Almac Group Trio are Masters of Work and Study
December 12, 2016
Craigavon, N.I., 12th December 2016 – Almac Group, the global contract development and manufacturing organization, is honored to support three of its employees through a new, tailored MSc Pharmaceutical Analysis degree undertaken at Queen’s University Belfast.
The Almac Sciences’ employees, Alison Quinn (Analytical Chemist), Robert Elliott (Data & Document Reviewer) and Laura McGee (Chemist) graduated together during a ceremony held at QUB on Friday 9th December.
In an effort to encourage young people and students to continue their study of science, in particular, chemistry, Almac contributed vital input into the MSc curriculum and helped shape its programs. Employees across Almac Sciences were invited to express interest in undertaking a two-year, part-time course and the three who put their names forward were funded by the organization and went on to pass the intensive program.
During their studies Laura, Robert and Alison continued to work four days a week at Almac’s global Headquarters in Craigavon, where they used their enhanced understanding of theoretical analytical techniques taken from the degree program to better develop and troubleshoot analytical methods for Almac’s clients. Almac benefited greatly from the increased knowledge and applied learning introduced to the business whilst enabling the Graduates to progress and develop their own career from within.
Considering the success of this years’ graduates and the positive impact on both an individual and business level, Almac will continue to fund and support employees through this Pharmaceutical Analysis Master’s Degree for the foreseeable future. Two more employees have already enrolled in this year’s course and this number is expected to grow in the future as more new graduates are recruited into the business.
Stephen Barr, President & MD, Almac Sciences commented: “This is a unique opportunity for our employees to be part of something new which will enable them to develop their career whilst bringing insight and new techniques to our business. We are also proud to support other initiatives which drive interest in science and encourage young people to become equipped with the skills and qualifications needed by world leading life sciences companies such as Almac.”
Almac founder Sir Allen McClay, who died in 2010, was a long-time supporter of Queen’s University. He was the founding Chair of the Queen’s University of Belfast Foundation and one of the largest benefactors to Queen’s in the University’s history. The McClay Research Center for Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy, which bears his name, was funded by The McClay Trust, a charitable body which he established.
About Almac Group
‘Partnering to Advance Human Health’
The Almac Group is an established contract development and manufacturing organization that provides an extensive range of integrated services to the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors globally. The services range from R&D, biomarker discovery development and commercialization, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply, IXRS® technology (IVRS/IWRS) through to commercial-scale manufacture.
The international company is a privately owned organization that has organically grown over 40 years and now employs in excess of 4,500 highly skilled personnel. Almac is headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland with operations in the UK, Ireland, across the US (Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California) and in Asia (Singapore and Tokyo).