Someone once said that choosing a career path is like trying to eat an elephant – you don’t know where to take the first bite. Environmental Biology student Jonathan Harvey took his first mouthful this summer, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
“I am very happy to be able to offer you one of the Summer Research Placements at Harper Adams this year. Please could you confirm that you will take up the offer of an 8 week research placement starting Monday 8th July…”
With sun cream and shorts packed; a sunny Shropshire welcomes me to the campus as I move in to my new home.
One small step in the right direction
You will hear time and time again that the importance of a summer placement cannot be overstated. Networking with both academics and industry can pave the way for further opportunities. This means graduate jobs. This point hit home after learning that around half of the students who have attended this studentship project in the past now have work in an industry linked to this scheme.
Leaving the safe bubble of undergraduate student life and thinking about what you want to do with your life is like pulling teeth – depressing and painful. Although once you make a start, it gets easier.
The search for summer placements for me was about persistence, and consisted of researching and applying to various advertised posts, and then sending tens of speculative applications. This process is both tedious and disheartening, but by persevering I think you can land some great opportunities.
The Placement
Learning new skills, meeting like minded people and enjoying yourself is not reserved for university I discovered, but also applies to the world of work. I really enjoy the responsibility of managing my own research projects, learning both practical skills and new approaches to difficult tasks.
“The placement is not all about hard work, but rather about teaching students some of the skills involved, and giving them experience in an area of academia that they may wish to pursue.”
These are not my words, but those of one of my supervisors. From the student perspective, I gained insight, skills, experience and contacts. From the supervisor’s side they gained hardworking and enthusiastic students with the drive and motivation to gain skills and experience beyond the university requirements.
Work
The hours were 9-5, with work ranging from taking readings and measurements in the field, through working on experiment design and set up in the office, to measuring samples in the labs. There were four students on this placement, each being responsible for their own project.
My project was on Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and consisted of work on vine weevils and their management using nematodes (roundworms), and the performance and preferences of aphid populations on different lettuce varieties. I also did some work on the rate at which predatory mites reach their prey along with helping other students with their projects.
Rest
The four of us stayed in a house on campus, the rooms were large, and there were cleaners who emptied the bins and kept the kitchen in order (minus washing up unfortunately). All the facilities you would expect were on site, and everything I needed was catered for. We got on really well, and on evenings we went swimming, biking, watched films or went to one of the local pubs.
After just the first week it already felt like a very friendly place to work, and beyond socialising with the other students, we have had a staff BBQ and rounder’s games to blow off steam. We also talked with post grads and staff during breaks which has taught me so much about the area I am interested in, as well as giving me insight into life as a PhD / post grad student.
Conclusions
Overall I would strongly recommend a summer placement, it gives you the opportunity to learn new things, and helps you understand much better a potential career or area. Even if you find that a certain career path isn’t for you, you then know not to pursue it and to look into somewhere else. Personally, I really enjoyed this applied area of biology, and I have learned many new career opportunities which I didn’t know even existed. I have also decided to apply for a Masters course as a result of this placement, as there is so much more to learn and understand.
Many thanks to everyone who made this opportunity possible and to everyone at Harper Adams University for making me feel so welcome.
Disclaimer
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