Masterprogram i kemi med inriktning miljöforensik, 120 hp

De är överens om att de har hittat rätt i sina utbildningsval och det absolut bästa med det program de läser nu är bredden. Möjligheten att lära sig alla delar kring olika ämnen som kan påverka miljön och lagstiftningen kring miljöområdet.
En annan bra sak är de goda relationer som studenterna får med lärarna.
"Vi är en ganska liten grupp studenter och vi har jättebra kontakt med alla lärare" säger Camilla. "Vi har möjlighet att påverka vår utbildning och ge feedback, samtidigt som vi får vara med i framkant i utvecklingen av ämnet."

Efter sin kandidatexamen började Camilla arbeta som analytisk kemist på Cambrex i Karlskoga, men miljökemin lockade tillbaka henne till universitetet och hon påbörjade sina masterstudier 2016. "Jag jämförde med alla andra universitet, men det var i Örebro som jag hittade miljökemin" säger Camilla. Amelie blev kvar på universitetet efter sin kandidatexamen. Hon fick anställning på forskningscentrumet MTM. "I mitt arbete fick jag analysera det mesta" säger Amelie. "Allt från trettio år gammalt sälfett till lever från sköldpaddor och så fick jag såklart vara med och undervisa en del."

Camilla och Amelie håller fortfarande ihop och sammanhållningen är bra i hela studiegruppen. "Vi gör en hel del tillsammans, som att fika gå på bio eller så går vi till Kårhuset" säger tjejerna. "Att bara gå upp på stan och fika eller ta en lunch runt slottet är mysigt". "Örebro stad är en stor stad i ett mindre format" säger Camilla.

Att programmet erbjuder en stor bredd gör att vi kan göra vad vi vill, säger Camilla och Amelie håller med. "Vi kan arbeta med luftburna miljögifter eller den lagstiftning som ska reglera utsläppen". Båda två kan tänka sig att arbeta på företag, organisationer eller myndigheter men även att komma tillbaka för att doktorera inom ämnet. "Men då gör vi det väl tillsammans" avslutar Amelie med ett leende.

Text och bild: Micael Jonsborg

Tell us about your background?
I've got a Master of Science in Biotechnology from Umea University. During my degree project I focused on developing a 2DLC/MS (Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatograph / Mass Spectrometry method) to measure the level of proteins in trees. My professor was in the process of investing in the latest Mass Spectrometry system from Waters and hence I got in contact with the local Swedish Waters office and was offered a position as a Nordic Field Service Engineer which I accepted January 2003. During my 13 years at Waters I've had many different positions including customer education, product specialist, sales specialist (or account manager as it is called). For the last 6 years I've been in Sales Management reponsible for a team of 4 Account Managers. My main focus is to ensure we as local Waters organisation reach our financial goals. I'm also part of the Nordic Management team responsible for all Waters activities in the Nordic Countries.

Why is your company interested in the programme?
As a vendor for high-end analytical instrumentation across many different markets, spanning from diagnostic measurements in the hospitals to the Norwegian Oil industry as well as the major pharmaceutical companies, Waters has a unique insight into the overall laboratory based market. We believe that programmes like this offers a very good opportunity for us to share some of our experiences and provide input into the creation of this program. We believe that our input, combined with other internal and external input, will ensure a high quality of the program and ultimately the quality of the students leaving the program. As a vendor for analytical instrumentation we're also a fairly large employer with 45 employees in Sweden. On a global level Waters employs more than 6000 persons so from that aspect we're always interested in highly qualified individuals, students as well as people with a previous working experience. On a similar note we also would like to ensure that our future customers have a good understanding of the tasks involved working in a lab or in similar professions. The systems and solutions we sell are rather complex and there is a lot of training and support required to operate and maintain analytical instrumentations. At the end of the day - a qualified customer base will make our daily job easier

How is Waters involved in the programme?
As mentioned above our main contribution is to share our expertise, but more specifically we're also providing inputs on the business side of things. If there is one thing I've picked up during my career that stands out more than I expected as a student it would be the value of money. All descisions in any organisation, private or public, is to one extent driven by business needs. All investments require proper business cases, budgets needs to be balanced, personal benefits needs to be negotiated etc. I believe that any student leaving the University should have at least some level of understanding on the financial dymanics going on in the "real world" as it will significantly enhance the opportunities for job opportunities and an exiting career.

In addition to this we are involved in specific parts of the program taking advantage of our expertise in the field of chromatography and mass spectrometry which is the heart of most analytical labs.

Expectations of students, programme?
It is difficult to have any specific expectations on the students more than the usual, hard work pays off in the end! From the program itself I would expect to see highly qualified students leaving the program ready for the next step, either staying within the academia or leaving for private or public employers. Looking at the program strictly from our perspective I would hope and expect that students leaving Örebro University develop a habit to challenge the status quo. The development in the analytical instrumentation is very fast and what was state of the art yesterday could be yesterdays news tomorrow.