Kirsty Tinto recently completed her fourth summer working at BioAscent as our marketing and business development intern. In this blog, she offers insight into the experience and skills which she has gained while working at an integrated drug discovery contract research organisation (CRO) alongside her undergraduate degree studies.

I initially joined BioAscent in 2019, following the completion of my first year at university, and have been fortunate to come back each summer on a paid internship. Over that time, I have obtained a variety of skills which will assist me in my future career. I’ve gained first-hand experience in how a business can succeed and grow exponentially, as well as having the valuable opportunity to work alongside a team of highly knowledgeable and experienced scientists. 

Having developed a strong working relationship with the team at BioAscent, this year I was given increased levels of responsibility to complete tasks and have really developed my marketing skills. Some of the tasks which I have completed this summer include:

• Contributing to running workshops to help create and implement a set of company vision and values, as well as vision and mission statements. 

• Creating reports to evaluate Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) using Google Analytics.

• Cleansing and updating contact data on Salesforce.

• Creating chemistry, biosciences, computational chemistry and compound management social media campaigns, including drafting and scheduling the posts and creating the assets in Canva.

• Writing website blogs and stories.

• Identifying potential new customers.

I have been made feel an integrated member of the BioAscent team and have been involved in a variety of events, including Tough Mudder 10km and celebrating the Glasgow Science Centre’s 21st birthday at a researcher’s event. 

Working at BioAscent has been more than a summer job for me, it has been an exceptional experience which has enabled me to gain knowledge about the drug discovery field and the variety of roles and procedures which are involved in this. Additionally, it has enhanced my ability to think outside of the box and to push myself outside of my comfort zone, where I am now very comfortable with being asked to gain new skills. From this experience, I have developed a stronger passion for learning as well as motivation to contribute to a very important fight in order to create novel therapeutic drugs for currently incurable diseases. I am now really excited to apply the passion I have gained here when I begin working towards a PhD in pharmacology this autumn.

From working at BioAscent, I have learned that there is more than one meaning behind “integrated” in this CRO- integrated drug discovery services, but equally a truly integrated team consistently encouraging one another.

BioAscent is committed to creating opportunities for scientists to develop their expertise and skills. This is the fifth year that BioAscent has offered a student internship for undergraduate life sciences students to gain an insight into working within a drug discovery CRO.

To find out more about careers at BioAscent, click here.