Hands-on work experience for studentsStudents from Burleigh College found themselves immersed in the
complex world of medicines research when they undertook their week-long work
experience task at Loughborough's medicines research and development company
AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood.
Students from Burleigh College found themselves immersed in the
complex world of medicines research when they undertook their week-long work
experience task at Loughborough's medicines research and development company
AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood.The 17 youngsters, aged 14/15 years, spent the week discovering
how some of the region's top scientists worked to discover and develop new
medicines particularly for respiratory diseases like asthma and inflammatory
diseases such as arthritis. Their week started with a presentation on the use
of chemistry in the pharmaceutical industry and lectures on drug discovery and
development followed by a day working in the company's Medicinal Chemistry
Laboratories on a variety of projects. The students worked in four groups each
of which has to give a presentation on the work they have undertaken with a
prize to the group chosen as the best.Trevor Burdett, Head of Chemistry at Burleigh College said that
all the youngsters in the year undertook some form of work experience. Those
who had taken up the invite to do it at AstraZeneca had thoroughly enjoyed the
time spent there, and he thought it could inspire some of them to consider
making their future in the field of scientific research."All of us are very grateful to AstraZeneca and the staff who
welcomed and helped us during the week," he said. "The students certainly came
away with a greatly improved understanding of how new medicines are discovered
and developed."Ends
