There are a number of ways industry professionals can engage with our students. The School of Biological Sciences work with non-academic organisations to engage with our highly-skilled students and world-leading academics to improve the employability of our graduates by actively seeking opportunities for current students to undertake work-based projects in the life sciences. There are a number of ways our students can develop their research and professional skills further by engaging with industry. We support our undergraduate and masters level students on taught programmes to undertake projects in an industrial setting, as well as PhD students with their internships. Projects can vary from short summer placements, dissertation projects for taught undergraduate and masters students, or year-long placements.This is an exciting opportunity to work with our students, academic, and professional services staff to address a real need within your business that align with your goals.Benefits to your organisationThere are many potential benefits to your organisation through working with us on these initiatives such as:you’ll tap into world-leading research expertise, skills and knowledge to aid innovation,you’ll gain a high-calibre, temporary resource to assist with a strategic project,you’ll deliver on smaller projects that might have been on hold or would not otherwise have been done,you’ll receive fresh insights to a particular business area, a different perspective to problems, and a new motivated member of the team,you’ll create a pool of potential future employees or project collaborators.Our international standing attracts some of the brightest minds from across the globe. As the modern inheritors of a 400-year-old reputation for excellence, our staff and students contribute to a vibrant academic community whose visions are shaping tomorrow’s world.My expectations for the projects were fully met, and in truth exceeded. I felt incredibly lucky with the students. Both performed exceptionally well, maintained a professional attitude throughout, and delivered work of consistently high quality. I am also very happy with the outcomes of both projects. From the conversations I had with the students, they also felt they gained a strong and well-rounded learning experience.A few highlights:Reliable delivery against agreed milestones and timelines,Clear communication, including concise progress updates and thoughtful questions,Openness to feedback and rapid iteration, which noticeably improved their outputs,Careful documentation that will be useful for future work.I would be delighted to host students again.Dr Anton Puzorjov, Founder, Quas DrinksQuas Drinks websiteTypes of student placements you could be involved withUndergraduate studentsSummer placements (not credited)We encourage our students to gain experience through undertaking projects throughout their summer vacations from around June to September. Summer placements are not credited and don’t contribute to students’ final degree classification. Year-long placements (not credited)Students may choose to take a year out of their degree programme to gain relevant work experience. This is normally undertaken after completion of the Junior Honours year and before commencing Senior Honours. To do this, our students would apply for an ‘interruption of studies’.Although we encourage and support students who wish to take a year out of their studies to do a year-long placement, this is not credited and does not contribute towards their final degree classification. How to get involvedIf you would like to offer a summer placement or longer project for our talented undergraduate students, please email the School of Biological Sciences Industry Engagement Manager at sbs.placements@ed.ac.uk for more information.Masters students 12-week MSc research projectsOur taught masters students undertake a 12-week research project between May to July. This is an exciting opportunity for non-academic organisations to work with our highly-skilled masters students and academics through offering 12-week project(s), to address real needs within your business.Industry-led 12-week MSc projectsProviding a project(s) means you’ll work with our finest taught MSc students from the following fields:biochemistry,bioinformatics and data science,biotechnology,synthetic biology.What sort of projects are we looking for?We consider all projects with a level of challenge suitable for MSc students that have clear objectives and a work plan. We also welcome innovative project ideas that are not laboratory or computer based. Proposals must describe how they will develop the student’s skills, including professional skills such as business, leadership, budgeting and project management.Industry-provided projects could be:preliminary research for proposed developments,input into an ongoing project,a review of a new or existing area,a general idea of a business need which requires further development,market research,a pilot or scoping initiative.Past projects have included:Development of novel tools for studying Parkinson disease pathology using Drosophila,Creation of a RT-PCR method for the detection of Hepatitis E in pork and pork products,Detection of antibodies and antigens for use on DNA oligo-based microarray.We can accommodate projects from across the globeOur goal is for our students to experience the workplace, engaging with specialised equipment and industry expertise, whilst gaining new skillsets and a broader understanding of the use of research in industry, economy or society. Our preference is for our students to do your project with you at your company’s headquarters.If your company is located geographically far from the city of Edinburgh and / or you are a start-up venture and would benefit from our facilities, we can still happily discuss your project ideas with you. We have state-of-the-art laboratories, use of wider University facilities, and dedicated academic support on campus to host part or all of the practical research work of industry-provided student projects in house if necessary. Timescales for providing project ideas and recruiting studentsWe accept project ideas from July to October. Our students require to generate enough material to be able to reflect on it critically. For example, doing one thing repetitively would make the dissertation they are required to write and submit difficult to do. Your project proposal will be reviewed by our academic team to ensure it meets academic requirements. For the reasons mentioned, we may contact you to discuss the project scope further. We aim to provide feedback on your project proposal within two weeks.Projects will be chosen on scope, relevance with our academic programmes, and support offered to students. We advertise projects to our students in December, and the name of your company will not appear at this stage. Based on students’ skills, experience and academic performance, we will select the best student for your project from students who have selected it as their preferred project. You can meet with the selected student and if you feel that their skills and experience is not best suited to your proposal and / or organisation, then we will suggest a reserve candidate that you can meet instead. What you'll need to do to support your project studentYou’ll know in January if we managed to identify a suitable candidate for your project. You’ll engage with the student from this point to allow them to prepare their project proposal which they submit to us around April. We’ll ask you to provide feedback on the student’s project proposal. You’ll support the student through their project work from May to July. Our students submit a dissertation mid-August. We’ll ask you to comment on one draft of the student’s written dissertation and complete a short feedback form at the end of the project. Before any work on the project begins, we’ll be in touch to ensure all necessary project agreements and non-disclosure agreements are completed by all involved parties. How to get involvedIf you are interested in submitting a project proposal please email the School of Biological Sciences Industry Engagement Manager at sbs.placements@ed.ac.uk for more information.PhD studentsWe support our PhD students to seek placement projects outside of academia to build high-calibre skills, develop diverse contacts for future collaborative research and improve their career preparedness. Projects are student-led with support from academic supervisors and our professional teams, may start in the second or third year of the PhD, and do not need to be related to the student’s academic project. Financial support for placement costs is available from the School of Biological Sciences Graduate School and for BBSRC / EastBio Partnership-funded students.Information on BBSRC / EastBio placementsTo discuss potential projects for PhD students, please contact the School of Biological Sciences Industry Engagement Manager at sbs.placements@ed.ac.uk for more information. Industry Engagement Manager Contact details Email: sbs.placements@ed.ac.uk This article was published on 2024-06-17
