ABPI PhD Internship - Sarah

Who are you and what do you do?

Hello, my name is Sarah Robinson and I'm currently a PhD student studying at the University of Nottingham and my research is focused on modifying enzymes to help expand their range of activity so they can be used for more things.

But over the past three months I have been doing an internship with the ABPI within their exams and education team.

What project work did you do at the ABPI?

The goal of my intention was to develop new materials for the ABPI Schools website, specifically thinking about kids in the ages of five to eleven.

So primary school and through a collaborative process with the team, we ended up deciding to create interactive learning packages and put them online and we ended up creating five different packages, all of which each included a small story to introduce three different topics.

Then within those topics there were animated videos to help explain the different parts of the subject and then various online activities to help reinforce the information.

So like multiple choice questions, the option to be able to drag in words to be able to fill sentences, interactive diagrams to help provide a bit more fun to the learning experience if you want to check it out.

It's called Ellie's Expeditions and they are on the ABPI's school's website.

What can you tell us about your experience of working at the ABPI?

Working at the ABPI has been a true pleasure. Everyone has been so welcoming and they are all so very knowledgeable and have an amazing passion for their work.

I've loved learning how they operate as a business, especially as I've come from academia, and it has been lovely to be included as a member of the team from day one. They provide me with amazing opportunity and the support needed to help develop my own personal skills, which I cannot tell you how much I appreciate.

And despite having a stunning office in the heart of London, they offer incredible flexibility and have everything you dream of to ensure seamless hybrid working.

So it's very easy to commute from, for example from Nottingham to London and still feel included. So overall, I feel fortunate to have spent some time working at the ABPI.