PIPS Internship Organisation Name 

Chi Onwurah MP/Shadow Minister 

Location 

Newcastle upon Tyne Central

When deciding on your internship, what did you want to experience and what did you hope to gain from that experience? 

I wanted to know the inner workings of the UK Parliament, Science Policy making and science communication (between academics, public and politicians). I wanted to gain the experience of interacting between different people and to be able to make / assess viable scientific policies.

Did you get the experience you were expecting and did you achieve the personal development you had hoped to make? 

Yes, I learnt how to analyse and make scientific policies , which was my primary objective. Also, I learnt how to interact with different people and adapt scientific communication between them. Other than this I learnt a lot about the constituency, UK Parliament, current academia landscape, etc. As a bonus, I also learnt excellent time management, adaptability to stations, precise communication methodology, being data driven in complicated situations, team work and high level networking.

Did you discover anything about yourself or make any achievements that you were not expecting? 

I learnt that I am very good at consultation and really enjoyed representing my MP. I also enjoyed networking and interacting with people from different backgrounds. Other than this, I also realised that I enjoyed policy making in a neutral context rather than a political context.

Has the internship made you feel differently about potential career options and has it helped to put the skills from research into a broader context? 

Yes, I always wanted to apply my research experiences in real world scenarios and this internship has opened up a viable avenue for this. Also, I was imagining to take up a career in policy making and this internship has laid the founding stones for that pursuit. 

Additional comments - The whole experience was extremely exciting and this is something that I was not expecting. Overall it was an incredible experience and as an international student, this was a dream come true to work in the UK Parliament & with a British MP / Shadow Minister. This whole internship has also gave me new perspectives and I have learnt a lot that I can utilise in various scenarios.