Trainee (Herbal Queries)

Job Description

Selection procedure reference: EMA/TR/8652

Deadline for applications: 19 June 2022 23:59 CET

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is a decentralised agency of the European Union (EU), located in Amsterdam. It began operating in 1995. It is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines in the EU.

The 2022 Traineeship programme is now open for applications until 19 June 2022 23:59 CET, with an intake on 1 October 2022.

About the traineeship programme

The Agency is looking for motivated, qualified recent graduates or students on an Erasmus+ or other programme or PhD students, who are interested in gaining experience and contribute to the Agency’s work for every patient in Europe. The purpose of a traineeship at the Agency is to perform tasks that are predominantly in the interest of the trainee’s training and principally serve to increase the trainee’s knowledge and to gain relevant experience.

Placement description

We are looking for a trainee to support the Human Medicines Division, and its Meeting Secretariat Office.

Specific objectives and projects

During your traineeship, you will:

1) Implement a revised system for the management of external queries on herbal substances/medicines/legislation/monographs/borderline products (= ‘herbal queries’) with a view to reducing the number of incoming queries (AskEMA)

• Work with Medical and Health Information Office (S-PH-MHI) to gather data on herbal queries
• Establish a triage to identify EU monographs-related queries to be added to the agenda of HMPC meetings
• Identify the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) and fields of interest
• Prepare standard responses to FAQ, based on past responses
• Draft new Q&A for publication on EMA website to be referred to in future responses to herbal queries
• Work with Online and Corporate Design Office (S-CO-OLD) to promote the publication of the new Q&A

2) Extend existing glossary of terms on herbal medicines for publication on EMA website

• Compile terms already found in HMPC published documents
• Liaise with EDQM to ascertain partial use of information in Ph. Eur. monographs
• Develop an attractive presentation of the glossary

3) Integrate content of Secretariat Office user manuals in HMPC Secretariat’s procedural documents

Learning outcomes

We will help you to:

• Gain knowledge of the legislative framework applicable to herbal medicines, food supplements, cosmetics and other products containing herbal substances
• Get experience in compiling, analysing, communicating and publishing data
• Get experience with inter-Office collaboration and interaction with external partners
• Gain knowledge of the Agency’s processes and procedures in the area of scientific meetings’ organisation

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for consideration for this placement, you are required to:

1. enjoy full rights as a citizen of a European Union Member State or Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway;
2. possess a university degree in pharmacy, biochemistry or biology (minimum of three years or more) that must have been obtained within the last 12 months (graduated between 01 May 2021 and 19 June 2022) or be a university student on an Erasmus + or a similar programme or a PhD student.
3. a thorough knowledge of English (at least level C1) and good knowledge of other official EU language (at least B2) of the Common European Framework for Languages

For criteria 1 and 2, you will be required to provide proof in the application form and at the interview stage. Failing to present these documents may result in the disqualification from the procedure.

Additional skills

In addition to the eligibility criteria, you will have:

• First experiences in industry or NCA
• Previous experiences in data analysis
• First experience with herbal medicine and/or food supplements

Behavioural Competencies

You will demonstrate the following behavioural competencies:

• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Working with others
• Adaptability
• Research and analytical skills
• Learning and development