EVOLVE

For my EVOLVE placement, I spent two months doing a summer research internship placement at Mewburn Ellis, a patent law firm. My project focused on exploring innovation in the cheminformatics space, including creating a patent landscape report where I analysed statistics on when and where patents related to cheminformatics and AI/ML in chemistry were being published. I also collaborated with partners to write an article for Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review on IP considerations for startups in digital chemistry. The internship gave me the chance to strengthen my skills in data analysis and science communication, while also broadening my professional network and building connections in the industry. I was mainly based in the London office but was fortunate to also visit the Cambridge and Manchester offices. I received a lot of support from the ICB CDT in my application, and the team at Mewburn Ellis were incredibly welcoming. I’d highly recommend this opportunity to anyone interested in seeing how science connects with intellectual property and innovation!

Having completed not one, but two internships over the course of my PhD, I cannot recommend the experience enough! Through these schemes, you benefit in two ways, through: (a) gaining insight into a potential workplace, and understanding whether this is a career path that suits your interests; (b) the work you have to do before (fully assessing current conclusions and next steps), combined with the short break from actively thinking about your PhD, gives a chance for your brain to work in the background – upon return from the workplace, I found that my work went really smoothly, and within week or two I had solved problems that had previously illuded me!

Most recently, I completed an internship under the UKRI policy scheme, working with Government Office for Science (GO-Science). The ICB CDT, particularly Emma, was incredibly helpful when it came to my application, putting me in contact with a course alumnus who works in the Civil Service, and was able to give me loads of advice for my application. I was also put in touch with Vincent, who had just finished his internship (see his testimonial below), and could tell me about his more recent experience with the scheme. Without these points of contact, a successful application would have been much more challenging.

During my time at GO-Science, I was amazed at how quickly I picked up the skills I would need to gain a job in policy. Within a few weeks of the scheme, I had led interviews with stakeholders in industry (namely CEOs) and academia, and completed wide desktop research in many subject areas that I previously had no experience in. By the end of the internship, I completed a report that will be used to facilitate government decisions in the area. My team was incredibly supportive and friendly, and I’m still in touch to hear updates about where my project is being taken.

In my first internship, I took an interruption of studies to work with Syngenta for 4 months to learn about the world of Process Chemistry. Here, I gained practical experience in enzymatic reaction processes and analytical chemistry. After seeing the rigour of industrial risk assessments and processes, I was able to apply that to my own PhD work, better understanding why a process is safe or unsafe, and writing more thorough risk assessments for safe laboratory working. The more extended experience with analytical techniques (GC-MS and NMR), in a competent and friendly team that regularly helped me to troubleshoot, boosted my confidence to return to university and apply these techniques for myself. While this internship was separate from the EVOLVE programme, the support and encouragement from the ICB CDT helped me to go for it!

I am grateful to the ICB CDT for supporting my 3-month placement at the UK Parliament. During this time, I worked with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) to author a policy briefing on biometric data.

The goal of this project was to investigate the expanding use of biometric data and the regulatory challenges it presents. This placement was significantly different from my PhD project in Chemical Biology, as I had the opportunity to interview representatives from NGOs, think tanks, and industry, all involved in the development of biometric technologies.

This placement also allowed me to go beyond the scientific aspects of biometric data and adopt a comprehensive approach by exploring the societal impacts and economic opportunities of biometric data regulation worldwide.

Writing this paper alongside POST has given me a unique opportunity to provide Members of Parliament with clear, impartial evidence on this rapidly developing subject. I believe that this briefing will help clarify some of the key issues surrounding the new uses of biometric data.

This opportunity is available every year through the UKRI Policy Internships scheme, and applications are around mid-autumn. My supervisors and the ICB CDT managers have been very supportive of the opportunity. I’d highly recommend anyone interested in Science Policy to apply to this scheme.

For my EVOLVE placement, I’m undertaking a 3-month internship with the Royal Institution as part of the Christmas Lectures demo team, broadcast on the BBC every Christmas. My main role alongside helping out with the Christmas Lectures is to create a distilled, shorter version that will be toured at international science festivals in the UK and countries like Japan and Singapore. I’m currently in my first week here, and already I can see how much the CDT training in science communication and even at the Hackspace will help me.

