Scientist Degree Apprenticeship - UCB – Find an apprenticeship

Summary

We are seeking a motivated candidate to join the Musculoskeletal Team as an apprentice within the Resolution of Inflammation Focus Area. you will have a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience and learn from a variety of experienced professionals within a cutting-edge pharmaceutical research environment while pursuing a university degree.

Wage

£19,300 a year

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Annual salary review. Apprenticeship programme has a salary structure with annual increases subject to progress on the apprenticeship and performance in the workplace.

Training course

Scientist (level 6)

Hours

Monday to Friday, 09:00am – 17:30pm with 1 hour unpaid lunch break.

37 hours 30 minutes a week

Start date

Monday 1 September 2025

Duration

5 years

Positions available

1

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

The Resolution of Inflammation Focus Area is a dynamic and multicultural team including experienced scientists ranging from cell to tissue biologists including in vitro and in vivo pharmacologists. Within this Focus Area, the Musculoskeletal Team supports the biology of the early stage drug discovery process of targets relevant to skeletal disorders.

As an Apprentice, you will balance work-based learning with academic studies, applying theoretical knowledge to practical research challenges. Starting with building an understanding of the scientific method you will implement your new skills to contribute to the drug discovery process. You will create solid foundation in the anatomy of the skeletal tissues and the pathobiology of skeletal conditions while supporting research activities aimed at understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying human diseases.

In the lab you will learn key techniques utilised in early drug discovery including

cell and tissue culture of primary cells
molecular biology
flow cytometry
histology and imaging.

In addition to classic single cell 2D cultures, you will become familiar with complex in vitro models such as 3D cultures, organoids and organ on a chip, which are increasingly being used within the drug discovery process as they better mimic human physiology, improve translational relevance and enable disease modelling. You will have the opportunity to contribute to the generation of large data sets and to learn bioinformatics tools enabling analysis and visualisation of such data sets. Part of the role will require troubleshooting and optimisation of specific techniques as well as critical thinking. As part of your role, you will maintain accurate and detailed laboratory records in compliance with company standards. A dedicated supervisor and mentor will guide and support you during your time at UCB, making sure you receive all the trainings required for you to work in the lab, analyse and interpret scientific data, prepare and deliver scientific presentations.

As well as working with colleagues within the Resolution of Inflammation Focus Area, the role will also allow interaction with colleagues from other departments allowing a complete understanding of the industry working mode.

By developing your technical and soft skills you will have the opportunity to contribute to advance our early stage drug discovery efforts.

Where you'll work

216 Bath Road
Slough
SL1 3WE

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

College or training organisation

THE UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Your training course

Scientist (level 6)

