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.  More