Work Experience for High School and Sixth Form Students
Peak Proteins was delighted to welcome 6 high school and sixth form students for work experience in the final weeks of school term.
Sophie Baker and Ellie Brocklehurst joined us from Wilmslow High School, Olivia Jones joined us form Manchester High School. All three are doing or just finished their GCSEs. Natasha Vernon joined us from Cheadle Hulme School and is studying A Levels. Oliver Gaunt and Harry Donohoe joined us from Tytherington High School and are also studying A Levels.
The students gained experience of all aspects of the business from business and laboratory operations to cell expression, protein purification, crystal formation and X-ray structure determination and quality control and mass spectrometry and finally business development.
Below the students are setting up to screen the optimum concentrations of reagents to form Lysozyme crystals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P-KiIz7AOs
The crystals harvested (left)
Natasha Vernon
Natasha Vernon, Tina Howard and Olivia Jones
Tina Howard and Olivia Jones
Tina Howard and Ellie Brocklehurst
Sophie Baker
Ellie Brocklehurst
The students (below) streaking out E. coli onto solid media, practising getting single colonies and then inculcating liquid cultures with Mark Elvin our Head of Cell Science.
Oliver Gaunt
Harry Donohoe
Harry Donohoe
Oliver Gaunt
Oliver Gaunt
Harry Donohoe, Oliver Gaunt and Mark Elvin
Everyone enjoyed their time gaining experience of business and science. It was great to hear some of their comments and to know we didn’t put them off carrying on with science.
“Work experience at Peak Proteins has really helped me to learn more about a career in science and I have gained many transferable skills which will be useful for me when studying my A levels and at university in the future.”
“Despite knowing that I wanted to do a science degree, I had no idea which area of science I wanted to focus on, before coming to Peak Proteins. Thanks to my hands on lab experience and studying proteins, I have found a love for biochemistry and working in a lab. I am really looking forward to further developing the skills I’ve learnt here when I go to university.”
“I have always been interested in science and work experience at Peak Proteins has given me the opportunity to further develop my skills in a laboratory setting. It has also reaffirmed that I would love to have a career in science in the future – especially working hands on in a lab. Thank you Peak Proteins!”
“Coming to work experience at Peak Proteins has confirmed my love for science. I now know I will enjoy and thrive in a scientific work environment thanks to the hands on experience in the labs and learning new skills.”
“I was fascinated by the industrial application of concepts taught in school”
“I love reading about science but this week has been my first proper experience in a real lab and was immensely exciting and insightful”
“The amount of hands on practical parts of the process we got to try was a great experience of what doing a biochemical career could be like and it was fascinating to see the ways scientists work”
