Advanced Therapies Skills Training Network
SULSA, as part of a national consortia including Roslin CT, Edinburgh Napier University, Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre and Ayrshire College, represent 1 of the 3 National Advanced Therapies Skills Training Network (ATSTN) Centres in the UK.
Background
The Advanced Therapies field is experiencing rapid growth at present particularly in areas of cell, gene, viral vector, antibody and vaccine therapy. Based on the findings from the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult’s (CGT Catapult) Skills Demand Survey 2019, 83% of ATMP and vaccine manufacturing companies raised concerns that the recruitment and retention of skilled talent would be an important issue which slows down or delays their forecasted manufacturing expansions. This has been aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As such, a coherent national training offering for core manufacturing skills was requested by industry, in order to drive the required uptake of skilled talent at all levels and allow the UK sector to reach its full potential. The national ATSTN program was launched by the Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult and is funded by InnovateUK and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The Scottish National Training Centre was launched in spring 2021.
ATSTN also includes an Online Training Platform to provide remote learning for those currently working in the vaccine manufacturing and advanced therapy industry, and a Career Converter, which maps an individual’s transferrable skills from adjacent sectors into recommended roles for this industry.
Course Information
Coordinating industry skills demand and training providers, we deliver high impact physical and digital training courses in advanced therapies and vaccine manufacturing.
Aimed at the current advanced therapies and vaccine manufacturing industry workforce, academics, and those enrolled in Further and Higher Education, our courses provide basic practical training in sterile manufacturing, Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) within an industrial setting, and bioprocessing.
In 2021 we facilitated the following training courses:
- Practical and Sterile Manufacturing Skills (5 days) delivered by Roslin CT
- Introduction to downstream processing (2 days) delivered by IBioIC
- Fundamental advanced therapies laboratory skills in biosafety testing (5 days) delivered by Ayrshire College and Merck Life Science
Please see the below tab for courses taking place in 2022.
Upcoming Courses
In 2022 we are coordinating the following courses:
| Course | Training provider(s) | Best suited for | Time commitment | Next course |
| Practical and Sterile Manufacturing Skills within a GMP environment | RoslinCT | M.Sc.’s, PhD’s & Life Sciences company employees (CPD), Life Sciences Undergraduates and College Students | 5 Days | 28th March 2022 |
| An introduction to working in the Life Sciences Industry: Advanced Manufacturing | Edinburgh Napier University and Charles River Laboratories | Life Sciences Undergraduates and College Students | 5 Days | 16th May 2022 |
| Fundamental advanced therapies laboratory skills in biosafety testing | Ayrshire College and Merck Life Science | Life Sciences Undergraduates and College Students | 5 Days | 9th May 2022 |
| Introduction to Bioprocessing | IBioIC | Life Sciences M.Sc.’s, PhD’s & PostDoc’s | 2 Days | 15 March 2022 |
Courses start throughout the year. Please contact our Project Coordinator Nathan.Barnett@glasgow.ac.uk for more information and to register.
Contact and Information
To find out more about future ATSTN training courses, please contact: Nathan.Barnett@glasgow.ac.uk
