Offering innovative treatments and rare solutions, GEN shares its experience and knowledge as one of Türkiye’s fastest growing pharmaceutical companies with university students. Aiming to provide support to young people who will shape the future of the sector with the project carried out under the name of uniGEN, GEN met with more than 1,000 students at Ankara University, Hacettepe University and Gazi University, which are among the important educational institutions of Türkiye.
GEN, which produces worldwide solutions for rare diseases and unmet health needs and is one of the important players of the industry with its strong global business partnerships, continues its investments and services that will change the future of the sector. GEN, which sees supporting the education of young people as a priority due to its innovative approach, has taken an important step with the uniGEN project developed for students.
“We want to contribute to the development of a qualified workforce”
UniGEN, which was launched in 2022, primarily aims to introduce GEN and the pharmaceutical industry to students who will graduate from universities with high-level academic infrastructure in Ankara and to help them in their career planning. “One of our biggest goals is to encourage candidates in this project to apply to the open positions announced within our company and to ensure that they are included in our evaluation processes, thus contributing to the increase of the qualified workforce needed in our sector,” said about the details of the project, Nadir Ulu, Deputy R& D and Clinical Operations General Manager at GEN.
the uniGEN project, which we started with the Pharmacy Faculties, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Departments of Hacettepe and Ankara Universities in its first year and included Gazi University Faculty of Pharmacy in 2023, an elective course named “Industrial Applications Course in Pharmacy” was added to the curriculum of the relevant departments. “Within the scope of the project, we reached more than 1,000 students, had one-on-one meetings with 250 students and 45 students were invited to the program,” providing information, Ulu stated that the courses cover one day a week, half a day of theory and half a day of practical applications at GEN’s production facility, and continued his words as follows:
“With this application, it is aimed for mixed department students to get to know the departments in our production facility in detail and to work together on joint projects. Students included in our uniGEN project were subjected to midterm and final exams regarding the training they received here, and evaluations were made according to their projects and their performance during the term. With this project, I think we have contributed to the increase in the qualified workforce needed by the sector in our country.”
“Students in Ankara need this project”
Pointing out that the number of pharmaceutical production facilities in Ankara is limited and therefore the opportunities for students studying at universities to do internships in the pharmaceutical industry are limited, Ulu emphasized that it is very valuable to increase the number of projects such as uniGEN in order to eliminate this disadvantage.
universities evaluate uniGEN?
uniGEN, which is considered an important project for university and industry cooperation, received positive reactions from both students and academics.
uniGEN, which lasts for a semester by bringing together many different disciplines working in the pharmaceutical industry under a common course, is a first in Türkiye. “I think that these and similar interactions should be taken as an example by other companies,” said Lecturer Prof. Dr. T. Emrah Bozkurt, Faculty of Pharmacy Faculty, Hacettepe University emphasized that thanks to the program, students had the opportunity to gain experience in many areas beyond the classical internship concept.
“uniGEN also contributed to work discipline and collaborative work culture”
Lecturer Barış Temelli, Department of Chemistry, Hacettepe University said, “We observed significant differences in the perspectives of our students within the scope of this project on business life and the pharmaceutical industry before and after the project. While most of our students’ positive thoughts about the pharmaceutical industry increased and their desire to continue their careers in this field strengthened, some of our students had the opportunity to discover that this sector did not match their own structure and expectations before graduating. In addition, we think that the project’s significant contribution to students is in the field of work discipline and collaborative work culture.”
“While this program has positively changed the approach of university students to the pharmaceutical industry, it has also increased the confidence in the recruitment of candidates in the pharmaceutical industry who have received preliminary training and have an idea about the way it works. “I believe that if this program carried out with uniGen can be transferred correctly to other companies in the pharmaceutical industry, an important step can be taken in terms of students studying in Ankara being employed in the pharmaceutical industry after graduation,” commented Lecturer Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Kılıçarslan, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ankara University added that the study is valuable for the pharmaceutical industry of our country.
“I see uniGEN as the first step of an education model that will be implemented in the future.”
Pointing out that thanks to the intensive and effective course content given within the scope of the project, students can already master the equipment and subjects they will encounter in the coming years, Lecturer Prof. Dr. Emine Yağmur, Chemical Engineering, Ankara University said that they received positive feedback from the students and continued as follows:
“The project makes significant contributions to both the education and future business lives of our students in every aspect. I see this example as the first step of an education model that will be implemented in universities in the future.”
