Agnès

Senior laboratory technician

What do you do ?

I am a chemistry laboratory technician and am responsible for co-ordinating the technicalactivities of the analytical separation section.
I am fortunate to work in many leading-edge fi elds (HPLC, CG, NMR, mass spectrometry, etc.). These techniques are many and varied, and cover all the tests present in the European Pharmacopoeia monographs. These analyses are carried out under a very rigorous quality assurance policy complying with the standards in force in the pharmaceutical sector.

What is your background?

My previous professional experience in the pharmaceutical industry led me to acquiresound knowledge in analytical chemistry and quality assurance; I contributed to thedevelopment of analytical methods for testing new medicines in a research anddevelopment laboratory.

What do you think about living in Strasbourg?

Alsace is a lovely place to live, with very strong regional traditions and European commitment. Strasbourg is a town on a human scale with real advantages to city life.

What do you love about your job?

The interest of the job, besides being scientific, also lies in working alongside colleagues of different nationalities; in fact this makes it possible to participate in preparing European monographs with a very open mind and with impartial, objective judgment. Apart from the positive features directly associated with the role, working in a European culture such asthat off ered by the Council of Europe provides great cultural interest and enrichment.

In conclusion, this job is stimulating as it engages you in a genuine mission to improve human health at European level, and also beyond with worldwide harmonisation.

Sotirios

Scientific programme officer

Tell us a little about your background

I have a degree and a PhD in pharmacy from the University of Athens. I have worked in the university and the pharmaceutical industry; I was also an inspector in the Greek National Organization for Medicines. 

What is your current role?

My job is to inspect manufacturers of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients. What I check is the compliance of the manufacturers to the European guidelines. I love that I'm contributing to the protection of Public Health in Europe, by inspecting the quality of substances used for pharmaceutical products all Europeans are consuming.

What do you love about your job?

One of the things I love the most about working at the Council of Europe is the opportunity I'm given to co-operate and interact with fellow colleagues from all over Europe, and share each other's ethnic and cultural background. There's no better city in which to do that than multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual Strasbourg, located in the heart of Europe, and being the crossroads of numerous cultures.

To anyone desiring to work in a real European environment and contribute to the well-being of our continent and its people, I would recommend joining the Council of Europe.