SweDeliver's summer internships valuable for all parties

(Image removed) Summer intern Samar Omer and Mattias Springfelter, Orexo AB

In February 2021, SweDeliver launched a new initiative where motivated students are offered the opportunity to pursue a six-week research project at one of SweDeliver’s industrial partners. The interest was immediate among both students and companies, and when the premiere application period closed, the original five internship openings had increased to six.

“To Orexo, SweDeliver's offer to hire a summer intern was an obvious win-win. The student gets an opportunity to gain industrial experience, we get an extra resource in one of our development projects while we are both making new contacts,” says Mattias Springfelter, Head of Pharmaceutical Development at Orexo AB.

Among the many students who applied for an internship, Samar Omer, a master's student in drug discovery and development, was identified as a perfect match for Orexo. In addition to an already impressive curriculum vitae, her pronounced interest in drug development and dosage form optimisation seemed a guarantee for a gratifying collaboration.

“I enjoyed a very warm welcome at Orexo, and it was really rewarding to be involved in the development of new pharmaceutical products. To see how hard everyone strives for a common goal, and the great support everyone gave me in my tasks. I honestly cannot imagine a more pleasant working environment, and I hope that my experiences from Orexo will be of use in my future,” says Samar Omer.

At Orexo, an Uppsala-based company with a focus on innovative technologies for drug delivery, Mattias Springfelter fully agrees with Samar Omer's positive experiences regarding the summer internship.

“We really appreciate Samar's efforts. She is ambitious, curious and swiftly started her work. In spite of being with us for a limited six weeks, Samar made important contributions in producing and presenting research results of high class. For Orexo it definitely added value.”

At Ultimovacs, the pharmaceutical company that develops new immunotherapies for cancer, Shengtao Yu, a master's student in pharmaceutical modelling, conducted experiments with focus on antibodies and antigens and also participated in experiments with new cell culture techniques.

(Image removed) Shengtao Yu, summer intern at Ultimovacs

“Ultimovacs works at the forefront of a field that I am extremely interested in, and I am grateful that SweDeliver provided me this opportunity even though my background is not in biology. This internship has given me new contacts and competence that will definitely be of use when I now start to look for a PhD Student position in line with my future ambitions,” says Shengtao Yu.

The investment in summer internships is one of many of initiatives to strengthen student involvement in SweDeliver’s field of research, thus, expanding the platform for recruiting new PhD and advanced level students. It is also a step for the center to contribute to the increased mobility between academia and industry.

“Hiring an intern naturally requires some preparation and guidance, but for us at Orexo it was very well invested resources. Partly in the form of Samar's important contributions to our operations, and partly in strengthening our collaboration with Uppsala University and SweDeliver. So yes, we are definitely open to hiring more summer interns,” concludes Mattias Springfelter.

FACTS

• The SweDeliver industrial partner group represent a wide array of Scandinavian pharma and biotech companies.
• The companies provide SweDeliver with broad scientific and industrial competence and experience.

MORE INFORMATION

• SweDeliver's research and activities
• Meet SweDeliver's industrial partners

CONTACT

(Image removed) Christel Bergström, Center Director
Uppsala University, SweDeliver
Christel.Bergstrom@farmaci.uu.se

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Orexo AB, private, Mikael Wallerstedt