Career Opportunities: Biochemistry at King’s

Ryan Jones

Hi everyone, my name is Ryan and I’m currently in the final year of my Biochemistry MSci here at King’s. This blog will be focused on all things careers related, including careers opportunities available from a life science degree and the work experience opportunities open to you at University.

Life Science career opportunities:
The large number of career opportunities available from a life science degree is emphasized by the variety of different jobs graduates from King’s go on to have. Before attending University, I was under the impression a science degree was strictly limited to conventional research, academic or teaching careers. This concerned me slightly, as though I enjoyed science, I wasn’t convinced that I wanted to entirely focus on it for the rest of my working life. Though it is true that these traditional science careers are available, with many of my friends going on to achieve PhD and commercial research positions around the world, these are not the only options.

In my first year of University, I attended a King’s careers event that focused on City careers available with a Science degree. This event included guest speakers, who had studied a life sciences degree, who worked for legal, consultancy and banking firms. The speakers explained how the skills developed throughout a life science degree, such as data analysis and problem solving, are highly desirable within these fields. Patent law and consultancy positions focusing on data analysis were two roles that particularly interested me.

If, however, you have already caught the research ‘bug’ there are a number of opportunities open to you. Though King’s primarily focuses upon human and medical life science you are not limited to these research fields. For example, my friend has recently begun her PhD focusing upon plant Biochemistry in order to combat plant diseases. Your research skills also do not have to be focused academically. Research opportunities are available with companies such as GSK, which focus more on product development than providing academic understanding.

Placements, work experience & more:
The life science department at King’s offers several different work experience opportunities. These can range from formal placements such as a year in industry, working for leading scientific companies, to informal volunteering within a King’s research lab. Many of the lecturers at King’s will be more than willing to allow you to shadow or visit their lab, provided you ask politely and respectfully. (Don’t be disheartened if they say no, not all labs will have time to accommodate students.) King’s also offers several summer internships that will give hands on experience of working as part of a research team.

In addition to these opportunities King’s has also begun to submit a team to the yearly iGEM competition. If you were successful in taking part in this opportunity you would be part of your own research team, formed from your fellow students, working towards a research goal of your choice.

If like me and many others attending University, you still aren’t sure what you want to do after graduating I highly recommend looking at the King’s careers website. You may be surprised at the variety of different opportunities available to you.