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Well that is it! I’m on the train whizzing through the English countryside going back to what can only be predicted as a rainy Newcastle, somewhat of a far cry from the unexpectedly glorious Swiss weather. It seems like only yesterday I was on a similar journey in the other direction apprehensive, excited and ever so slightly unsure to what exactly lay before me. I knew this was going to be an opportunity I may never have again so I had to embrace everything with open arms and not let any opportunity to pass me by. I feel like I have done this, I met with the top business executives in the company and also with the British Embassy in Bern.

So, my final week in the lab (I know I only posted my last blog but it took a while for my boss to find time to read it and verify that I did not divulge any sensitive information!) started with me and the task of comparing two different methods of preparing RNA and then amplifying it and converting it to cDNA. There is the one which the labs use normally but there is this another method, developed by Roche, which is sometime used but there has never a clear comparison performed. I spend Monday obtaining the RNA and then pooling it and checking the quality and the concentration of RNA. On Tuesday I had to travel to Bern to have a meeting with the senior project manager of inward investment. Being from a largely science background I have limited knowledge of the world of investment, but Micheal was very patient and explained everything in layman terms first before going into more detail. I was very surprised at how much work an embassy does. I had a slightly jaded view of it being there for drunken tourists who land themselves in prison or for people who have their passport stolen. But they actually encompass a whole plethora of different areas for business who are looking to invest in the country or move their services there ( FYI they also can carry out market research at a much lower price than certain other companies). I spent the rest of the day exploring the city, which is like every other Swiss city and it absolutely beautiful. On Wednesday and Thursday I completed the comparison the results I generated were ok and showed little difference between the two methods, although I did generate some slightly weird results along the way so I am not totally convinced at the credibility of the final outcome. On Friday I nearly finished the excel work on the fluidigm project, to celebrate my last day we had a party for the 4 labs I had been in and in typical Swiss style we had the finest cheese and Champaign.

With a lot of the summer interns gone it was time for a fresh batch to come along, we had a leaving/welcoming party for everybody in the evening to pass on out wisdom form the past 8 weeks. I certainly have learnt a lot from this experience and I will certainly never ever forget it. Its difficult to describe all that I have learnt but I must once again thank the Saltire Foundation for setting it up and supporting me all the way through. I would have never imagined me working for one of the worlds biggest drug companies at the tender age of 20 not only meeting some of the industries most important figures but also the future generation of important figures. Roche’s internship programme gives the opportunities for only the best students, most of the people I met had PHd placements lined up in prestigious places such as Oxford, Cambridge, Munich (to name but a few). These people are extremely clever and the future of the industry, so to meet them now and make friends with them is priceless.