The best students at the Regional BioCamp Alpe-Adria awarded

Regional BioCamp 2012 offered the participants insight into the pharmaceutical industry and entrepreneurship through expert lectures and visits to some of the development facilities at Sandoz Slovenia which are distinguished by high technology innovation and expertise. At the same time they had an opportunity to actively participate and challenge themselves in team work by developing case studies and in transferring already acquired knowledge into practical work.

The selection of the best team and two individuals was based on the participant’s collaboration in a team task. Olga Lipič, Head of Talent Development at Lek, a Sandoz company, a member of the panel for selecting the best case study on how to launch a biotechnological company in the competition part of the Regional BioCamp 2012, says: »Already at last year’s Regional BioCamp we had a chance to meet extremely talented students who proved themselves exceptionally well in culturally and professionally diverse teams. Excellent and productive collaboration was this year even more evident, as all competing groups prepared truly outstanding case studies which made our decision at the end even harder. In fact, they are all winners in that they proved themselves in every aspect of the BioCamp not only as science experts but also showing a considerable measure of business knowledge which was key in creating their business plans. I am sure that there is a highly successful career and an interesting life in front of them.«

According to the panel, the individual winners of the second Regional BioCamp, Daliborka Dušanič and Miha Kosmač, showed they were the best able to connect the scientific and business way of thinking, which is of key importance for success in the pharmaceutical industry. The winning team, which displayed a top performance and created the best business plan, described team work to be the key to their success. »Developing a business plan was truly very challenging as we are coming from the area of natural sciences and did not have this kind of experience with the business world before. The atmosphere in our team was very positive, all team members had an equal vote, we listened to the ideas of each other and took them into account when preparing the case study. Each of us had therefore an opportunity to express his/her opinion and creativity. We took our task very seriously and worked all night, and are, of course, very pleased with the result,« said Teja Rajar from the Ljubljana Biotechnical Faculty on behalf of the winning team.

»The impressions from the BioCamp are very positive. It was quite tough, as we worked hard on the case study, but it paid off in the end. All team members got on very well and the team work was truly excellent. I am delighted to receive this award and I am eagerly awaiting participating at the Novartis BioCamp,« said the individual winner Miha Kosmač.

The individual winner Daliborka Dušanič also thinks that team work was the key to her success at the BioCamp. »In particular I would like to highlight the excellent organization of the Regional BioCamp which provides a unique opportunity for students from different countries in our region to meet and network. I did not expect to win because all participants were very good at their work and produced their best. The work in our team was very coordinated, we managed to organize ourselves quickly and performed as a real team. This was definitely most important. For the moment my top priority is to gain my doctorate which I am defending in a month time. Winning at the Regional BioCamp is undoubtedly a valuable experience and a reference for work in this field also in the future,« she added.

The winners of the Regional BioCamp 2012 will join the participants at the annual Novartis International BioCamp, which will be held at the end of August this year in Basel, Switzerland. Together with the top young science experts from all around the globe they will attend a three-day seminar, gaining new knowledge and experience and learning about trends in biotechnology and biopharmacy.

The second Regional BioCamp in Ljubljana hosted 35 undergraduate and postgraduate students from eight countries: 19 participants from Slovenia, 16 from abroad, including four from Croatia, three each from Austria and Serbia, two from Macedonia and Italy and one student from Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.