The School recognises the importance of relevant experience to help inform students aged 16 - 19 to make appropriate course choices.  The School offers work experience across a range of research areas outlined below which will provide students with the opportunity to experience/observe what it's like to work as part of team on projects related to the major areas of research going on across the School and Institute for Health Sciences.  This may range from laboratory based work (including cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, etc) to bioinformatics to qualitative/epidemiological projects and participants, dependant on the subject/discipline they wish to pursue, will be exposed to range of key skills including:

• scientific reasoning
• laboratory methods
• theoretical principles
• science communication
• teamworking.

How to Apply

While we will try to facilitate as many requests as possible, this will depend on the level of demand for placements in specific Centres. 

You are encouraged to access Centre websites to get an understanding of the type of research being undertaken before applying as you will be required to select one Centre in your application.  Details on opportunities in the Centre for Biomedical Sciences Education are also outlined below.

Applicants should complete the application form accessible through the link below. 

Work Experience Application Form

On receipt, the relevant Centre will contact you by email to confirm whether it can/cannot facilitate your request and to make arrangements for your placement.

Centres Offering Work Experience

Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine

The Institute has a limited number of placements available from June 2022 onwards. 

The Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine offers A/AS level students a work experience/shadowing opportunity to see a snapshot of what it is like to work in a vibrant biomedical research facility.  Successful placements will be limited to a maximum of three days, during which the student will have a chance, under close supervision, to shadow postdoctoral researcher fellows or PhD students involved in, eg molecular cell biology research projects and learn about various basic and specialised laboratory techniques.   They will also be able to assist technical teams in basic laboratory housekeeping tasks, such as simple equipment maintenance/checks, infrastructure organisation, inventory updates & compliance documentation, etc. In the video below students share their experience of working in the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine.

The Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research

The Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research is no longer accepting applications for 2025. Our work shadowing programme will reopen in January 2026.

The Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research offers pupils aged 16-19 the opportunity to take a 2 – 2.5-day work shadowing placement in our laboratories between January and June each year. This exciting, informative experience promises to give insights into ground-breaking scientific research and a chance to see state-of-the-art labs in action in the fight against cancer.

The placements will give pupils the opportunity to be immersed in a cancer focused research environment. You will learn about the molecular basis of cancer and the techniques used to investigate cancer cell biology. During your placement you will have the opportunity to meet undergraduates, MSc students, PhD students, research assistants, post-doctoral research fellows and principal investigators (academics). Join us to discover what it means to venture into a cutting-edge career in cancer research. For more details or to express your interest please contact workexperiencePGJCCR@qub.ac.uk.

Centre for Public Health

The Centre for Public Health offers A/AS students up to 3 consecutive days’  work experience in our molecular epidemiology and nutrition research laboratories. We also offer office based work experience in the Centre for Public Health’s general office  and with our many research programmes including:

• The Northern Ireland Cancer Registry
• The Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing
• The Administrative Data Research Centre Northern Ireland
• GENIUS School Food Network
• The SPACE Study
• The Groundswell Consortium
• ENGINE
• The Belfast Ophthalmic Reading Centre

Centre for Biomedical Sciences Education

The Centre's work experience programme gives AS/A level students the opportunity to engage in a one to three day period of observation which will give an insight into the modules offered within our Biomedical Science/Human Biology Degree Programmes.  The benefits to participants include:

• Experience mainly in the areas of Histology (processing, sectioning, staining and photographing tissue samples) and Tissue Culture (the culture of cells, a variety of techniques subsequently used on the cells depending on research requirements and viewing/using a Confocal microscope);
• Seeing first-hand how theory is turned into practice and how learning is applied in a working environment.
• Observation of the skills required in the work place/development of a work ethic and exposure to work place culture;
• Work with experts in the field.

Medicine and Dentistry

The School cannot facilitate work experience in clinical medicine or dentistry and candidates interested in this type of work experience are advised to contact the relevant Health and Social Care organisation.

Useful Links:

• Belfast Health and Social Care Trust:
• Northern Health and Social Care Trust:
• South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
• Western Health and Social Care Trust