PIPS Case Studies

Where did you go and what did you do? I worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), specifically the MSF South Asia team. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my PIPS was completed by working from home. I reported to the Medical Innovation Lead for MSF South Asia and was tasked with looking into antimicrobial resistance (AMR)…

For his PIPs, Derek went to Deep Branch in Geleen, Netherlands to help improve production of microbial protein sources by aquafermentation – read all about it here! What did you do? I joined a British/Dutch company called Deep Branch at their pilot facility in Geleen, Netherlands. Upon my arrival the company was performing final safety…

Where did you go and what did you do? I went to the Whitby Lobster Hatchery. The hatchery looks after juvenile lobsters while they are at their most vulnerable and aims to release 100,000 lobsters back into the ocean each year. My job involved looking after the lobsters and getting them ready to go back…

Where did you go and what did you do? I stayed at the University of Sheffield, however, I did not do any research. Instead I undertook a purely teaching placement with Dr Liz Alvey, deputy director of education at the School of Bioscience. This placement was an amazing opportunity to develop my teaching skills. I…

Where did you go and what did you do? I did my PIPS at Random42. Random42 specialises in creating scientifically accurate animations to communicate mechanism of disease and mechanism of action for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. I was part of the Science & Project management team, who are involved with pretty much the whole…

Aiden spent 3 months at Domainex, a contract research company in the Cambridge area. Read more about his experience here!

For her PIPS, Jessica worked with Labcorp at the Harrogate location. Jessica worked in the Immunology and Immunotoxicology department working on vessel on a chip models to be used to test cancer treatments. Read more about her experience!

For his PIPS, Adam went to Enza Zaden in the Netherlands. Read about his experience here!

Kathryn worked for the National Trust as an Assistant Ranger in the High Peak. Read about it here!

For her PIPS, Carmen worked at a Sheffield-based international company called LabLogic who specialise in manufacturing and servicing instruments for nuclear radiation detection for medical, pharmaceutical and research applications. Read about her experience here!

For his PIPS, Luke worked at Grobotic Systems, a small Sheffield-based start-up that builds bespoke next-generation plant growth cabinets for research, with input from Jacob Torres, the founder of the Space Chile Grow a Pepper Plant Challenge. Read more about his experience!

For Megan’s PIPS, she joined the Science Policy department at The Royal Society, working with the Living Landscapes team on the upcoming ‘Multifunctional Landscapes’ policy Report which explores the evidence for how land can be utilised to deliver multiple outputs. Read more about her experience!

For his PIPS, Freddy worked for the Wild Trout Trust: a conservation charity working across the UK and Ireland. Read more about his experience!

Katie Gelder, a 4th-year PhD student at the University of Sheffield, completed her PIPS at the Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC), based at Alderley Park in Cheshire. Where did you go and what did you go? I did my PIPS at the Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC). A non-profit organisation of ~ 140 people, which aims to…

Ruth has completed her PIPS placement at The Oxford Trust, which is a charitable organisation encouraging the pursuit of science. She worked within their Education and Outreach branch known as Science Oxford. Read on to find out more.

For her PIPS, Victoria went to EMBL-EBI (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute) to work within the training team. Read more about her experience here!

For her PIPS, Jess chose to do something slightly different. She volunteered for Roundabout: South Yorkshire’s biggest youth homelessness charity. Read more about her experience!

Maria Nikolova, a 4th-year student at the University of Leeds, completed her PIPS at Oxford University Innovation (OUI), which is the technology transfer company of the University of Oxford. She worked within the ‘A Team’, which encompasses interns and Assistant Licensing & Ventures Managers. What did you do? As part of the ‘A Team’, I…

Robert is a 3rd-year PhD student at the University of Sheffield who completed his PIPS placement at ADAS, the UK’s largest independent provider of agricultural and environmental consultancy, policy advice and research and development.

Jake is a PhD student at the University of Leeds who completed his PIPS placement at at Oxitec’s UK facility in Milton Park, Oxfordshire. Oxitec are a company that have been leading the way in the use of genetically modified insects as a tool for targeted pest control in areas of global health and agriculture….

Savvas Ioannou is a final-year PhD student based at the University of York. For his PIPS, Savvas decided to stay on campus and spent three months working within the Technology Facility at his university. He received specialist training to oversee projects from outside his usual field of expertise. What did you do? I completed my…

Catherine Russell, a fourth-year student at the University of York, spent ten weeks working remotely for the Babraham Institute in Cambridge. The Babraham Institute is a world-leading research institution that carries out research into how our bodies work, with a key focus on how they change as we age and during disease.   The featured…

Ashley Hayes is a fourth-year PhD student at the University of Sheffield who spent 3 months working remotely for Random42 Scientific Communication, a company that specialises in 3D medical animations and scientific storytelling.

Joanna went to CN-Bio Innovations in Cambridge for her PIPS placement, a bioengineering company that specialises in developing single and multi-organ microphysiological systems and innovative lab technologies.

