Hi, I’m Maddie, one of the NIHR interns at CLiMB this year. Normally, you’ll find me in Bristol, where I am a 4th year medical student, but this July I’ve been working on various weight management projects at Loughborough University.

It’s been great to see how the practice guidelines or NHS programmes are developed through years of research. Interning at CLiMB has allowed me such a fantastic insight into how different types of research is conducted, from qualitative studies to systematic reviews of systematic reviews. 

I’ve also been able to see what working as a researcher looks like day to day and learned more about the path to working in health research, which is something I’d like to pursue in the future.

For now, I’ll be bringing the critical thinking and skills I have learned to my clinical years of medical school and appreciating evidence-based practice from the patient-facing end even more.

Interning at CLiMB has been a brilliantly enriching experience, thank you for having me!

Hi, I’m Zofia, and I’m about to begin my third year studying Psychology at the University of Derby. This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to complete an NIHR-funded internship with CLiMB.

Having previously completed a placement year as a Research and Development Assistant within an NHS Trust, I wanted to be involved in the earlier stages of research development, shaping and evaluating health interventions. Joining the CLiMB team felt like the perfect step to build on my experience and explore the world of applied health research.

I was welcomed by a team of dedicated researchers who are committed to making a difference through their work and were invested in helping me get the most out of my time.

I gained insights into day-to-day research activities, and the work goes into developing health interventions. It made me appreciate the work of researchers even more and developed my critical skills.

My internship has been incredibly rewarding; I have made new connections and having all of this happen at the beautiful Loughborough University campus was a real boost.

I now have a clearer sense of how I would like to approach my final year project and a strengthened motivation to keep developing as a researcher. More than anything, this experience has deepened my passion for health psychology and made me want to keep research as a part of my role, whatever it will be. I hope to continue building on what I’ve learned, seek out further research opportunities, and one day be able to contribute to work that can truly make a difference in people’s lives.

Hi, I’m Becky, a second year Sport and Exercise Science student from the University of Nottingham. I applied for this internship to widen my knowledge of the next steps after university and wanted exposure to a different career route that isn’t often promoted as a route after education.

Over the duration of my course, I read many studies and journals, even using them to make my own reports, but have never considered to process behind collecting this data. I thought research meant a boring desk job only reading endless studies and writing long papers, but I was definitely wrong.

I have learnt the extensive, hands-on process of gaining data from applying to ethics, creating the survey/study, recruitment and data collection. Each of these steps may sound familiar however they each have their own lengthy process that isn’t often spoken about.

This internship has given me valuable insight into a new career path, one of which I will keep in mind for the future.

I hope to hold onto this process and always take extra care when reading papers for my own education, remembering the extensive work behind a piece I will read in just 5 minutes.

I have left this internship with a new appreciation for research and am excited to take what I have learnt with me into my final year of uni.