Chemists from developing countries have been trained since 1990 under funding of MFA. The training is based on research and experience on the CWC.
By the end of 2020, VERIFIN has trained 1619 experts from 140 countries.
The courses are offered to the States Parties and Signatory States of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) mentioned in the DAC List of Recipients of Official Development Assistance (ODA).
NACD Course (8 days)
Course on National Authorities and Chemical Databases. The duties of national authorities (for the CWC) are discussed: legislative issues concerning the national implementation of the CWC, collection of data, declarations and inspections. The end of the course concentrates on different sources, where data useful for the national authorities can be found.
Requirements: Post at or Close contact with the National Authority for the CWC
CW-LSE courses (2 weeks each)
CW-LSE courses on LC-MS, NMR, Laboratory Quality Assurance and Quantitative Mass spectrometry, Laboratory Skills Enhancement for the Analysis of Chemicals Related to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CW-LSE) courses are a series of two-week courses with similar structure and aim in the different aspects related to the chemical weapons analysis. The basic idea of the CW-LSE courses is to give thorough training on certain topic already partially familiar to the participants. The courses consist of lectures on theory and practice, demonstrations, exercises, maintenance of the equipment and often a test to show the level of the learning. The focus is on the hand-on training.
Fellowship (3 to 6 months)
A CWC-related project work at VERIFIN under the OPCW Fellowship support program. The actual subject of the project will be agreed on by the intern and VERIFIN.
NACD
All the candidates for the Training Course on National Authority and Chemical Databases should have
Aim of the training
The program is intended for persons who are or are going to be involved with the National Authority to the Chemical Weapons Convention. The part of the training course concerning the National Authority (NA) familiarizes the trainees in annual practical routines of NA, including the inquiries made to the local industry and the declarations made to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The NA training also familiarizes the trainees in routines during inspections. The aim of the chemical database training is to introduce various databases and libraries which can be utilized for the verification tasks of the CWC. Training includes lectures as a self-study modules and practical exercises with computers. Because of Covid-9 pandemic the course will be held as e-learning course via internet.
VERIFIN NACD course Application Dead-line extended until 4th June 2021
All teaching is arranged by VERIFIN and takes place in the buildings of the Kumpula Campus (Chemicum, Physicum or Exactum), University of Helsinki, Finland.
The Organizers will provide, according to their established rules, free of charge:
The financial conditions apply to the participant only. If members of his/her family follow, all the costs incurred and visa arrangements will have to be covered by the participant of the sending government.
Laboratory Capacity Building Programme (LCBP)
Laboratory Capacity Building Programme is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
In the Laboratory Capacity Building Programme the focus is in enhancing analytical capabilities of certain laboratories. Laboratories commit themselves for the training programme for three years and the actual training takes place both at VERIFIN and at the recipient laboratory.
The LCBP was arranged first time in 2012 with laboratories from Ethiopia and Kenya and the this first cooperation project was finished at the end of 2014. The contracts with laboratories from Ethiopia and Kenya were continued for the period 2015-2017. The programme for 2018-2020 is done in collaboration with laboratories from Kenya and Nepal
US Grants
Tailored courses releated to the Chemical Weapons Convention and the courses are funded by US department of state.
The training consists of three parts. In the first part the VERIFIN experts makes a planning trip to each laboratory to be able to plan the training to meet the recipient’s needs. In the second part the trainees come to VERIFIN for an intensive, tailor-made training. In the last part the VERIFIN experts travel to target countries to perform the final evaluation of the impact of the training.
Other activities
Tailored courses