Biological Sciences Industrial Placement 2022

With over 300 years of innovation, we’re a science-led global healthcare company that discovers, develops and manufactures innovative medicines and vaccines. Our industrial placements are real roles with real responsibility, where you can gain experience in a purpose-led, performance-driven healthcare business. Join us and help millions of people do more, feel better, live longer.

Want to solve some of the world’s biggest health challenges? 

GSK are a science-led global healthcare company that researches and develops innovative Pharmaceuticals and Vaccines products. Our challenging and inspiring mission is to enable people to do more, feel better and live longer by developing innovative products and improving access to healthcare for patients around the world.

Whatever the role, you will experience working in a fast-paced research environment with access to cutting edge technology, whilst interacting with industry-leading scientists across multiple disciplines and sharing different experiences. During the internship, you will be supported and given training (laboratory and office practices, where applicable) until confident to work independently - with a focus on GSK health and safety requirements.  You will be enrolled in GSK internal courses to develop your knowledge of company policy and for your personal development including opportunities to attend seminars led by GSK scientists and networking opportunities.

Take the first step in your career

Within the Protein Degradation Group, we support the ongoing drug discovery efforts by exploring targeted protein degradation techniques. PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) have attracted great attention as an alternative to the more common small molecule approach to treat diseases. PROTACs are bifunctional molecules which simultaneously bind a target protein and an E3 ubiquitin ligase. The resultant ternary complex allows efficient ubiquitin transfer from the ligase complex to the target protein which is subsequently recognised by the proteasome and rapidly degraded. By degrading target proteins instead of inhibiting them, there is a potential of introducing new pharmacologies for drug discovery programmes (i.e., duration of action, non-kinase functions), tackle proteins with no enzymatic activity as well as providing increased sensitivity to drug-resistant targets. The project will support efforts around PROTAC compound pharmacology across a variety of cell and tissue systems relevant to immuno-oncology or oncology indications.

What will you do?

• Support current studies within the Protein Degradation Group by conducting laboratory experiments and generating data to help determine project direction. 
• In addition, you will be encouraged to review the relevant literature associated with the project and keep up to date with new findings in order to introduce new ideas/concepts to the project team.  
• We will train you with the right skills to enable independent working in a wide range of laboratory techniques and improve your ability to plan, design and execute experiments.  
• You will be gaining experience in maintaining accurate records of data according to GSK guidelines and will be expected to present and discuss data during team meetings and to a wider audience. Students that have an interest in bioinformatics are also encouraged to apply. 
• During the internship, you will be supported and given training (laboratory and office practices) daily until confident to work independently and within GSK health and safety requirements.  
• You will also be enrolled in several GSK internal courses as part of company policy (this includes GSK values, data integrity, use of internal electronic lab book, laboratory safety rules, etc...).  
• In addition, GSK also provides personal development courses and networking opportunities throughout the year in which you can enrol.  
• You will also have the opportunity to attend seminars by GSK scientists, which run throughout the year and comprise a wide range of areas within drug discovery. 

You’ll be excited by the thought of: 

• Working in a novel field of drug discovery. 
• Keeping up to date with literature, new developments in drug discovery. 
• Learning a wide range of state-of-the-art cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology techniques.  
• Working in a fun – interactive – collaborative environment. 

What will you need

• A lot of enthusiasm, scientific curiosity and good communication skills. 
• You should be a team player, keen to learn and have a proactive attitude. 
• Hepatitis B vaccination with confirmed antibody titer (the cost would be covered should you be successful, please contact us for further details) 

Additional Details

The Assessment Centres for successful applicants are expected to take place in February and March 2022 and the placement will start in September 2022, with a duration of 1 year (approximately).

Degree Requirements

You should be studying a degree in Life Sciences, Biological Science, Biochemistry, Biomedical Science, Pharmacology or Immunology. You will have completed a minimum of 2 years of your undergraduate degree but will not have graduated at the start of your placement. You may be expected to provide evidence from your university to show you will be an undergraduate student for the duration of the placement year and they are supportive of your placement.

Benefits

• A salary of £21,000 plus a bonus  
• Access to GSK resources such as employee assistance programmes, private healthcare, and training and development.  

Application Deadline

We recommend you apply as soon as possible, because we accept ongoing applications and will close this vacancy once we have enough applications.   

Get to grips with our Recruitment Process

If you have what we’re looking for apply today!  

This opportunity has the following recruitment stages you must successfully pass to be offered a placement year with GSK for 2022:

• Eligibility Form
• World of GSK Online Assessment
• Application Form
• Virtual Assessment Centre

For Industrial Placements that involve lab-based work, working with human biological samples the student must be Hepatitis B vaccinated to work within these labs. Hepatitis B vaccination is entirely voluntary.  If you decide not to be vaccinated, your decision will be fully respected. You will be given appropriate project work, but would not be able to work with human biological samples.  It’s critical we follow the appropriate health and safety guidelines to all employees safe.

You’ll find hints, tips and guidance on our recruitment process on our website. We have changed the way we recruit in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, you can learn more about how our practices have adapted here.

We’re 100% open to all talent – whatever your gender, marital status, religion, age, colour, race, sexual orientation, nationality or disability. We want to recruit the right people for GSK from the widest possible backgrounds, so we can better serve the diversity of our patients and consumers. And also because it’s the right thing to do.

For Industrial Placements that involve lab-based work, working with human biological samples the student must be Hepatitis B vaccinated to work within these labs. Hepatitis B vaccination is entirely voluntary.  If you decide not to be vaccinated, your decision will be fully respected.  It’s critical we follow the appropriate health and safety guidelines to all employees safe. You can learn more about Inclusion and diversity at GSK  here. 

Need help with your application?

Please email us at  UK.InternRecruitment@gsk.com and let us know how we can help you. Or email us your number and we’ll call you back. We’ll make all reasonable modifications to support you throughout the recruitment process and we’ll treat all information you give us in confidence. Please get in touch to help us process your application as soon as possible. 

As a company driven by our values of Patient focus, Transparency, Respect and Integrity, we know inclusion and diversity are essential for us to be able to succeed. We want all our colleagues to thrive at GSK bringing their unique experiences, ensuring they feel good and to keep growing their careers. As a candidate for a role, we want you to feel the same way.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we are open to all talent. In the US, we also adhere to Affirmative Action principles. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race/ethnicity, colour, national origin, religion, gender, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, disability, genetic information, military service, covered/protected veteran status or any other federal, state or local protected class*(*US only).

We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like to discuss any adjustments to our process which might help you demonstrate your strengths and capabilities. You can either call us on 0808 234 4391, or send an email ukdiversity.recruitment@gsk.com

As you apply, we will ask you to share some personal information which is entirely voluntary. We want to have an opportunity to consider a diverse pool of qualified candidates and this information will assist us in meeting that objective and in understanding how well we are doing against our inclusion and diversity ambitions. We would really appreciate it if you could take a few moments to complete it.  Rest assured, Hiring Managers do not have access to this information and we will treat your information confidentially.

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