Industrial Placements

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Industrial Placements
Dr Allison Carrington School of Medical Sciences
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Main Objectives

• Provide students with opportunity to apply skills
  and knowledge acquired during levels 1-3 to
  real-life, practical situations.
• Gain skills which will enhance employment
  prospects upon graduating.
• Gain insight into life outside academia.

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Eligible Degrees

• Previously
• BSc Molecular Biology
• BSc Immunology
• BSc Biotechnology
• BSc Molecular Microbiology
• BSc Biochemistry
• BSc Genetics
• BSc Microbiology

• Now Also Includes (from Sept 2008 first
  placements summer 2009)
• BSc Genetics and Psychology
• BSc Biomedical Science (Developmental Biology)
• BSc Biomedical Science (Molecular Biology,
  Pharmacology, Physiology and Anatomy)
• BSc Human Embryology and Developmental Biology
• BSc Neuroscience with Psychology
• BSc Pharmacology
• BSc Physiology
• BSc Sports and Exercise Science
• BSc Sports Studies (Sport and Society)

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Current Situation

• Students must be eligible for entry into honours
  year.
• Students must register for and complete BT 3006
  Working Out Placement and Career Skills (5
  credits).
• Placement is for one full calendar year.
• Must be relevant to the aims of the degree
  programme.
• Students complete degree in year 5.

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Placement Opportunities

• This year
• Wyeth, Aberdeen
• Ness Foundation, Inverness
• GSK, Essex
• Genpoint, Olso
• Novartis, Switzerland
• Veterinary Research Institute, Brno
• Working to expand the number and type of
  placement opportunities to fit in with new degree
  programmes.
• Students must be competent in a laboratory and
  have a sufficient depth of specific knowledge to
  undertake placements.

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Assessment of Placement

• Total of 120 credit points for year.
• Two interim reports submitted during year in
  placement and assessed by industrial supervisor
  (5 of the total marks each).
• Final lab report assessed by industrial
  supervisor (10).
• Thesis (not exceeding 3000 words)
• Assessed by industrial supervisor (10).
• Assessed by 2 SMS staff (50).
• Short interview with SMS staff (20).

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Queries Raised

• Possibility of shorter placements counting
  towards a with Industrial Placement degree eg.
• Placements taken instead of honours projects
• (Edinburgh offers placements of 6 months and 1
  year, Abertay offers 18 week clinical laboratory
  placements, Dundee offers only Pharmaceutical
  Chemistry with placement)
• These all present the problem of how to award
  degrees With Industrial Placement as students
  could be undertaking different lengths/types of
  placement but hoping for the same
  acknowledgement.

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University of Glasgow

• 4 yr BSc Honours Degree
• 5 yr MSci include one year industrial placement.
• Degrees include
• Anatomy, Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences,
  Biotechnology, Genetics, Immunology, Marine
  Freshwater Biology, Medical Biochemistry,
  Microbiology, Molecular Cellular Biology,
  Neuroscience, Parasitology, Pharmacology,
  Physiology, Physiology Sports Science, Plant
  Science, Virology, Zoology, Zoology Applied
  Mathematics

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Placements offered by other schools at Aberdeen
University

• BSC Forestry and BSc Forest Sciences
• This is not credited in any way.
• The Department of Computing Science involved in
  the SunStart programme (run by Sun Microsystems
  and supported by Scottish Enterprise) which
  places students with Sun Microsystems in the USA
  (California or Colorado).
• Credited as per SMS

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Quotes from current employers

• We know we will never have another student who
  is so able, employable and trustworthy as we have
  found in .
• I worked to find funding for us to be able to
  employ and I feel we have been amply rewarded
  by her work for us.
• She is a credit to the University of Aberdeen
  and I wish her every success for the completion
  of her degree and further studies. I would
  willingly employ on a full-time basis in the
  future but I know she has the capacity for far
  greater things.
• continues to excel. He is a trusted and
  popular member of the team and his appetite for
  work is exemplary. He thrives on new challenges
  and meets them with customary enthusiasm and
  diligence. A pleasure to work with.
• consistently works well, independently and
  has a good deal of input into planning her
  project. A highly valued member of the team.