of running the Professional Pathways programme. This included responding to student emails, recording data from applications and email correspondence, preparing for the training week and helping with running of the training week.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I believe my biggest achievement during my internship was the training week itself. We had to manage a lot of different parts of the programme while running it and for me personally it was challenging especially because of the high number of people we met, introduced to each other and in general made sure were enjoying the week while we were simultaneously responding to any issues that arose.

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

Skills Learnt: 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Decision Making

Attributes Developed:

  • Personal Awareness
  • Work Ethic
  • Professionalism

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

My internship with the Professional Pathways was a great experience. I had the chance to meet amazing people and learn more about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into running such programme. I have personally learnt a lot, whether it be improving my written and spoken professional communication, managing my time around many small tasks and prioritising between them or putting my creativity into use to promote the programme. It was an all-round experience and a great opportunity to develop further professionally.

Student Case Study: Shore Crab Research Intern

Animal Care, Biosciences, Degree subject, Education, Teaching and Research, Environmental Work, Internship Schemes, Marine Biology, Student Campus Partnership (SCP), , ,

 

Name of Student:  Madeline Kirby

Degree Subject:  BSc Marine Biology

Job Title: SCP6015 Shore Crab Research Intern

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship:  Student Campus Partnerships (SCPs)  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Assisting with fieldwork in the intertidal environment. Transferring data from the IUCN redlist to an excel format.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I personally became more confident with identifying European Green Crabs, and learned a lot about the scientific process and how to conduct research. As I was working with a PHD student, the work I assisted with won’t be published for a few years yet.

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

Catching covid in the first week of my internship was inconvenient, but we adapted by shifting to online tasks. Other challenges were trap placement and how to maximise our catch, so we played around with the methodology until we found the best practise.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Time and Workload Management

Attributes Developed:

  • Logical thinking
  • Confidence
  • Creative thinking
  • Professionalism

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

My internship experience was really positive. Working with a postgraduate student was really exciting as I felt I was learning a lot about the scientific method and gaining loads of skills I will be able to take into my own research career. I also felt included and the informal approach made me feel comfortable to ask questions. I loved being able to take a more active role in research and meet other people in the field. I have also secured a part-time internship extension with the team which is exciting.