The Postdoc Challenge that we put together this year was a first for us.
It was putting the ideas out to the research community
and inviting them in
to put their proposals together
for the possibility of being awarded
a postdoc funded position here at AstraZeneca
across one of our amazing R&D centers.
AstraZeneca went global for this challenge, really to make sure
that we're including the whole world.
It's absolutely critical
that we bring talent in
from all sorts of places
and with all sorts of training backgrounds.
That's what's really wonderful about this initiative.
It's really inclusive
and it's really curiosity driven, also as a challenge.
I think that that really adds to attracting talent to this field.
The AstraZeneca R&D Postdoctoral Challenge
has been an extremely exciting initiative
as part of our Early Talent programme.
We're incredibly passionate
about nurturing the science leaders of tomorrow
and encouraging
diversity of thought with an environment
that enables science to thrive.
Supporting that next generation of science leaders
and their journey through their scientific careers is so important.
We all need to play our part across the life science ecosystem.
So fueling their spark, fueling their creativity -
- and by fostering the community of young scientists,
we're in a way fostering those new ideas and new perspectives.
It's so valuable to our research.
It's also valuable to our community.
In terms of the finalists, what I'm really looking for
is that real spark, that real innovation,
real thought in terms of the science
they want to drive.
You get to a point like this and everyone is talented.
But what I'm really looking for is people
that are thinking their own ways about what kind of science to do.
If we can get new questions on the table,
we need to get and of course, new solutions to science.
That's what we're all here for.
This challenge is a little bit different
because here the postdocs have
proposed the projects themselves to begin with.
They're also sort of competing against each other.
And it's it's a sort of a tiered process.
So there's a number of steps in it,
culminating with this on stage
sort of presentation of what they're going to do
with a judging panel.
But I'm looking
so much forward to today's presentations from the finalists,
are their excitation really to move into science,
really to digest themselves in new knowledge.
So we have our presentations tomorrow, and I must confess
that I do have butterflies in my tummy.
So I'm excited on the one hand.
And at the same time I know I'm nervous too,
but I'm really looking forward to it as well.
But I'm really excited to be able
to stand in front of great scientists
and people of that caliber,
to actually hear what I have to offer in terms of research.
Pitching to the judges. Actually, I feel strangely fine,
but yes, I'm going last tomorrow, I'm closing the show,
so maybe I'll get a bit more nervous
if there's a bit of grilling going on.
I feel curious about
what the panel, what the justices will evaluate,
because we have different backgrounds.
But I'm very excited to show
my research and the importance of rare diseases.
I'm obviously feeling a little anxious,
not as much as I could be feeling,
because there's a whole lot of people supporting and cheering me on
and the rest of the cohort is fantastic.
I think it's going to be an interesting experience regardless.
I'm really looking forward to it.
I think I still have to practice a bit more of the presentation,
but overall, I mean, I think it will go well.
I think that the jury will -
I mean - we've reached this stage that's already amazing.
And I think that it will be an interesting
discussion with the jury.
Welcome to the final of the Postdoc Challenge
and I really am very, very excited.
It's been a lovely three days,
but this is the highlight, I have to say.
What really impressed me about the presentations
is the diversity of the projects,
the background to how they got interested
in what they're working on and the diversity of the proposed work.
It's exactly what we had in mind with this scheme.
It was just so great to see the energy
on the stage, the diversity of the different proposals.
They did so well.
They presented so well.
The science was good.
They had great ideas.
Oh, the final event was absolutely so exciting, was terrific.
About the most exciting set of talks I've seen in maybe ever.
Oh, my goodness.
I cannot put it into words.
You know, standing right there in front of everybody
and in front of such a great audience.
I had
so much -
there was so much quality science
being discussed immediately before me.
Mark came out of immediately after me and killed it.
I mean, it's a tough one to call.
I mean, the standard today has just been so high.
Frankly speaking, I'm really happy
about the way how my presentation went
because I had rehearsed for it a couple of times
and I had a set message that I wanted to deliver to the audience.
And I think I did justice to it, so hooray!
The questions were all really good and really insightful, and
they really make you think about the way
you want to do your project and plan all the details
and all the drawbacks that you might have.
So yeah, the questions were really on point.
I feel so relieved that I feel confident about my work.
I think that I expressed the key message.
Everyone was so impressed with all of you
really very,
very difficult decision
to have to pick between you all, but you were all incredible.
So you should be incredibly proud of what you've just done
because they were very, very impressive presentations.
So Chris, do you want to give them the result?
It wasn't going to take weeks, we’re far too impatient.
We just better tell you now.
You've all won!
They're going to get
not only the postdoc community, the scientific community,
resources, fancy pieces of equipment,
external collaborations coming in.
They're going to have everything that they need
to be able to pursue the research
that they proposed and to be successful with it.