Selection procedure reference: EMA/TR/11406
Deadline for applications: 06 May 2026 23:59 CET
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is a decentralised agency of the European Union (EU), located in Amsterdam. It began operating in 1995. It is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines in the EU.
This traineeship opportunity is now open for applications until 06 May 2026 23:59 CET, with an intake on 1 October 2026.
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 Case Management & Data Integration Office.
Specific objectives and projects
Context
Master Data Management (MDM) forms key pillars of the European Medicines Agency's data ecosystem. These systems collect, validate, and standardise data coming from diverse internal and external sources, ensuring that high-quality product information is available for regulatory, scientific, and operational activities across the Agency and its stakeholders.
The increasing complexity of data flows – ranging from structured databases to large volumes of non-structured information – creates a growing need for better transparency, interoperability, and automated processing. As part of this environment, trainees support initiatives aimed at improving data quality, enhancing integration mechanisms, and exploring innovative technologies to transform data into actionable insights.
Project Description
During the traineeship, you will contribute to end-to-end activities across workstreams focused on analysing existing data integrations, improving data mappings and transformations, and developing proof-of-concept (PoC) solutions leveraging AI-driven techniques.
The projects typically involve two complementary dimensions:
A. Understanding and Optimising Existing Data Integrations
You will help reverse-engineer and document current system interfaces that exchange medicinal product information. This includes analysing integration architectures, understanding data exchange patterns, validating implementations against specifications, and identifying opportunities to increase transparency, robustness, and maintainability.
B. Innovation on Non-Structured to Structured Data Transformation (AI-Driven PoC)
You will work on proof-of-concepts that explore the use of AI to convert non-structured data – such as free-text content – into structured formats suitable for downstream processing and alignment with regulatory data standards.
Tasks and Responsibilities
As a trainee, you will participate in a variety of analytical, technical, and documentation activities, such as:
Business & Data Analysis
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Gather and document business requirements from various stakeholders
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Analyse current business processes and data flows to understand pain points and improvement opportunities
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Perform exploratory data analysis on structured and non-structured datasets to assess formats, patterns, and quality
Technical Investigation & Solution Design
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Study existing integration architectures, message formats, validation rules, and system dependencies
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Reverse-engineer data mappings and transformations between source and target systems
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Validate implementations against technical specifications and identify gaps or inconsistencies
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Experiment with AI-based techniques to derive structured information from non-structured content
Implementation & PoC Development
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Contribute to the design and development of PoC workflows that demonstrate improved mappings, feedback loops, or AI-based processing pipelines
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Implement components that ingest, analyse, transform, or output product data for downstream use
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Work with development teams to ensure that findings can be translated into scalable future solutions
Documentation & Stakeholder Engagement
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Produce clear technical and functional documentation, including diagrams, data mapping specifications, and process descriptions
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Present findings, issues, and recommendations to business and technical stakeholders
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Contribute to reports summarising PoC results, performance indicators, risks, and proposed next steps
Learning outcomes
The trainee will have the opportunity to contribute to one of the Agency’s most important systems while working in a highly dynamic, multicultural, and interdisciplinary environment. Through hands on involvement in real projects, the trainee will gain both technical and professional skills that are highly valuable in international public sector IT environments.
During the project, the trainee can be involved in
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Learning about the management of IT projects in public and international organisations, including governance structures, cross country collaboration, and regulatory constraints.
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Understanding and working with the MDM solution used by the Agency, including data models, system architecture, data governance concepts, and integration with downstream systems.
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Applying software engineering, development, and coding principles in the context of enterprise level systems, including version control, testing practices, and development standards.
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Gaining practical exposure to agile delivery using the SAFe framework, participating in ceremonies such as PI planning, sprint reviews, retrospectives, and daily stand ups.
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Creating architectural documentation, such as data flow diagrams, system interaction views, component descriptions, and integration specifications to support implementation and future maintenance.
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Developing problem solving and critical thinking skills, particularly in complex data and regulatory environments.
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Understanding data quality, data lifecycle management, and the role of master data in regulatory processes, gaining insight into how high quality data supports scientific and operational decision making.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for consideration for this placement, you are required to:
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enjoy full rights as a citizen of a European Union Member State or Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway;
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possess a university degree in computer sciences, information technology, software engineering, management information system, or computer-oriented engineering (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.
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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
For criteria 1 and 2, you will be required to provide proof in the application form and at the interview stage. Failing to present these documents may result in the disqualification from the procedure.
Additional skills
Technical competencies:
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Familiarity with data modelling is preferred;
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Familiarity with Cloud AI tools (e.g., Azure AI stack) is preferred;
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Familiarity with programming languages (e.g., Java, SQL) is a must.
General competencies:
Behavioural Competencies
You will demonstrate the following behavioural competencies:
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.
The conditions of employment are stated in the Executive Decision on rules governing the traineeship programme at the EMA available here .
Expected selection timelines
Deadline for applications
06 May 2026 23:59 CET
Assessments (remote)
From mid-June 2026 to mid-July 2026
Decision and offers
By end of July 2026
Placement start
1 October 2026
Domenico Scarlattilaan 6 - 1083 HS Amsterdam - The Netherlands
Telephone +31 (0)88 781 6000 - Email recruitment@ema.europa.eu
© European Medicines Agency, 2024. Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.