5 December 2024

Ryan Harrison, a PhD student between the labs of Timothy Saunders and James Briscoe as part of the MRC DTP in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, recounts his recent internship experience with The Company of Biologists.

“During the autumn of 2024, I undertook an internship at The Company of Biologists. I decided to do an internship at the Company as I was interested in learning more about the scientific publishing industry and I wanted to gain additional experience in science writing.

My main role during this internship was to work with the community site managers –  Joyce, Reinier and Helen – on the Node, preLights and FocalPlane. In this role, I helped edit posts being uploaded to the sites. I also commissioned posts for a new FocalPlane blog series and for LGBTQIA+ visibility in developmental and stem cell biology for the Node.

Over the course of my three-month internship, I was also able to develop my writing skills through a variety of projects. This included writing Research Highlights for Development, contributing to preLights, participating in writing sprints (collaborative preLights posts) and working on a piece for Journal of Cell Science for the upcoming 100^th anniversary of The Company of Biologists.

Everyone at The Company of Biologists was really welcoming, and getting to experience a work environment outside the lab was a nice change! My internship has given me a better understanding of the publishing industry, greater insights into the current ‘hot topics’ of scientific publishing – such as Open Access and the preprint ecosystem – and has encouraged me to pursue a career in scientific publishing following my PhD.”

We thank Ryan for his hard work and enthusiastic spirit while interning at the Company.