Lundbeck awards Denmark’s most talented young researchers

H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) today welcomes 200 students from upper secondary schools all over the country to its headquarters in Valby, where the students will present their ideas for development of new and better treatments for diseases like depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

The presentations will take place in the final of the Drughunter Competition, Lundbeck’s national natural sciences competition for upper secondary school students. In total, 1,100 students from 55 classes in 36 schools have over the last four months participated in the competition as part of their studies of chemistry, biology and biotechnology.

Today, as part of the Festival of Research, nine students will be awarded winners of this year’s competition and thereby claim the unofficial title as Denmark’s most talented young researchers. With the brightest scientific minds gathered from the country's upper secondary schools, the bar is set high and not only the students will learn something.

“Our researchers are often inspired by the creativity and curiosity of the students when working with the biological, chemical and biotechnological problems. The competition is a great way of getting the students interested in natural sciences and the role as a scientist. We hope to inspire many to pursue a career within science as this is a prerequisite for Denmark to maintain and grow our strong life science industry,” says Anders Gersel Pedersen, Executive Vice President, Research & Development at Lundbeck.

Minister of Education and Research, Søren Pind, will attend the final and among other things get a presentation of the scientific posters prepared by the students. These are based on the knowledge about the brain and its diseases acquired by the students over the course of the competition. A jury consisting of Lundbeck researchers will evaluate the many posters and select the winners of this year's Drughunter Competition.

“Research help improve our lives and bring Denmark forward. Therefore it bodes well for the future to have so many students conducting research into the treatment of complex brain diseases. Denmark needs talents who have the desire to ask questions and find answers,” says Søren Pind.

Facts about the Drughunter Competition

• A natural sciences competition for upper secondary school students. It combines classroom learning within biology, chemistry and biotechnology (at the Danish A and B levels) with practical insight into research and development of pharmaceuticals.

• The competition takes its starting point in drug development as it is practiced today. Students have the opportunity to choose between projects that have a chemical, biological or biotechnical approach.

• Students were handed their assignments in December 2016. During the competition, students have the opportunity to meet Lundbeck researchers through lectures at participating secondary schools; they gain insight into the working methods of a researcher; and they gain insight into how academic subjects can be applied to solve real issues related to the development of new drugs.

• Students present their scientific posters at the finale held on the day of the Danish Festival of Research. At the end of the day, the winners are announced.

• The Drughunter Competition celebrates its 10 year anniversary this year. Over the years more than 400 classes from 80 different schools have participated.

Contacts

Mads Kronborg                                                                                    
Senior Director, Corporate Communication                                                 

Phone: +45 36 43 40 00                                    

E-mail: mavk@lundbeck.com                                                    
 

About Lundbeck

H. Lundbeck A/S (LUN.CO, LUN DC, HLUYY) is a global pharmaceutical company specialized in psychiatric and neurological disorders. For more than 70 years, we have been at the forefront of research within neuroscience. Our key areas of focus are depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

An estimated 700 million people worldwide are living with psychiatric and neurological disorders and far too many suffer due to inadequate treatment, discrimination, a reduced number of working days, early retirement and other unnecessary consequences. Every day, we strive for improved treatment and a better life for people living with psychiatric and neurological disorders – we call this Progress in Mind.

Read more at www.lundbeck.com/global/about-us/progress-in-mind.

Our approximately 5,000 employees in 55 countries are engaged in the entire value chain throughout research, development, production, marketing and sales. Our pipeline consists of several late-stage development programmes and our products are available in more than 100 countries. We have research centres in China and Denmark and production facilities in China, Denmark, France and Italy. Lundbeck generated revenue of DKK 15.6 billion in 2016 (EUR 2.1 billion; USD 2.3 billion).

For additional information, we encourage you to visit our corporate site www.lundbeck.com and connect with us on Twitter at @Lundbeck.