Press Releases
Graduates making a real difference to regional biopharma industry
Release Date : 10 March 2010
Highly-skilled graduate interns are proving to be a huge success with biopharmaceutical companies in the South East, as they reach the halfway point of an important scheme which began last September.
Managed by the Universities of Reading and Surrey the £1.3 million project, jointly funded by both institutions, the Higher Education Funding Council for England's Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF) and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), aims to address the immediate and long-term skills and knowledge needs of the biopharmaceutical industry in the region.
The 11-month internships are intended to develop and retain skilled staff within the UK biopharma industry. They are supporting companies of all sizes in moving forward with projects in a time of downsizing, recruitment freezes and challenging economic conditions. Interns are gaining invaluable industrial experience, skills and knowledge in areas of key interest to the industry itself.
Reading's expertise and leading Knowledge Transfer Centre means the University enjoys a hugely successful relationship with industry, which has proved to be instrumental in the success of the scheme.
Amanda Harding , 28, graduated from the University of Aberdeen and is one of 18 interns on the scheme working at Green Biologics in Abingdon.
Amanda said: "Working for a small company has given me a great opportunity to interact with and learn from all members of the team, from those in the lab to the company executives. My communication skills are continually improving as a result of attending and presenting my data at regular project meetings and at informal company meetings. One of the best things about this internship is the experience of being part of the team and contributing to the company's commercial success."
Preben Krabben, Green Biologics supervisor, said: "One of the biggest changes moving from an academic position to an industrial position is communications, time, and project management. The University of Reading and Surrey have provided a very good and eye opening work-shop on time management and communication."
"Amanda's work has enabled us to easily discriminate a large number of naturally occurring butanol producers, and she has developed transformation protocols for further augmenting their natural capacity of butanol production."
Adewale Raji, 27, graduated from Imperial College London and is one of three interns working at Pfizer in Kent.
He said: "I have been able to work with and learn from influential and seasoned experts in the pharmaceutical research industry through real life drug-discovery projects. If it wasn't for the ECIF scheme, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to apply my mathematical skills in a pharmaceutical research company so early on in my career."
David Fox, Director of External Chemistry Partnerships at Pfizer commented: "All of our interns have already made important contributions to our drug-discovery projects and have helped us to establish new scientific links with the Universities of Reading and Surrey. We have been particularly impressed by the quality of the interns and the level of support they have received from the universities."
In April, 12 new interns will begin working in various regional biopharma industries, this time on short term projects of 5 months.
ECIF Project Manager Sofie Verzylbergen commented: "We are very pleased to be able to offer these additional internships as they will allow us to compare the impact of shorter term and longer term placements in industry. This research will be incorporated in the final evaluation for the Reading-Surrey ECIF project and will help shape future collaborative projects."
In the long term, the project will allow the universities and their industrial partners to learn more about how graduates can be helped to manage the transition from university to work in biopharma. The project will also help to gain a better understanding of industry skills gaps and make recommendations on how universities and industry might work together to help address these.
Ends
For all University of Reading media enquiries please contact James Barr, Press Officer tel 0118 378 7115/07788 714376 or email j.w.barr@reading.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
The project is a joint project with the University of Surrey and was awarded £689,185 under the Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF). ECIF was set up by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to help universities respond rapidly to meet the immediate needs of the economy during the current recession. The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) offered match funding of £344,593 and the universities will each contribute £172, 296, bringing the value of the 18-month project to £1,378,371.
It offers clear, immediate benefits to participating business, universities and to current and prospective employees. The project is the first step in setting up a Centre for Knowledge and Skills Exchange for the Biopharma Industry in the South East, enabling ongoing dialogue and collaboration. Both universities look forward to a highly successful partnership that will bring huge benefits to the biopharma industry now, and in the future.