Pros
Variety of scientific areas to explore for junior members of staff.
Cons
Sale of company, since then: Awful management from Porto, few decisions were made in Cambridge. Annual leave needed to be booked in January for the entire year, every single day. No flexible working hours, 9:00 to 5:30 only, but overtime still expected. No home office allowed. No opportunity for promotion once at senior scientist level. In-house research was abandoned, only CR work and technology development left. Company turned from an effective team into a micro-managed, ineffective joke. People made redundant in the most unprofessional and dispassionate way. Toxic working atmosphere, have seen people reduced to tears. No benefits, advertised pension is the legal minimum requirement, no health care, no bonus, no gym, not even a fruit basket anymore. Poor salary, no pay rises. Expertise in protein sciences stripped from Cambridge out of greed/jealousy from Porto. Sale of company felt like a hostile takeover. Initially hoped it was just teething problems, but a year in it looked like a business model. People of all areas and all experience levels (operations and scientists) were leaving by the score. Of the team which was working at Iontas during the sale only a handful were left. I have little hope for Iontas, such a shame. Loved this place once.