Learning new things in an unusual time

Starting an internship in the midst of a lockdown – not an ideal condition. Although I could not work on site from the start, I felt welcome and integrated in my group right away, as my colleagues actively involved me in projects and meetings. The handling of the pandemic situation for me was one striking aspect about working at Roche – often there were challenges, but fast and pragmatic decisions often helped us to quickly adapt to circumstances and overcome the issues.

Hi, I am Jan, from Stuttgart, Germany. When I was at school, I always enjoyed science. I did a one-week internship in an analytical laboratory, which motivated me to study chemistry later. At HTW Aalen, I chose to specialise in analytical chemistry for my bachelor’s degree. To apply my knowledge after finishing my thesis, I started as an intern in the Process Analytical Technologies (PAT) group in Synthetic Molecules. I am involved in two major online-analytical technology projects to improve process understanding and control: Real-time measurement of particle size through image analysis (Easyviewer technology) and the implementation of an online chromatography system (Waters PATrol) for continuous manufacturing.

Compared to my experience at university, science at Roche is more professional and hands-on. Processes are better defined and work faster, the laboratory equipment is better. Accessing documents is also really easy; most scientific papers can be downloaded just like at an university library.

The RiSM Programme helps me to develop because it significantly improved my practical knowledge. Also, I had the great opportunity to learn to program in Python, which is a skill that I will use in the future and can benefit from.

To people who are interested in the RiSM Programme I would recommend to just apply for the internships that sound most interesting to you. Talk to the previous interns at the application day event to get to know something about working in your group. This can also help you for the interview.

Our impact

As part of the PAT group we aim to use online sensors to understand laboratory and  production processes better. This helps us to  improve the quality of the products, and also helps to reduce the number of failed experiments and batches, making production more effective and helping to save resources.

The place to Work

Roche offers some great stuff, like E-Learning, career advice, a sports programme, and housing and events for interns. In my view, performance was appreciated and everybody working on a project was acknowledged. The atmosphere was also constructive; in my experience, everyone was ready to help when difficulties arose or when I did not know where to find something (i.e. office supplies, laboratory equipment…).

Interested in the Roche Internship in Synthetic Molecules (RiSM) Programme? Click here for more information.

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