Through this internship, I’m hoping to gain more experience in science in the mass media, education and outreach, in hopes of moving into a career in this space.

This opportunity is available every year, and applications are around late summer. My supervisors have been really supportive of the opportunity, and the Ri team is so lovely. I’d highly recommend anyone interested in this area to apply.

I will always be grateful to the EVOLVE programme (and the amazing ICB CDT project manager, Emma) for supporting the first 2 months of my 6-month placement at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This initial 2-month period in the USA, particularly in the exciting and vibrant Cambridge/Boston area, has been an incredible opportunity for both my academic and personal growth.

I've had the chance to engage with cutting-edge PhD students, researchers, and professors in the field of genome editing. They have not only taught me new scientific approaches but have also provided inspiration for my future in the world of science.

I wholeheartedly encourage every ICB-CDT student to embark on an EVOLVE placement – your future self will be thankful for the challenging yet fulfilling adventure it is going to be!

If anyone reading this is feeling the same way I was, find an external course that you think will help you further understand the remit of your research and apply to it using the EVOLVE funding, not only will you learn new things you will also gain confidence and meet likeminded people that will be able to help with any issues regrading your research.

With the funding made available from the EVOLVE programme, I was able to partake in an off-site 2-day immersive workshop called “A Practical Introduction to Soils in England and Wales”. This programme was set up by the British Soil Society to give the cohort to an introduction to everything about soils from their composition and classification through to sampling and identification. Three soil experts taught on this programme and were extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and so keen to share their love of soils with us. As a chemist, my knowledge of soil was next to nothing and I was at a stage in my research where I felt helpless because I lacked basic understandings. With the wisdom I gained from this course I was able to get back in the labs and approach the experimental design with newfound inspiration and confidence. If anyone reading this is feeling the same way I was, find an external course that you think will help you further understand the remit of your research and apply to it using the EVOLVE funding, not only will you learn new things, you will also gain confidence and meet likeminded people that will be able to help with any issues regrading your research. I would highly recommend utilising this great programme.

I would encourage anyone on the ICB CDT programme to apply for an EVOLVE placement!

I undertook a 5-week EVOLVE placement under the tutelage of Dr. Paul Holloway at the University of Oxford. During this time, I worked on developing perfusable lymphatic vessels using microfluidics. This placement gave me the opportunity to experience scientific research in a way that might not have been possible at my current lab. For example, Dr. Holloway's lab is located on the Stroke Unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital and it was fascinating to see first-hand how research in the group was having a direct impact on patient outcomes just a few rooms away.

From this experience I became more confident I am making the correct decisions in the next steps of my career, gained a new appreciation for scientific research, and had the opportunity to work along side some wonderful people.

For my work placement, I spent two months at GSK (Stevenage) as a member of the Protein Degradation Team. This was a valuable experience as I not only gained a greater understanding of a different research topic, but I also gained insight into what a research career would be like in industry. From this experience I became more confident I am making the correct decisions in the next steps of my career, gained a new appreciation for scientific research, and had the opportunity to work along side some wonderful people. Considering this, I would highly recommend undertaking an EVOLVE placement.

What I learned will be useful if I stay on the investor side, but this knowledge will also be applicable if I move to the founder/start-up side.

Last year, I did a 5-months placement at Sofinnova Partners, a Venture Capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. During the internship, I prepared a sub-sector market study for underlying medical challenges for a particular indication, I identified experts in the field and participated in meetings with them to have a better understanding of the field and challenges. I was also in charge of processing new deals and allocating them to the team. 

This internship allowed me to have a better understanding of the venture capital ecosystem. What I learned will be useful if I stay on the investor side, but this knowledge will also be applicable  if I move to the founder/start-up side. 

