ScienceBEAT 2024
September 11–14, 2024 – Ljubljana, Maribor, Lendava

ScienceBEAT is the perfect gateway for outstanding young professionals and those starting their careers. The participants will:

• gain a unique insight into the trends and challenges of the modern pharmaceutical industry;
• feel the pulse of a global pharmaceutical company, a leader in the development and manufacture of biosimilars and generics;
• have an exceptional opportunity to network and gain invaluable knowledge and expertise from world-renowned scientists and researchers;
• gain practical experience of working in teams on a pharmaceutical industry and business challenge and have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in practice;
• enjoy a comprehensive experience that combines professional content with learning about local culture, well-being, mindfulness and personal growth;
• receive access to a global network of experts and career opportunities in an agile and inspiring business environment based on inclusiveness, fairness and diversity.

The event is aimed at prospective young professionals in their final year of undergraduate, master's, doctoral or post-doctoral studies in science and business studies from Slovenia and abroad.

We will select 30 participants from all the applicants. We are looking for outstanding individuals from diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines to bring diversity and excellence to the event and work with us to shape the future of the pharmaceutical industry.

The event will be conducted in English, so fluency in English is a prerequisite for participation.

Sir Gregory P. Winter

Sir Gregory’s career was built on his expertise in protein chemistry and recombinant DNA technology, and he is best known for his research on the development of technologies to make both humanized and human therapeutic antibodies. These technologies helped spawn the field of antibody therapeutics, and were harnessed in the development of the blockbuster drugs Humira, Keytruda, Avastin, and Herceptin among others. He has received many international prizes for his work, including the Prince of Asturias Prize (Spain), the Prince Mahidol Award (Thailand), the Gairdner International Award and the Royal Medal of the Royal Society (UK). For his application of phage display technology to making human antibodies, including the first human antibody (Humira) approved by the FDA for human therapy, he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018.

Sir Gregory was an undergraduate and postgraduate student at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. His research career has almost entirely been based at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, where he became Deputy Director, leaving only in 2012 to become Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. In parallel with his research, Sir Gregory immersed himself in its commercial dimensions, including the filing of patents, the development of licensing strategies and the founding of three successful start-up companies based on his inventions - Cambridge Antibody Technology, Domantis and Bicycle Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BCYC). Retired since 2019, he continues to take an interest in the applications and commercialisation of biotechnology. He is a non-executive Director of Bicycle Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BCYC), which he founded for the development of small bicyclic peptides as antibody mimics, and a non-executive Director of Bit Bio (a Cambridge company based on the forward programming of cells). He is also a Trustee of the Hong Kong based Croucher Foundation, and a scientific partner of Ahren Innovation Capital.

Miha Škerlavaj

Miha Škerlavaj is Professor of Management at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana and Associate Professor in the Department of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at BI Norwegian Business School. He is a respected teacher, workshop leader and award-winning researcher who has received the prestigious Zois Award for his contribution to research in innovation and knowledge management.

His work has been published in prominent international research journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Leadership Quarterly and Human Resource Management, as well as in the books Capitalizing on Creativity at Work: Fostering the Implementation of Creative Ideas in Organizations, and Post-Heroic Leadership: Context, Process and Outcomes. His research has received the attention of global media outlets such as The New York Times, Forbes and the BBC.

He is involved in several international research collaborations with peers from the world's top business schools. He has broad practical experience in workshops, training, and consultancy assignments for clients in Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe and China. He teaches PhD, EMBA, leadership and master’s courses in Europe and Asia and regularly conducts workshops with practitioners on creativity and innovation management, organizational development and change, leadership development, organizational culture and related topics.

Claire D'Abreu-Hayling

Claire D’Abreau-Hayling became Chief Scientific Officer at Sandoz in July 2022 following over 30 years as a pharmaceutical executive with a deep knowledge of drug product development and global R&D processes. She is also a member of the company’s Executive Committee. Prior to assuming her current role, she held the position of Head of Product Development at Sandoz’ headquarters in Basel.

Life before Sandoz saw Claire spend 15 years at Teva Pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom where she held the positions of Senior Vice President, Global Sterile R&D and Senior Vice President, European R&D Regional Head. She has also previously worked with Sanofi and GSK during the early stages of her career.

Ljubljana

The first part of the program will take place in Ljubljana, where participants will visit the Development Center Slovenia, Sandoz's leading development center for technologically advanced products, and the Aseptics Unit, where approximately 70 different products and 500 finished products are manufactured and filled into sterile ampoules and vials for markets around the world.

Maribor

The main part of the program will take place in Maribor, where the participants will be based. They will attend lectures by visiting scientists and experts and work in teams to find a business solution to a reality-based pharmaceutical challenge.

Lendava

The participants will visit our site in Lendava, where anti-infectives are manufactured and finished dosage forms are packaged.