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What you'll learn

Course contents

Identify and apply scientific approaches to solve problems, support investigations and recommend any follow-up experiments.
Evaluate scientific experiments using an appropriate level of qualitative and quantitative numerical analysis.
Critically analyse data, relevant literature and input from colleagues to inform investigations.
Analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific data and present the results in written and oral form.
Manage record keeping to ensure data integrity, traceability, confidentiality and adherence with appropriate regulatory requirements.
Promote, enact, document, and monitor the application of quality standards, safe working practices and compliance with risk management systems relevant to the role.
Identify opportunities to challenge assumptions and apply influencing skills to make improvements, make new proposals and build on existing ideas.
Manage work plan, prioritise tasks and evaluate progress against objectives.
Contribute to the development of technical projects across multi-skilled teams and share best practice across the wider business.
Conduct complex (chemical, or physical, or biological) scientific investigations in accordance with defined company procedures and legislative requirements.
Identify and implement continuous performance improvement using appropriate techniques.
Ensure work meets environmental, risk management and sustainability requirements and regulations of the business sector.
Evaluate own performance and knowledge, and set personal development goals.
Troubleshoot equipment selection and implement sustainable solutions.
Identify and collaborate with key stakeholders and provide technical support and advice where required.
Identify how other roles in the organisation can contribute to achieving sustainability goals.
Select and apply equipment, techniques, and methods to ensure reliable and accurate results.
Undertake practical analyses and measurement and communicate the outcomes using appropriate terminology and mathematical and graphical notation.
Use appropriate digital solutions for the collection and analysis of data, and the retrieval of appropriate information.
Use communication methods suited to objective and audience.
Use theoretical models, often involving approximations, to make quantitative predictions.
Apply chemical concepts and theories to investigations.
Design, develop and carry out chemical science investigations.
Recommend synthetic pathways to target-compounds and design experimental activities to test predictions.
Design and deploy purification, isolation and characterisation strategies, taking account of physicochemical properties of elements and compounds.
Design, develop and carry out qualitative and quantitative sample preparation, chemical measurement, and analysis.
Critically compare the results of theoretical or computational modelling with those from experiment and observation.
Apply physics theories to solve problems that cross scientific discipline boundaries.
Apply computational techniques to analysis and model physical behaviour.
Apply physics concepts and theories to investigations.
Design, develop and carry out physics based investigations.
Use mathematical techniques and theories to solve physics problems.
Use computer programming software to solve physics based problems.
Critically analyse current and emerging developments in the biosciences and the contribution of Biosciences to the wider industry.
Apply Biological concepts and theories to investigations.
Design, develop and carry out biological investigations
Perform tasks related to sample preparation and culturing techniques.
Use of laboratory automation systems.
Perform sampling with consideration for sample variation.
Identify and apply scientific approaches to solve problems, support investigations and recommend any follow-up experiments.
Evaluate scientific experiments using an appropriate level of qualitative and quantitative numerical analysis.
Critically analyse data, relevant literature and input from colleagues to inform investigations.
Analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific data and present the results in written and oral form.
Manage record keeping to ensure data integrity, traceability, confidentiality and adherence with appropriate regulatory requirements.
Promote, enact, document, and monitor the application of quality standards, safe working practices and compliance with risk management systems relevant to the role.
Identify opportunities to challenge assumptions and apply influencing skills to make improvements, make new proposals and build on existing ideas.
Manage work plan, prioritise tasks and evaluate progress against objectives.
Contribute to the development of technical projects across multi-skilled teams and share best practice across the wider business.
Conduct complex (chemical, or physical, or biological) scientific investigations in accordance with defined company procedures and legislative requirements.
Identify and implement continuous performance improvement using appropriate techniques.
Ensure work meets environmental, risk management and sustainability requirements and regulations of the business sector.
Evaluate own performance and knowledge, and set personal development goals.
Troubleshoot equipment selection and implement sustainable solutions.
Identify and collaborate with key stakeholders and provide technical support and advice where required.
Identify how other roles in the organisation can contribute to achieving sustainability goals.
Select and apply equipment, techniques, and methods to ensure reliable and accurate results.
Undertake practical analyses and measurement and communicate the outcomes using appropriate terminology and mathematical and graphical notation.
Use appropriate digital solutions for the collection and analysis of data, and the retrieval of appropriate information.
Use communication methods suited to objective and audience.
Use theoretical models, often involving approximations, to make quantitative predictions.

Your training plan

The training for this apprenticeship will be completed online.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

Min 5 inc. Maths English Science (grade 4/C or above)

A Level in:

2 A-levels including Bio+ another science or maths (grade a minimum of 80 UCAS points)

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Communication skills
Attention to detail
Organisation skills
Problem solving skills
Presentation skills
Administrative skills
Analytical skills
Logical
Team working
Initiative

Other requirements

• The individual will be working within a laboratory environment and must therefore adhere to site dress code procedures and personal hygiene standards during testing activities, • The individual will be required to handle hazardous materials (e.g. chemicals, microorganisms) and so must adhere to the relevant procedures.

About this company

As the specialists in skills for science and technology, our purpose is to make sure your business; your people and our industry are future ready. We are a not-for-profit charitable organisation with a family of commercially focused companies committed to supporting the skills, needs and ambitions across the UK science and technology sector.

https://cogentskills.com/vacancies/ (opens in new tab)

Disability Confident

A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.

You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.

After this apprenticeship

Upon successful completion of the apprenticeship, you will be eligible to apply for other positions within the business. The training will expose the apprentice to a wide range of skills and competencies which would make them well placed for further study or suitable for many job opportunities in the life sciences sector.

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

Cogent Ssc Limited

Tom Bretherton

thomas.bretherton@cogentskills.com

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000323382.

Apply now

Closes in 20 days (Thursday 26 June 2025)

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After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.

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Scientist Degree Apprenticeship - UCB

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