Written by Molly Rowlett
I’m Molly, and I am an undergraduate student in Neuroscience at the University of Bristol, currently on my placement year at Metrion Biosciences. I have completed the first 2 years of my studies at Bristol studying the foundations of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, in addition to useful and interesting courses in statistics and psychology. My favourite academic experience at Bristol have been the practical sessions where I could get hands-on laboratory experience.
During my first year, I became convinced that my interests lie in the Pharmaceutical/Drug Discovery industry, particularly Neuropharmacology. Therefore, at the end of the year, I decided that gaining relevant work experience would be effective to enhance my exposure to this field. I was delighted to seize the opportunity to apply for the MSci year in industry, where I would spend a year working in a company setting. Due to the fantastic overlap between my interests and the scientific services offered by Metrion in drug discovery, I contacted the company to enquire about the possibility of a placement opportunity. To my pleasure, I received an offer to begin my placement earlier this summer.
So far, I have been exploring the company’s role as a contract research organisation, focusing on ion channel research and drug discovery services. As part of my training, I have been getting trained on a broad range of laboratory techniques such as cell culture, manual patch-clamp, automated patch-clamp, and FLIPR plate-based assays. I’m excited to be able to start working on my own project next month, where I will get the chance to apply my new skills and experience to drive the project forward.
I am thoroughly enjoying my time here and I’m grateful for the insight into the industry. I’ve already been able to grow both professionally and personally being part of a welcoming and motivated team of scientists. I’m developing valuable scientific and transferable skills that I’ll be able to bring with me into my final year at university and even beyond my undergraduate studies. I have even started forming an idea of my career progression after my studies, and my work experience at Metrion has been and will continue to be absolutely vital in this process.
