Byotrol relocated to Thornton Science Park, a University of Chester campus, in 2016. The move has enabled Byotrol access to The Chester Internship Programme, an initiative delivered by Student Futures – Careers and Employability and which is funded by Santander Universities, which has become a valuable source of additional student support for the Technical team, particularly in microbiology.
In a series of blog posts, we will examine how an internship can help to provide invaluable experience in a commercial setting and what the interns themselves feel they can gain from the Internship Programme.
Today we meet Jessica Jones, a new Microbiology Intern who has joined Byotrol for the summer prior to starting her Masters at Liverpool University in September.
Huw Evans, Research and Development Director at Byotrol hired Jess for a 10 week summer placement. Huw said “I was really pleased with the response we received when we advertised the internship opportunity, having received ten applications for one position. There were several strong candidates, however Jessica stood out as being very strong academically, had researched Byotrol and already had a good understanding of what we do and of our products. Jessica also has plenty of self-confidence, which is important in a small company. We’re looking forward to seeing her development over the summer.”
Name: Jessica Jones
University: University of Chester
Area of study: Biomedical Science BSc
So Jess, could you explain how you feel your internship will add value to your studies?
I feel that this internship adds greatly to my practical skill set in the laboratory. I am starting my MSc Advanced Biological Sciences (microbiology pathway) with Liverpool University in September 2018 and I feel that working with Byotrol will aid me greatly in doing this. During my MSc a lot of my research will be laboratory based. Working in Byotrol’s microbiology lab will really give me a chance to improve and build upon my basic laboratory skills. I will get to practice techniques that are commonly used in microbiology such as aseptic technique, pipetting and culturing bacteria.
I really appreciate that this is a paid internship as I am a mature student with a family to provide for, I simply wouldn’t have been able to accept an unpaid position. The salary provided for this internship has allowed me to take the time to learn practical techniques in my chosen field and I feel very fortunate to have been selected to work here.
And what do you hope to achieve during your time at Byotrol?
During my time here I hope to become confident in laboratory techniques as these transferrable skills can be applied to research I undertake in the future. I also hope to learn from the experienced Technical team about various different organisms and methods of antimicrobial testing. This could potentially aid me in the future as my area of interest is strongly in antibiotic resistance and researching different bactericidal substances. This includes things such as looking into bacteriophages, bacteriocins and anything else that could be used as an alternative to antibiotics.
We’ll be checking in with Jess at the end of her internship to see what areas of The Chester Internship Programme have been the most valuable and how she feels we could improve the internship opportunity provided by Byotrol for future interns.
If you are a University of Chester student and would like to apply for a Byotrol internship in the future, please email careers@chester.ac.uk