GRADnet PGR Placement Case Studies
Read about some of our SEPnet PGR students’ placement experiences here:
Student: Rhiann Canavan – University of Surrey
Placement: Crossfield Fusion
Role: Experimental Diagnostics Intern (now employed as an Scientific Project Manager)
“The internship allowed me to discover a company which I had never heard of before, and whose ambition I am very motivated by. ”
Student: Daniel Cutting – University of Sussex
Placement: Earth-i
Role: Data Analysis Intern (now a postdoc at University of Helsinki)
“Not only did this placement give me a new toolset of skills relating to data analysis and machine learning, but it also gave me the confidence that there are interesting roles and research that I could pursue outside of academia.”
Student: Jorge Venegas, Queen Mary University 
Placement: i3D Robotics Ltd
Role: Machine Vision & Software Engineer
“I have only been in academia and knew nothing about how industry worked. This placement has opened my eyes to how I can apply the knowledge I have acquired to things that not only academics will read but people in general can see and understand. ”
Student: Carlos Fernando Vergara Cervantes, University of Sussex
Placement: Recycle2Trade
Role: Data Scientist
“This placement has given me in-depth experience of a completely different ie a non-academic, corporate environment.”
Student: Alexander Jones, University of Hertfordshire
Placement: NPL
Role: Scientific Researcher
“I would thoroughly recommend carrying out a summer placement as it looks great on the CV and provides an opportunity to be in a real place of work.”
Student: Diana Patricia Mendez, University of Sussex
Placement: RedOptima
Role: Data Science Intern
“Getting more experience on how to clean data and deal with different formats has been valuable.”
Student: Alessandra Costantino, University of Southampton
Placement: Cobham RAD Solutions
Role: Space radiation effects testing
“I believe experience out of academic research will allow me to plan my career with an improved awareness of the available options and skills required in the fields I am interested in.”
Student: Benjamin Mawdsley, University of Portsmouth
Placement: Earth-i
Role: Tech Intern (now a Data Scientist at the Hartree Centre)
“Do not be afraid to apply for a placement just because you feel like you lack some of the experience – it is the point of the placement to gain that experience after all! ”
Student: Jake Minns, University of Kent
Placement: Mafic
Role: Machine Learning Engineer (now a job role)
“I applied machine learning to solve real problems in a commercial setting, an experience that would be difficult to replicate within a university environment.“
Student: David Price, University of Southampton
Placement: Snowflake Software
Role: Data Analyst
“I have developed not only my technical skills, but also my networking and presentation skills, both of which will prove useful during my PhD and for opportunities in the future.”
PhD Graduate: Rosemary Coogan, University of Sussex
Company: Senseye
Role: Data Scientist
“I learnt a lot about machine learning and statistical techniques that I haven’t had the opportunity to use during my PhD. “
Student: Navin Seeburn – Royal Holloway University of London
Placement: RedOptima
Role: Data Engineer (now a job role)
“Having an entire project ride on your shoulders has made a much more mindful and pragmatic thinker of me. I’m still something of a perfectionist, but I’m definitely learning!”
Student: Carlos Fernando Vergara Cervantes – University of Sussex
Placement: RedOptima
Role: Data Scientist
“It has mainly given me in-depth experience of a completely different, ie a non-academic, corporate environment.”
Student: Filippo Contenta – University of Surrey
Placement: eOsphere
Role: Satellite Scientist (now a job role)
“It has given me the working experience necessary to fill the gap between academia and industry.”
Student: James Kneller – Queen Mary University of London
Placement: National Physical Laboratory
Role: Student Intern
“The placement has given me the chance to hone my experimental skills, training on the practices done at the country’s measurement lab.”
Student: Tom Berry – University of Surrey
Placement: Wood Plc
Role: Software Engineer (Nuclear)
“I now have experience of working on a project in a collaborative environment with business goals and requirements to take into account.”
Student: Filippo Contenta – University of Surrey
Placement: Audatex
Role: Data Science Intern
“It has given me the working experience necessary to fill the gap between academia and industry.”
