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At our organisation, we are unified around our purpose: We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. For more than a century, we’ve been at the forefront of research, bringing forward medicines, vaccines and innovative health solutions for the world’s most challenging diseases.
We are officially certified by the Top Employer Institute and been awarded the exclusive Top Employer United Kingdom Certification for the fourth year running.
Job Description
We are a research-driven biopharmaceutical company. Our mission is built on the simple premise that if we “follow the science” and that great medicines can make a significant impact to our world. And we believe that a research-driven enterprise dedicated to world-class science can succeed by inventing medicine and vaccine innovations that make a difference for patients across the globe.
Our Research Scientists are our Inventors. We identify and target steps in disease mechanisms or pathways that could be inhibited or enhanced. Our goal is to isolate a compound that is effective against a disease target. Using innovative thinking, state-of-the-art facilities and robust scientific methodology we collaborate to discover the next medical breakthrough.
We are looking for motivated, scientifically curious students to join our multidisciplinary pharmacology team based at the Francis Crick Institute. We work closely with chemists to optimise the activity of compounds acting on our biological targets of interest. We are responsible for understanding the molecular mechanisms of these compounds and their downstream consequences when applied to cells.
You will join one of our drug discovery project teams and participate in our early discovery activities, here you will learn how about the drug discovery process and how we work as integrated, global teams. You will also have your own project, and by working closely with local colleagues you will develop your skills to plan and perform experiments, analyse and interpret results, and make data-driven decisions. Teamwork and communication are integral to what we do, so you will be expected to participate in meetings discussing other colleagues work and present your own findings.
Duties
Focus on Results
- Become competent in the use of standard and advanced laboratory equipment including automation
- Initially under guidance, generate high quality data to allow project teams to make key decisions and advance compounds
- Alongside your supervisor, design and execute a structured plan of work to deliver a written report and presentation for your university
- Maintain your own supply of reagents and consumables so that experiments can be conducted in a timely manner
Communication and Collaboration
- Ask questions, having a placement is about learning
- Plan experiments as a team to ensure optimal use of communal equipment to maximize the groups output
- Present results and ideas in writing, and in meetings as verbal updates and presentations
Maintaining our organisation’s high standards of ethics and safety
- Keep up to date records of experiments in an electronic notebook
- Comply with our organisation’s laboratory safety rules and philosophy
Technical Specifications
- You will be looking to complete a 12-month student internship in your third or penultimate year of study of your undergraduate degree, returning to your course at the end of the internship
- Studying a relevant discipline, such as (but not limited to) Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Biosciences, Biotechnology (or equivalent qualification)
- Calculating concentrations and making dilutions is essential to our work, so a knowledge of basic scientific calculations is important
- Demonstrates numerical and analytical skills
- We are looking for someone to spend a lot of time in a laboratory environment so previous experience using pipettes and working with buffers would be an advantage
Qualities we look for
- Communicates, participates and collaborates as one team; winning and losing together
- Focuses on what matters the most to create the greatest value for human and animal patients
- Acts with urgency, rigor and determination to enable us to continue to deliver our medicines and vaccines around the world
- Intellectually curious, adapts and has a commitment to never give up, whether we succeed or fail
- Aligns with and fosters a culture of diversity and inclusion; being part of an inclusive environment where everyone is able to contribute their best ideas
- Encourages curiosity, voices their opinions and engages in healthy debate to improve ideas and decisions to achieve better outcomes
