Training placements – Excellence in Analytical Chemistry

**Santosh Raman Acharya** “I chose TBD because it had a lot of analytical techniques that I could experience at the same time. The most inspiring part was all the TBD employees welcomed me as a member of the team and truly expected me to make a contribution from the first day. Everyone I met, from company manager to colleagues working together, helped me grow, both as an employee and a person. I’ve really enjoyed the learning atmosphere at TBD and the wonderful people I’ve worked alongside.“

The first year of studies ends with practical placement (internship training), which is a mandatory component of the EACH programme. Practical placement enables students to get hands-on experience while working in industry or analytical laboratory environment. Students acquire understanding of the analytical chemistry issues in a professional environment at industry, research institution or a professional laboratory as well as the knowledge and skills for performing specific tasks.

I am from a company or lab. I would be interested to have a student working with me. What are the requirements/conditions for the training placements?

Thank you for your interest! Please see the Key information about the internship (practical placement) within the EACH programme.

I am an EACH student. How can I choose my internship place?

Industries and laboratories approved by the EACH programme for training placements are listed below (contacts can be obtained from the programme director):

Estonia: Estonian Environmental Research Centre Tartu laboratory**, UT Clinicum*, TBD Pharmatech**, Estonian Veterinary and food laboratory*, Tallinna Vesi AS, Pharmasynth*, Tõravere Observatory**, AS A Le Coq*, Skeleton Technologies, Krimelte AS, Estonian National Archive**, Quantum AS, Kunda Nordic Cement.

Finland:Renotech OY**, Suomen Ympäristöpalvelu OY, SSAB Europe OY, Neste Oil, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)*.

Sweden: SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden. GE Healthcare, Recipharm, Lablytica.

Denmark: Danish Metrology Institute*.

France: Solvay*, Servier*, Sanofi Pasteur*, Axelera, CETIAT*, Perkin Elmer, ISA, IFPEN*, Arkema, Axel’One*, Antelia, IFREMER*.

Latvia: BIOR**, Institute of Organic Synthesis, Olainfarm, Dzintars.

Lithuania: Lithuanian Measurement Institute*.

Malta: Aquabiotech group**.

Spain: Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe**.

* One internship has up to now been performed in this company/lab;
** Two or more internships have been performed in this company/lab.

The academics of the four universities are constantly looking for new opportunities for training placements, so the lists above are constantly changing. The list with contact details and more information on types of work, number of places offered in a particular year, etc is available via the Study Information system (Password-protected).

The duration of training is usually 4-8 weeks. The time foreseen for training is summer between the first and second study year; the best period is from mid-June until mid-August (depending on circumstances other timing arrangements are possible). For facilitating fixing the terms of the internship, here is a possible template of the internship agreement (If the previous file does not open on clicking on the link, try the following: right-click on the link and choose “Open link in new window” and activate the address by clicking on it or copy and paste the link to another window, then press ENTER).

As said above, the students are recommended to choose a company, laboratory given in the EACH programme internship list, as these institutions are approved by the Academic Board. However, it is also possible to have training at other companies, if agreement can be reached between the company, the academic coordinator, and the student. The administrative coordinator guides students concerning the documentation necessary for the placement.

We ask the company/lab providing the internship possibility to fill in a short survey after the internship, which gives us information on how to best organise internships in the future.