1646 – Issue 2

emailed Labstep’s co-founder to see if any roles were available. Fortunately, he was looking for someone with laboratory experience who could help encourage researchers to take up the ground- breaking tool they were developing, so I was offered an internship. This later led to my full-time employment. The fact that connections I made at school have led to me starting what is pretty much my dream career goes to show that making as many connections you can even while you are still at school is extremely important. Reading Blue Coat has a large list of alumni who have gone on to be successful e.g. Matt Allright (TV presenter), Natalie Dormer (Actor) and Alok Sharmer (MP) to name a few. You just never know which of your peers may go on to be successful and potentially be able to offer you mutually beneficial opportunities. Working at Labstep I have been very proud to be helping promote the move towards open science and more reproducible research, as it will lead to benefits for everyone. Vast amounts of money are spent on research worldwide – last year two trillion dollars was spent on medical research alone. You would think that with this level of spending, medical knowledge and treatments would be advancing at a rapid rate. Unfortunately, despite much of the research itself being cutting edge and using the latest equipment such as super high-resolution laser microscopes, the way most research is recorded is hugely outdated – over 90% of research is still recorded in notebooks and scraps of paper. This results in inefficiencies which lead to massive amounts of research being wasted. Crucial knowledge that could potentially help other researchers make breakthroughs is frequently lost in indecipherable handwritten notes. Electronic lab notebooks such as Labstep allow researchers to record and share important findings easily. This reduces the chance that labs spend time and money trying to find a solution to a problem that has already been solved by another lab, resulting in less wasted research. The more meaningful research that can be conducted, the more life-saving drugs and treatments for diseases such as cancer can be developed. My role at Labstep is to ensure users are able to get the most out of the tool. This means that every day I’m meeting scientists, for example from the world’s leading biomedical research facility, The Francis Crick Institute, or getting in touch electronically with scientists from around the world. I‘ve spoken to users from as far away as Hawaii, Alaska and northeastern Russia. Since I have to communicate with scientists every day my so-called ‘soft skills’ are extremely important. Although my time at university was undoubtedly important in developing these skills, I feel that without the friendly environment of Blue Coat and the exposure to team building sports and trips I wouldn’t have developed into someone who could cope with such a customer-facing role. Hopefully, over the coming decades the uptake of electronic lab notebooks will continue to grow and the rate at which treatments are developed will accelerate, helping to massively reduce or even cure devastating diseases such as cancer. By eschewing traditional employment routes and joining a start-up business or even founding their own, young people have the opportunity to make a big positive impact on society. The fact that connections I made at school have led to me starting what is pretty much my dream career goes to show that making as many connections you can even while you are still at school is extremely important. 13