In March 2010 a brief course of training was given to a group of analysts from a laboratory in Macedonia. This was the first phase of a knowledge transfer programme instituted by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs for potential EEC members such as Macedonia. The title of the course was ‘Troubleshooting and method development in analytical chemistry’.
This was followed by an action plan for the second phase. This included a one-week visit to the laboratory in Macedonia scheduled for the current year. The aim is to assess the current level of competence, determine any shortcomings, advise on/help to solve practical problems and draw up a further action plan for improvements if necessary. Subsequent progress will be monitored with the help of email/Skype as a form of after-sale service.
