I spent my PIPS internship with the charity Sense about Science, which aims to promote public engagement with science. During my internship, my roles included working with politicians in Parliament to promote evidence-based policy making and organising and attending several workshops on peer review. After the workshops were completed, I was given the opportunity to write a blog about my experience, what I had learned and the challenges facing peer review, which was then published online through IOP publishing.  It was great to learn about a topic which is so central to academia, but I knew little about prior to my internship.

I think this is a great example of the kind of experience other DTP students can get on their internship. I was exposed to a wide range of scientific careers outside of research which has been very helpful when considering my future career path. Alongside this, lots of the skills I learned were directly applicable to my PhD studies, such as understanding the importance of communicating my research to the public and learning to write for a general audience. Having my blog published was a great way to evidence these new skills that I had learned.

 

Overall, my experience was highly rewarding and I'm glad to have had to opportunity to take part in the PIPS scheme.

 

By Rob Bradley