Talha N.

What do you like most about your course and why?

The best thing about my course is the opportunity to apply and transfer the theoretical background of what we learn in our lectures to the laboratory every week. The skills we learn in the laboratory alone are incredibly useful as we learn not only skills for chemistry, but also professional development skills like teamwork, data analysis and more. This helps when applying for jobs as we have many skills to talk about.

Describe your placement experience.

My role at my placement was 'Research Scientist in Raman and Neutron Spectroscopy' at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. This involved working on unique and state of the art chemical instruments which are not widely available. They are capable of studying materials at the atomic scale, giving insights into how they are structured, its dynamics and much more.

What were the best things about it?

One of the highlights was being involved in so many different projects which allowed me to collaborate with not only people within the workplace, but also internationally. I learnt lots of unique things like computational methods, working with extremely low temperatures, vacuums, radiation and so many more interesting things.

Have your career plans been informed by your placement?

Absolutely. After my placement, I am now aware of the various pathways that a Chemist can go down, some pathways which I never even knew were possible. Without the placement, I would have never been informed about such opportunities and so this has really opened my eyes for the better.

What advice do you have for students considering doing a placement?

I would advise to apply early and to as many as possible that you are interested in. Make sure before the interviews you have done your background research about the role and the company so you can really show your enthusiasm to the recruiters and impress them (this really helped me!).