Natural Sciences
Placements and careers
Placements
We offer a fully-supported, one-year professional placement with a prestigious employer after your second year whether you are studying for the BSc or MSci. The professional skills and experience that students gain from a period of placement can be invaluable in helping to find a job later on, and in helping you decide what sort of future role or training (such as postgraduate research) you might take on.
Some Natural Sciences students wish to expand their academic horizons by spending their third year at an overseas university. We have contacts all over the world, and students have spent their third year in many different countries including USA and Australia.
Why take a placement?
- Placements often lead to a permanent job with the placement company
- Earn a salary
- Employers favour graduates with employment experience
- Experience working in the professional world
- Proven enhanced final year performance
- Develop time management, communication and team work skills
- Invaluable experience of the recruitment process
Support
Our dedicated Placements Team will support and guide you through the recruitment process, developing your skills for applications, interviews and organising employer-led workshops.
During the placement you will also have regular contact with the Placements Team, a Placements Tutor and a workplace supervisor, as well as a visit from a member of staff, in most cases.
What kind of job could you do?
Natural Scientists are found in a vast variety of placement roles in industry including pharmaceutical researchers, environmental scientists, game conservancy and many others!
Some of our placement employers have included:
- British Nuclear Fuels
- Metropolitan Police
- Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
- Duke University (USA)
- GlaxoSmithKline (Italy)
- IBM
- Solvias AG (Switzerland)
- ICI Paints
We cannot guarantee that a particular placement will be available or that you will be able to earn a particular salary; applications for placements can be very competitive.
Careers
The career opportunities for graduates within this broadly-based science degree are very wide, from scientific research to finance and fast-track medicine. A number of graduates each year go on to do further study, including research degrees, specialist Masters' programmes, and teacher training. Careers include:
- scientific research and development
- environmental consultancy and management
- scientific advisory services
- manufacturing industries
- management (including marketing and sales)
- purchasing and patenting.