Egle Beigaite is a 4th year PhD student at the University of York who completed her PIPS placement at CasZyme, a biotech company based in Vilnius, Lithuania. CasZyme are an organisation whose research focuses on revolutionising the field of CRISPR-based Molecular Tools. The featured image is of Egle with her PIPS colleagues. What did you…

Where did you go and what did you do? Phase BioLabs at The University of Nottingham – working in the Biodiscovery Institute in Prof Nigel Minton’s large and extremely well-equipped synthetic biology lab. My PIPS supervisor and boss was David Ortega, an ex-PhD student of Nigel’s and the founder of a recent start-up called Phase…

Alina Capatina, a third-year student at the University of York, completed her 3-month placement at Random42, a medical communications company situated in central London, specialised in producing 3D medical animations, documentary films, augmented and virtual reality as well as interactive experiences.  The placement was completed remotely due to the COVID lockdown. The featured image is…

Alex Holmes, a 4th year PhD student at the University of Leeds, undertook her PIPS placement remotely at the BBSRC. This is the major research funder for the biosciences in the UK. She worked in the Frontier Bioscience team, which is part of the Research Strategy and Programmes domain. What did you do? I was brought into…

Amy Stonadge (nee Brown) is a PhD student at the University of York who took part in a 3-month placement in the new COVID-19 LAMP Labs at the University of York. The LAMP Labs are a new collaboration between the University, Capita and the NHS and are working to establish a COVID-19 testing laboratory for…

Lewis Hancock is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield who undertook a 3-month PIPS within the Simcyp division of Certara. Certara develops biosimulation and technology-enabled services to transform drug discovery and development, working across all therapeutic areas, including immuno-oncology, rare disease, CNS, respiratory disease, gene therapy, and global health, providing translational solutions from…

Roz Latham is a PhD student at the University of Leeds who did a 3-month remote placement with The Royal Society (RS), who are based in London. The RS is the UK’s National Academy of Science and has diverse functions, from funding and publishing scientific research, to public and educational engagement, to policy advice, among others….

James Henderson is a PhD student at the University of Leeds who went to Fukuoka, Japan for his PIPS to teach English to Japanese students in a company called Green Room. The students ranged from 15 to 70 years old, and from beginner to advanced levels. Read on to find out more about Jamie’s experience…

Stella Christou became involved with the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium for her PIPS placement. She joined a lab at the University of Sheffield where they sequenced SARS-CoV-2 from positive patients around South Yorkshire. Read more to find out how PIPS can further your transferrable skills. Navigating a PIPS during a global pandemic Determined to…

Maia Harvey is a final year student at the University of Leeds who did her PIPS with Oxford University Innovation (OUI) – Oxford University’s technology transfer office. OUI helps academics if they want to form a spinout company, protect a technology with intellectual property, form licensing agreements and market technologies to potential investors or licensees….

My name is Luke and I’m about to undertake my PIPS placement with the Space Chile Grow a Pepper Plant Challenge. This is a citizen science project designed and run by Jacob Torres, a contracted engineering plant scientist at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (although this placement is not affiliated with NASA!). While the placement will…

Catriona Walker is a third year PhD student at the University of Leeds with Tom Bennett. Her research focuses on the roles of phytohormones in the control of carpic dominance and the end of flowering. Carpic dominance is the process whereby developing seeds exhibit dominance over newer seeds, with results varying from mild (a decrease…

Ioannis Tsagakis immersed himself into the life of a scientific editor by undertaking an editorial internship at FEBS Press in his third year of PhD. The timing coincided with COVID-19 lockdown hence the internship was completed ‘virtually’ from Leeds, instead of the Cambridge office. The career of a scientific editor allows you to work at…

Lizzy Parker is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield who spent 6 months working part-time at ​Hope for the Future​. ​Hope for the Future is a national climate communication charity which works to equip communities, groups and individuals across the country to help communicate the urgency of climate change with their local politicians….

BBSRC DTP PhD student Matthew Chadwick undertook a PIPS with the Human Performance Service in the Sport and Exercise Sciences Department of the University of Leeds, providing technical consultation and training to research teams. In case you wanted additional reasons to watch those cat videos on the internet, keep reading. You might be familiar with…

Marcus Holt is a final year PhD student at the University of Leeds, who did his PIPS with the internet-based company FindAUniversity. The company is geared towards students looking for a postgraduate course. He told us what was involved in his role within the Content team (part of which was carried out remotely due to…

Dani Pierce is a third year PhD student at the University of Leeds who undertook her PIPS placement at the MRC Research Unit The Gambia. Read her full PIPS case study to find out what scientific work was involved in the two clinical trials she was part of and what it was like spending 3…

Best PIPS Talk Lukas Jasaitis won the prize for Best PIPS Talk – “Algae, Robots, The Great Unkown” –  at the DTP Student Symposium held on 13th December 2019.  He undertook his PIPS in the field of Laboratory Robotics manufacturing at Singer Instruments in Somerset… which was a very long way to go!  But totally…

Andy Stone wrote a case study for his host organisation at the Academy of Medical Sciences.  Click the link below to find out Andy’s answers to questions such as, Tell us about your PhD and what stage you were in when you did your internship What did you work on during your internship? Do you…

Alex Wright undertook his Professional Internship for PhD Students (PIPS) as a third year in 2019.  Here’s what he had to say about his experience: Where did you go and what did you do? I worked for a life sciences technology commercialisation company called Swift Analytical. Swift is a consultancy and sales company, which specialises…

Michaela Agapiou was based in New York City for her internship with The Story Collider as part of her PhD programme , having approached them after spending many, many hours listening to podcasts while dissecting fruit fly testes. This is her first job outside of a lab, as she fell in love with science and…

One of our Student Reps, Sarah Gratton, is featured in a great blog published by her Professional Internships for PhD Students (PIPS) host, Random42 Scientific Communications.  Read what she got up to: https://random42.com/company-news/scientific-internships-at-random42/

Amy Tooke undertook her Professional Internship for PhD Students (PIPS) during 2019 (whilst she was in her second year) at The Great North Museum, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Amy said, “I really did enjoy my PIPS and think it was such a lucky and useful experience for me to be able to have.” Amy wrote a testimonial for…