Work experience
Whether you are a local school or college looking to arrange work experience for your students, or a university student from an external institution, find all the information about work experience in the School of Life Sciences.
Information for schools and colleges
For the 2024-25 academic year we can offer a work experience (WEX) programme to A-level students working with the Chemistry and Biology technical teams. You will spend two days in each area. Research lab visits are an included activity to take place on the last day of the work experience week.
What's on offer
We are now accepting work experience applications for the academic year 2024-25 under the work experience programme.
Biosciences
The two days spent in our Biosciences Teaching Laboratories will give you the chance to grow and develop your laboratory skills, building confidence and knowledge that you can take forward with you into your future studies or career.
Under the guidance of our teaching technical team, you will gain hands-on experience in risk assessment, equipment and reagent preparation, and you will gain insight and experience into the processes and techniques required to prepare and deliver practical experiments from start to finish.
Chemistry
Working alongside one of our teaching technicians in the Chemistry Teaching Laboratories, you will have the opportunity to explore the practical elements of synthetic and analytical chemistry, as well as utilising some of our industry standard instrumentation.
You will also receive instruction on the fundamental aspects of laboratory health and safety, including the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) assessments, GHS symbols, control measures and Good Laboratory Practice.
This experience will give you a real flavour of what working in a laboratory entails and aims to provide you with the opportunity to build skills and boost confidence. A fantastic opportunity for budding scientists looking to plan their future careers.
Research Labs
Spend a day visiting some of the Life Sciences Research labs and talking to the researchers about their work. Take a look at some our cutting edge exciting research.
Visiting PhD students and current students
See our information for PhD students visiting from another institution.
Find out what to do if you are a registered University of Sussex Student looking for a work experience opportunity in one of our research labs.
Work experience dates
- Monday 7 to Friday 11 July
Key dates
- Closing date for applications: Monday 31 March 2025
- Successful candidates will be contacted by Monday 12 May 2025 at the latest.
- We will send out forms for completion by the successful candidate and their School/College Work Experience Coordinator, which we will require back by Friday 6 June 2025
How to apply
Places are limited and you must apply to us through our full application process.
External Student Lab Work Experiences
If you are an external student at another institution, and are interested in gaining work experience within a Research Lab environment, you can let us know by filling in our expression of interest form. You should first familiarise yourself with our subject specific research. which will give you a flavour of the current research that is taking place at the School.
When submitting your expression of interest form, you will be asked to submit the name of the principal investigator’s laboratory that you are interested in applying to do your work experience in. Places are not guaranteed automatically and are allocated based on eligibility and availability.
Contact
Get in touch: lifesci-workexp@sussex.ac.uk