Meet our work experience students
Find out what our past students have to say about their experience at the Crick, why they applied, and what they enjoyed the most.
Tarik
Tarik's placement
1-week placement in the Crick’s Advanced Sequencing facility.
About me
My name is Tarik and I go to sixth form here in Camden. The subjects that I study are Maths, Biology and Chemistry. In year 12 I also did an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification). In the future, I would like to study medicine or bioinformatics.
Why I applied to a work experience at the Crick
The EPQ that I did in year 12 was based on COVID-19 and SARS (the virus which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome). During the project, sequencing and its importance came up a lot which made me very interested in the subject. After hearing about a DNA sequencing placement at the Crick through one of my teachers, I didn’t hesitate to sign up.
How I felt coming into the Crick on my first day
I was quite nervous in the beginning, but very excited at the same time. When I met my supervisor, all the nerves were gone. I was welcomed extremely well by everyone in my team and my supervisor. Everyone was friendly and easy to talk to.
The best part of my work experience placement was...
All the lab work I’ve done is a real highlight of my time here. I had the chance to use some impressive machinery and felt like I had a role in the project that the machines were used for. My supervisor was very kind and gave me all the information and support I needed. I had some great conversations with members of staff here and with my team. Through them, I learnt a lot about the different jobs at the Crick. I learnt a lot during my time here and I enjoyed my placement very much!
Malina
Malina's placement
1-week placement in the Crick’s Communications team.
About me
My name's Malina and I was a student at a local Camden school, now going into Sixth Form! I’m currently studying Psychology, English Literature and Geography, with the hopes of going into Law in the future. If I were to pick a favourite subject as of right now, it’d probably be Geography, as it has the perfect balance of social, economic and environmental problems in our world and how to solve them! Right now, I’m reading Kōbō Abe’s The Ruined Map, as I’m trying to get back into reading again.
Why I applied to a work experience at the Crick
After several lockdowns, I had felt really unmotivated and unsure with what to do with myself to pass the time. I remembered how I walked past the Crick every day to school, and how the building was packed full of people doing important work to keep the research running, so I got curious and checked if there were any placements! I had considered work experience in a lab, but seeing how I wanted to go into law or a job that is more writing based, the media and politics placement seemed perfect!
How I felt coming into the Crick on my first day
I was quite nervous; I didn’t know what to expect. It was my first time in an environment like that, and in a building so grand it could feel a little overwhelming. But luckily my supervisors Alice and Fiona were extremely welcoming and helped ease me into it! I was unsure of what kind of work I would be doing, and to be honest I expected to not be treated as if I were an employee. Many places tend to ‘baby’ their work experience people or interns, and it was relieving to know I was doing actual work rather than filler activities!
The best part of my work experience placement was...
The best part was definitely just being in an environment like the Crick, working with and next to people and seeing important work in offices and labs happen before your eyes! The research aspect wasn’t confusing, and it gave me some insight into the work that the media team do. What I really loved was seeing how they managed the website, and the things they needed to consider based on their audience - it's different if it’s aimed at people aged 7-11 or older people interested in science that want to go to the Crick.
The internal communications team was particularly interesting too, especially the interviews they conduct with their employees to give them a voice with their research! I feel like that was a fantastic idea, because a community as big as the Crick might not always have the opportunity to know about the work of a thousand people, but seeing these interviews helps them understand and see their progress.
