The majority of UK biomedical science graduates enter non-scientific careers, with fewer than 30% securing employment within the scientific sector in 2025. This highlights a significant gap between the skills and expertise developed through biomedical science degrees and the opportunities available to graduates seeking to pursue careers in science. The LMS has recognised this challenge, alongside the barriers faced by early-career science graduates, particularly those without postgraduate qualifications. In response, it has established the Science Technology Graduate Programme (STGP), a two-year scheme designed to provide new science graduates with the practical experience, professional development and industry exposure needed to establish a career within the scientific sector.  

At the LMS, we place our graduates within one of our world-leading facilities, where they work as technicians and develop specialist laboratory skills in both wet and dry laboratory environments.   Alongside this, they are encouraged to take part in additional CV-building opportunities, such as attending conferences and entering competitions. 

This September the LMS will be saying goodbye to our first cohort from the programme; Minna Xu and Jessica Cobblah. 

Minna has spent the last two years working within our Genomics facility. She has been running sequencing and spatial genomics experiments to support the researchers at the LMS. 

Discussing her time at the LMS, Minna said: “This programme gives you a lot of exposure to a wide variety of things and is great for increasing technical skills – you can do a bit of everything”. 

On top of her work in the lab, Minna also competed in the Young Entrepreneur Scheme (YES) competition, which tasks young researchers with pitching their own business idea. Minna was part of a team called PhenoPhase, who pitched a technology for monitoring key female hormones and metabolites, providing insights to help women naturally support hormone balance. The team won awards for Best Healthcare Business and Best Financial Planning.  Minna praised the support offered from across the LMS, with help from clinicians to design their proposed clinical trials and David Kennard, Entrepreneur in Residence, offering help on the business side. 

Now at the end of her time at the LMS, Minna has secured an exciting new role as a research assistant at UCL.  

Jessica worked in our Whole Animal Physiology and Imaging facility. During her time at the LMS she has gained her Home Office Personal Licence (PIL) for working with animals and is now fully trained to work with murine models. 

Jessica explains: “The programme provides a varied experience. One day you could be doing Western blots, then I’m on the microscopes for a week. The programme has given me more insight into what research is like. There is a lot of troubleshooting, you can’t expect things to go right first time”. 

Reflecting on her experience, Jessica said: “Leaving my undergraduate degree, I was worried I would struggle to find a job, but with the skills I have gained I feel much more confident. I am leaving on a high. I feel like I have achieved something while being on this programme, that’s massive. I never would have seen this for myself”. 

Jessica is now actively looking for work and hopes to find a role as a research scientist.  

We wish them luck in their careers going forward!