"The people are very encouraging and there’s a good amount of interesting and varied work."

Holly Adair | Associate Scientist, Pharmaceutical Development

Undergraduate Scientist placement programme

Our industrial placement programme offers science students the chance to gain real hands-on experience in a pharmaceutical R&D business and complete a short project as part of their course.

Join us and you’ll enjoy 12 months of initial intensive training, working alongside some of our experienced scientists. As well as developing your basic lab skills and learning technical skills, you’ll contribute to different aspects of our work, from testing and data preparation to improving quality and processes.

We’ll support you all the way, with a buddy you can talk to about any work or personal issues. You’ll also have regular one-to-one meetings with your line manager and access to more senior leaders.

With our Science Live programmes and plenty of social activities, you’ll find it’s a rewarding and stimulating programme.

Making the most of your time here

As well as gaining a wealth of invaluable scientific experience, you’ll also find we’re a very welcoming and social organisation. As a placement student, you’ll be encouraged to get involved in a range of activities to enjoy the full Vectura experience.

For example, our social committee organise a series of events throughout the year, from a summer barbecue to the Winter Ball and we’d love you to be part of these. Or, you could just join one of our many sports and social groups – from football and badminton to the cake club.

You can also volunteer to contribute to any of our fundraising events in aid of our corporate charity, Asthma UK. These include an annual long-distance bike ride which, in 2019, is from Lyon to Paris.

So you’ll find plenty of ways to make the most of your programme.

Meet our people

Holly Adair | Associate Scientist, Pharmaceutical Development

"From the first day they were keen to get me into the lab and testing immediately."

When I joined in 2018, from the first day they were keen to get me into the lab, testing immediately. This was all supported with a lot of training. The company’s very good at making sure you have what you need. For example, I thought chromatography would be useful, so they arranged in-house training.

There are so many things to like about working here. The people are very encouraging, it’s a positive place to be and there’s a good amount of interesting and varied work.

Vivien Fletcher | Industrial Placement Student, Bristol University, 2014

"Vectura were fantastic about helping me get trained in as many things as possible."

I’d always known that a year in industry would be a great opportunity to get ‘proper’ work experience and learn new things. What I hadn’t counted on was just how much support and encouragement I’d get.

I think part of this was that many of the people I worked with had been placement students themselves, so they understood the desire to gain as much as possible. I was actually allowed to spend my penultimate day at Vectura on a training course, just because I thought it sounded interesting.

Where our graduate placements are based

Our placement programme is based at our Chippenham headquarters, where we have purpose-built labs. There’s a strong team atmosphere, with lots of opportunities for ideas-sharing and collaboration to achieve quality results.

With regular Science Live sessions that enable you to keep up-to-date with the latest developments from across Vectura and the wider pharmaceuticals industry, it’s a great place to hone your science skills and start a stimulating and rewarding career.

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Contact the recruitment team

We're always pleased to hear from talented people so if you have any questions about any of our advertised roles, please contact us.

Email: recruitment@vectura.com