A participant on our placement scheme gives us an insight into her experiences and what she learned at Syngenta during the half term!
Mrs Manning spent a week at Syngenta as part of the Teacher Industrial Partners’ Scheme
I am the curriculum leader for biology at UCL Academy, and I chose to spend my half term on work experience at the global agro-chemical firm Syngenta. I went to their main research and development site near Bracknell to gain an insight into how fundamental science theory learned by students at GCSE and A level is actually used in industry; the range of STEM careers available, and how different departments all contribute expertise in their area to come up with solutions.
I had a fascinating week being hosted by scientists with very different backgrounds, interests and responsibilities. Syngenta produce crop protection chemicals and finding out about the amount of work involved in developing, testing, analysing and formulating these chemicals was really interesting. Some highlights of my week included: using the electron microscopes to investigate the structure of a weed flower head, visiting the entomology department where crop pests are bred to screen chemicals, pollinating wheat in an attempt to breed more productive strains, and learning about the work done by the product safety team who model and monitor the environmental toxicity of compounds. I also took part in lots of lab work, gained hands-on experience of key experimental skills used every day by these scientists, and saw the wide range of robots and machinery that are used to help.
As a result of my placement, I am now much better informed about what it is to be a scientist, which will help me develop careers guidance activities for my students who might be considering STEM careers. I can also use specific examples of experiments and theory I encountered to enhance the curriculum for students, so that they can see how what they learn in lessons can be applied in the real world. Finally, the whole product development pathway is an excellent example of interdisciplinary collaboration, and really highlights how the skills we emphasise in our work, on big ideas and the grand challenges, are essential in the business world.
I really enjoyed my week and think the Teacher Industrial Partners’ Scheme is a really valuable thing to be involved in. It certainly has led to lots of ideas of how to enthuse students in their science lessons, and hopefully inspire more students to consider a career in science. Many thanks to Syngenta for hosting me.