Combining a demanding education with a part-time internship may be challenging, but our Analyst Intern Robert Ljungberg has since October last year aced the task. Always full of entrepreneurial spirit, Robert never fails to inspire the rest of us – be it with his own podcast “Icecubator”, strides forward in the development of the startup he co-founded as part of his master’s or insights from his latest research for MSC. For this team profile, we asked him to introduce himself and how he went from “just” a student to signing a full-time employment agreement with MSC.
My name is Robert Ljungberg, and since October last year I’ve been gaining life science analyst experience as an intern at MSC while simultaneously completing my M.Sc. studies in Entrepreneurship and Business Design at Chalmers University of Technology. I came into contact with MSC through one of my classmates, who worked at the company as a Communication Intern during the previous summer. After an initial interview I was offered a part-time internship, and didn’t have to think twice about the opportunity! Over the past year, I had been craving some real-world experience alongside my studies and after learning a bit about orphan drug designation during my studies, I had also been extremely curious about the life science industry.
Focusing on my personal experience, working as an intern in parallel to an already demanding education has been challenging, but above all else rewarding. I once joked with my colleagues about that being at the office is like a vacation. I didn’t mean vacation in the sense of working at MSC not taking a lot of effort, but rather that it’s extremely refreshing and motivating with a change of setting. In addition to this, I feel that applying many of the skills I’ve built during my studies on real projects at MSC has been exhilarating. During the first year of my master’s program, we learned a lot about target market identification and competitive intelligence – which is exactly the kind of thing I’ve been working with at MSC. Obtaining practical skills on gathering and presenting data for real companies and knowing that it will be used to make business decisions that in turn will have a strong impact on company growth has really amplified my learning process. This is an opportunity that I think students rarely get, even students who have very case-focused educations. It has also been exciting to get an insight into the technology of innovative life science companies, many of which are still in very early stages. Through this position I have been able to learn about, and work with, major upcoming life science trends such as revolutionary gene therapies and emerging medicinal cannabis products. It’s also been a huge privilege to get to know the people behind the company, my colleagues. They have been friendly, pedagogical, and always eager to provide and support me with challenges that have helped me develop in ways I never would have without them.
“Through this position I have been able to learn about and work with major upcoming life science trends such as revolutionary gene therapies and emerging medicinal cannabis products.”
While my internship will come to an end in August, my time at MSC continues. In March, I was offered the fantastic opportunity to start full-time as a Business Analyst as MSC. My experience as an intern definitely had a large impact on this, since it enabled me to explore and understand first-hand what it is like to work within MSC and the life science industry. I feel extremely confident, grateful and excited about this being the starting point in of long journey of personal development and contribution to an extraordinary field!
Best regards,
Robert
