Where did you go and what did you do?
I undertook my PIPS at random42, a company that produces high quality medical animations for various companies. Animations generally involved demonstrations of MoD’s of target diseases, or MoA’s of various drugs to treat these diseases. During my internship, I had the role of creating scripts for these animations based on client briefs. This involved reading around the literature and finding references to build a story that we could incorporate into the animation. Alongside this, I also worked to create storyboards of these scripts. These directed the animation team as to what we wanted to show in each scene of the animation alongside the script narration. I was then often involved in subsequent client feedback meetings, after which I would tweak the script / storyboard to match the vision they had for the animation.
What made you want to do that particular PIPS?
As someone who’s research is primarily based on live cell imaging, I already had a strong interest in the use of visual imagery to explain research in a more interesting and understandable way. As a result, random42’s focus on using 3D and 2D animation to illustrate a range of disease pathologies and drug treatment mechanisms appealed to me. I also knew that working in an environment where I work on a range of different diseases and read around a lot of literature would help me with future research, alongside improve my writing skills.
What skills have you gained from your PIPS?
I have gained a wide range of skills from my PIPS. First, I have learnt how to more quickly read around a new topic and gather relevant information that can be used in a script/paper. I have also learnt how to more effectively put together a story within a piece of writing. Alongside this, because my scripts had to be communicated to a non-scientific expert audience of animators, my ability to explain scientific ideas and mechanisms to a wider audience improved significantly. Due to the wide range of tasks I might get in a day, I also developed a stronger ability to jump quickly between tasks in order of priority rather than focusing hard on one thing for a long period like I tended to do during PhD work. Finally, experience of client facing meetings helped improve my communication ability in a business context.
What has been the impact (or likely future impact) of your PIPS?
Doing my PIPS has reaffirmed my enjoyment of visually supplemented research communication and kept my focus on making sure that is something I incorporate into my own work. I will also keep this industry in mind when making future job decisions.
How would you sum up your PIPS experience?
I had a great experience during my PIPS. Everyone I worked with was extremely kind and helpful, and everything ran smoothly despite being mostly remote. I got to work on a wide variety of tasks and topics and was always given meaningful work that would result in tangible deliverables for the company. I gained some important skills that I can carry forward into the remainder of my PhD that will help towards getting my thesis together at a higher quality!
What advice would you give to other PGRs about PIPS?
Make sure to target a PIPS that is relevant to an interest you have in some way. Also try and do something different from what you do day to day in your PhD, so that it feels fresh (this will also help you feel ready to go when you finish the PIPS).