This summer, MicroTex was pleased to welcome a high school student for a four-week internship as part of the Edinburgh BioQuarter Summer Internship Programme. The programme offers school students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of research and innovation, providing an insight into the wide range of careers available across science, technology, engineering, and healthcare.
During the internship, the student worked across the MicroTex Hub, spending time with researchers from different disciplines to gain a broad understanding of how interdisciplinary research drives innovation. Over four weeks, they explored a range of projects, learning how engineers, chemists, physicists, clinicians, and other specialists work together to develop technologies that could transform therapeutic development.
Rather than focusing on a single research area, the internship provided an overview of the entire research pathway, from laboratory science and engineering design to clinical translation. This allowed the student to experience the collaborative nature of MicroTex while gaining practical insight into the different expertise required to bring new healthcare technologies closer to patients.
Reflecting on the experience, the student described the internship as both educational and inspiring.
“My experience as a MicroTex intern has been extremely educational and has truly opened my eyes to the scale of research projects taking place to improve people’s quality of life. Working with such a diverse group of researchers, from medicinal chemists to engineers; gave me a much better understanding of what a researcher does.”
One of the highlights of the placement was spending time in the laboratory working with corneal infection models using pig eyes. This provided valuable hands-on experience of disease progression, laboratory techniques, and the principles behind drug development.
The placement also broadened the student’s perspective on future career opportunities.
“Before the internship, I was set on becoming a doctor in order to help people. Now I’ve realised there are many different ways to make a difference. Even if medicine isn’t the path I follow, there are other careers in STEM that share the same goal of improving people’s lives.”