Student: Jake Minns – University of Kent
Placement: STFC Department of Scientific Computing
Role: Machine learning applications for x-ray and neutron computed tomography experiments
“Having a short break from my regular postgraduate studies has allowed me to come back to my PhD work feeling refreshed and highly motivated.”
Student: Ilya Antonov – Royal Holloway University
Placement: National Physics Laboratory
Role: Programming a Filed Programmable Array (FPGA)
“As a more general skill, I improved on setting realistic targets that would generate functioning results within the short 2 month placement.”
Student: Igor Novikov – University of Kent
Placement: Seismic Stuff
Role: Computational Design Analysis
“Using the skills picked up at university in a real-life environment to gain confidence from your knowledge is both challenging and exciting.”
Student: 
Helen Davidge – The Open University
Placement: The Royal Marsden Hospital (now with Argos)
Role: Reconstruction of radiation intensity measurements from time- based data
“I am hoping that the programming skills I have learnt while on my placement, my time spent on S2SD and the knowledge I have gained during my PhD will support me in getting a job as a data scientist.”
Student: Steve Parsons – University of Surrey
Placement: Cobham RAD Solutions
Role: Radiation Effects Engineer
“Regularly check the advertised opportunities within your institution and wider afield so you don’t miss an opportunity that fits with your skills/experience.”
Student: Daniel Staab – The Open University
Placement: AVS UK
Role: R&D Engineer
“Overall it confirmed completely that working in a space sector SME is what I want to do long term, and that I can actually use those transferable skills from my PhD research work.”
Student: Daniel Goddard – University of Portsmouth
Placement: Bank of New York Mellon
Role: Summer Associate
“I think the placement has opened my eyes to the tremendous amount of intellectually stimulating problems that the financial industry faces.”
Student: Dermot O’Brien – University of Southampton
Placement: Tranquility Aerospace
Role: Software Electronic System Programmer
“I learned a lot of skills and met a lot of people to add to my network. I got offered a full-time job and a 2% share in the company.”
Student: Ela Poplawska – Queen Mary University of London
Placement: Tranquility Aerospace
Role: Software Electronic System Programmer
“It showed me how PhD skills can be transformed and used within an industry or commercial environment.”
Student: Giovanni Pasquino – Royal Holloway University
Placement: Tranquillity Aerospace Ltd.
Role: Electronic Testing and Design
“I think it has given me the opportunity of getting to know a different type of work environment from the academic one. It has helped me discover new areas which I could be interested in, such as electronics. “
Student: Ilana Wisby – Royal Holloway University
Placement: Snap Out Ltd (now CEO with Oxford Quantum Circuits)
Role: Software Development
“I have gained many transferable technical skills as well as an appreciation of my own skill set to benefit others outside academia.”
Student: Jonathan Keelan – The Open University
Placement: Network Rail
Role: Researcher
“Don’t be afraid to apply for placements outside of your current research. If you have the necessary skills to perform the placement, and it interests you, go for it.“
Student: Kiz Natt, The Open University and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Placement: Adaptix Imaging (now data scientist with Earth-i)
Role: Image Reconstruction Developer
“As well as having gained many skills, I have learnt about working in an industrial and scientific setting in a start-up company.”
Student: Tingting Zhang – Queen Mary University of London
Placement: National Physical Laboratory
Role: Test Engineer
“I got a glimpse of how knowledge is transferred into a business idea and how much work needs to done for a conceptual product to become a real one.”
Student: Yusuf Musa Abubakar – University of Surrey
Placement: National Physical Laboratory
Role: Researcher
“If you are interested in doing a placement, go for it. You cannot be sure which type of working environment will suit you without giving it a try.”
Student: Yusuf Musa Abubakar – University of Surrey
Placement: Lumie
Role: Researcher
“Placements offer you opportunities to discover yourself prior to choosing a longer term career for yourself.”
Student: Zena Patel – University of Surrey
Placement: Adaptix (now with Diamond Source)
Role: Scientific Research Intern
“I feel I have gained more knowledge about how a company works in all aspects, and it has made me think about the type of company I want to work for, not just the job.”