For my work placement, I spent a week at Nature Research; 1 day at Nature Reviews, 2 days at Nature Chemistry, and 2 days at Nature Plants. This was a valuable experience as I learned deeper insights into the academic publishing process, which ultimately helped me formulate my own research structure to produce publishable and novel experimental data. From this experience I became fully aware of the importance of understanding and defining the intended readership/audience and choosing the appropriate journal for submitting academic manuscripts. Furthermore, I gained useful experience editing accepted journals and assessing new submissions for intellectual merit. Though only a short time was spent at this publishing office, a great deal was learned and has bolstered academic experience at Imperial College London.

I'm keen to pursue a career in academic research and wanted to use the Evolve programme to further this aim. I undertook a 1-month placement in the laboratory of Professor Takafumi Ueno at Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. This enabled me to learn about the exciting field of protein crystal engineering as well as experience working and living abroad. My Evolve journey was invaluable; not only through developing knowledge of a new field but also building my professional network and beginning a longer-term collaboration between Imperial and Tokyo Tech. The programme reinforced my ambition of working abroad in the future and has influenced my career plans post-PhD. I would recommend every ICB-CDT student to undertake their own Evolve journey; it's a unique opportunity for both personal and professional development.

I was lucky to have the opportunity to work on a four-week research project at IBM Research in New York as my EVOLVE Journey. This was a chance for me to live in the US and work for a large multinational company, both of which were exciting new experiences for me. Whilst at IBM I completed a mini research project for their drug discovery team, through this project I learned more about artificial intelligence and developed my programming skills. I also presented my PhD research findings to the team I was working with and had some interesting discussions with them about my work. The internship allowed me to build my professional network which has been very valuable, as a result of which I have secured a placement on a longer internship in the same team for the summer. I found working in a non-academic research environment enjoyable and I feel the experience will help me to evaluate my career options more clearly once I have completed my PhD. Overall, the four-week placement was very interesting and the experience I gained there is a valuable addition to my CV.

I spent two weeks at the patent attorney firm Boult Wade Tennant for my Evolve journey. The first week I spent there coincided with their Summer Vacation Scheme where I joined a group of participants undertaking classroom-based activities such as workshops and presentations and also some social events. The second week I was able to work independently on tasks given to me such as practicing writing patent claims. Throughout the two weeks I was able to gain invaluable insights into what being a patent attorney means and the work they undertake daily.

For my EVOLVE placement, I spent a month (10th September-5th October 2018) working for a lab in the HALOmem research centre in Halle, which is just North of Leipzig in Germany. I worked in a lab which is investigating how lipids interact with membrane proteins using a variety of techniques with a focus on chemical cross-linking mass spectrometry (CX-MS) and lipidomics methods. I was trained in, and carried out, a number of experiments which analysed membrane proteins using CX-MS and lipidomics. The main positive aspect of this time was working and living in a country outside the UK, forcing me to move outside my comfort zone. It was also good to experience a slightly different work culture from outside London. The techniques that I learnt also helped expand my skills. One thing that could have made my time a bit better is if I spent more time looking for more suitable accommodation (as the place I stayed in had limited cooking facilities) and if I had a bit more time to settle in - but overall it was a positive experience.

For my Evolve journey, I went to the laboratory of Prof Jose Maria Valpuesta at the CNB in Madrid, Spain, to gain expertise in cryo electron microscopy. Jose Maria’s work over the past ~20 years has focussed on the human homologue of a protein that I am aiming to characterise from the parasite that causes malaria, meaning I was working within a laboratory with specific expertise in my protein. This experience was invaluable and enabled me to learn how to visually identify the protein and gain insight into a variety of alternative approaches that are used for purification for macromolecular complexes. I became fully competent in preparing and visualising samples using negative stain EM as well as treatment, preparation and freezing of grids for cryoEM. Alongside wet-lab work, I gained experience in using a variety of data analysis packages, which I am already applying to other projects within the lab back in the UK. Similarly, since returning, I am working alongside another PhD student at Imperial to help enhance their project by applying what I have learnt at the CNB. In addition to gaining expertise in the lab, it was also a fantastic opportunity to build on my conversational Spanish, which significantly improved over the month. I also gave a departmental seminar at the CNB where I gained much feedback about my project going into the final year of my PhD.