Trainee (Implementation of the new pharma legislation for marketing authorisations and incentives)

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) offers a traineeship opportunity in the Regulatory Affairs Office focused on implementing the new pharmaceutical legislation for marketing authorisations and incentives.

About the traineeship programme

The Agency is looking for motivated, qualified recent graduates or students on an Erasmus+ or other programme or PhD students or Master's students (who posses a previous degree), who are interested in gaining experience and contribute to the Agency’s work for every patient in Europe.

The purpose of a traineeship at the Agency is to perform tasks that are predominantly in the interest of the trainee’s training and principally serve to increase the trainee’s knowledge and to gain relevant experience.

Placement description

We are looking for a trainee in the Regulatory Affairs Office.

Specific objectives and projects

The EU has launched the most profound and ambitious revision of the pharmaceutical legislation in the last 20 years. The Agency, together with the EU regulatory network, is preparing to implement the new framework, which aims to better regulate innovation and increase the availability and affordability of medicinal products.

Project tasks

• Contribute to the development of new processes and procedures supporting the implementation of the new pharmaceutical framework, in particular improvements to centralised procedures and the development of new regulatory incentives and measures to support innovation.
• Collect and analyse regulatory information to contribute to regulatory knowledge management and training activities related to the new pharmaceutical legislation.

Learning outcomes

Through this project, the trainee will:

• Develop a deep knowledge of the regulatory framework for medicinal products for human use and for medical devices.
• Become familiar with regulatory requirements, Agency processes, and regulatory practices related to medicinal products.
• Gain experience in working on multidisciplinary projects involving regulatory, legal, scientific and stakeholder aspects.
• Gain knowledge of the functioning of EMA within the EU regulatory network (European Commission, national authorities, committees, etc.).

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for consideration for this placement, you are required to:

• Enjoy full rights as a citizen of a European Union Member State or Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.
• Possess a university degree in pharmacy, medicine or life sciences (minimum of three years or more) that must have been obtained between 6 May 2025 and 6 May 2026 or be a university student on an Erasmus+ or a similar programme or a PhD student or a Master's student with a previous fully finished degree in the areas mentioned before.
• Have a thorough knowledge of English (at least level C1) and good knowledge of other official EU language (at least B2) of the Common European Framework for Languages.

Additional skills

In addition to the eligibility criteria, you will have:

• Analytical skills
• Communication skills

Behavioural Competencies

You will demonstrate the following behavioural competencies:

• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Working with others
• Adaptability
• Research and analytical skills
• Learning and development

Conditions of traineeship

The traineeship is offered for 10 months (1 October 2026 – 31 July 2027) and takes place at the Agency’s premises in Amsterdam with possibility for teleworking up to 40% of working time from The Netherlands and occasional teleworking from outside The Netherlands. Traineeships are offered for either full-time or part-time (80% or 50%) if combined with university studies.

The Agency pays a monthly stipend of €2,049.77 for a full-time traineeship (reduced accordingly for 80% or 50%) and a travel contribution upon joining the Agency.

Each trainee will have a mentor at the Agency who will guide the trainee through the programme.

Who we are?

Serving a population of 500 million citizens, we promote and protect public animal health in EU Member States, as well as the countries of the European Economic Area, by ensuring that all medicines available on the EU market are safe, effective and of high quality.

What do we offer?

• Meaningful work contributing to protecting the health of every individual and animal in Europe within multinational, multidisciplinary team
• Development opportunities (e.g. internal mobility, mentoring, peer coaching, career reflection programme, etc.)
• Work-life balance (flexible working arrangements, teleworking, generous annual leave plus official holidays)

recruitment@ema.europa.eu