1. What are the opportunities available for students to engage with the national and international community?

Keywords: Intercalated year, Vacation research project, final year research project

National & International Community:

The Biological Sciences department claims that students are able to engage with industries and research establishment nationally and internationally through the intercalated year programme following successful completion of year 2.

Typically 20-30 students participate and go on to competitively secure external placements.

The Department has excellent links with work places in the UK and worldwide. International placements are intermittently available to students.

Recent placements include: Astra-Zeneca, GSK, GE Healthcare, Pfizer, Novartis, Jannsen-Cilag, Abbott, Improvision, Advanced Technologies Cambridge, DEFRA, Kew Gardens, Health Protection Agency, hospitals in London and local hospitals.

'Working at the Forensic Laboratories for my Intercalated Year was a fantastic experience. It was a dream come true to get an offer to work there. I was part of a research team looking at using single nucleotide polymorphisms for DNA fingerprinting'. Joe Grove, who spent a year at The Forensic Sciences Laboratories in Birmingham.

Intercalated Year: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/bio/ug/courses/intercal/ & http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/bio/ug/faqs/intercalated

Academic Community:

The department claims that undergraduates have the opportunity to apply for and obtain research experience during the vacations where they can work alongside PhD students, technicians and postdoctoral staff in our research laboratories. This allows the students to engage with the academic and research staff here at Warwick.

Undergraduates also have further opportunities to engage with academics and research staff during their final year research project that forms part of the final year assessment.

Undergraduate Research: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/bio/ug/research/

Conclusions:

Undergraduates have the opportunity to engage with the local and international employers by working for a year in various industries as part of the departments intercalated year programme.

Students also have opportunities to engage ith the academic community here at Warwick in formal research through the various vacation research projects and in the assessed final year research projects.

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DISCOURSE ANALYSIS:

 

Reference: What opportunities are available for students to engage with the national and international community?

 

To present the engagement opportunities with industry, open to students in the intercalated year, the department uses the following student testimonial on its website:

 

'Working at the Forensic Laboratories for my Intercalated Year was a fantastic experience. It was a dream come true to get an offer to work there. I was part of a research team looking at using single nucleotide polymorphisms for DNA fingerprinting'. Joe Grove, who spent a year at The Forensic Sciences Laboratories in Birmingham.

 

The use of a student is effective in conveying the genuineness of the department’s claim of the intercalated program as one that allows students to engage in the work of local and international industry. It also seems from the student’s use of ‘fantastic experience’ and ‘dream come true’ that the intercalated year is presented as an exciting and enjoyable opportunity for students. The department also lists both global and local placement companies on its website as a way of showing both the national and international nature of the intercalated year placements.

Intercalated Year: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/bio/ug/courses/intercal/

& http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/bio/ug/faqs/intercalated

 

The discourse used implies that the nature of engagement with the national and international community offered by the department focuses more on academic or research areas. This can be seen from the student testimonial above about his research carried out at The Forensic Sciences Laboratories in Birmingham. The focus on academic and research engagement is also evident in the description of the opportunities available for students to engage with the academic community at Warwick. These are mainly vacation research opportunities with PhD students, technicians and postdoctoral staff in the department’s research laboratories.

Undergraduate Research: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/bio/ug/research/