Science Internship Reflection | Jane Luk

Last summer, Cheuk Yau (Jane) Luk joined our science team, completing a three-month summer internship. Jane is a final year British Heart Foundation-funded 4-year PhD student from the University of Leeds. Jane is also currently a content editor for ‘You and Your Hormones’, an online educational resource from the Society for Endocrinology.

In this article, Jane reflects upon her scientific internship and discusses her time working with us here at Random42…

Before joining Random42, I had always been interested in exploring the science communications industry. I first heard about the company and the opportunity from the Chief Scientific Officer, Elly Spreckley, at an early career session at the Society for Endocrinology BES Annual Meeting 2022. Soon after that, I applied for the internship and joined the office from mid-June to mid-September 2023.

At the beginning of the internship, I was welcomed by Sonia Ho, the Senior Scientific Account Executive in the Science Team, who introduced me to the wider team and welcomed me into the office. Throughout my internship, I was supervised by Jordana Griffiths, a Senior Scientific Account Manager, and the respective project managers. During my time at Random42, I worked with various talented members from different departments to deliver a range of projects including medical animations and interactive scientific websites. For instance, I worked with members of the science and production teams to deliver a scientific animation on cell therapy. I also worked with members of the science, production, and marketing teams to deliver materials for a marketing pitch on a science web project. In the various projects I worked on, I participated in different stages of production including conducting background research, script writing, storyboard drafting, and briefing. I have also coordinated client feedback and monitored changes in projects to ensure scientific accuracy.

Reflecting on my experience, I have deeply enjoyed working at Random42. I am thankful for the many colleagues, particularly everyone from the science & project management team, for welcoming me into the office and providing support and training. In terms of professional development, I have learned a lot about the operational model of the company and the industry. This was extremely valuable as I have never had experience working in the scientific industry in a non-academic setting. In terms of working skills, I have developed customer service and teamwork skills through participating in different projects. As I worked with different teams to deliver projects for a variety of clients, I gained perspectives on communicating ideas and understanding the needs of clients in different areas of research. Finally, as a scientist in training, I have learned a lot about the latest research trends in different disciplines.

Previously, I was trained as a molecular biologist with a particular research interest in diet-induced obesity and diabetes. During this internship, I learned about the new scientific findings in other disease areas such as cancer and autoimmune diseases as I conducted background research and produced scripts for clients. Without a doubt, this experience has supported my training as a scientist as I was exposed to advanced research techniques across an assortment of indications.

I am very thankful for this opportunity, which has broadened my horizons on career prospects beyond academia. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone from Random42 who has made me feel welcome since day one and for providing the necessary training for the job. This has been a fun and fruitful experience, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in pursuing a meaningful science-related career beyond academia.