Successful
proposals will secure fully funded postdoctoral research positions
AstraZeneca has launched a global R&D Postdoctoral Challenge
to help accelerate ideas to transform the treatment of some of the world’s most
complex diseases.
The challenge, launched at EXPO 2020 Dubai, invites final year
MD and/or PhD students and postdoctoral researchers from across the world to
propose their innovative ideas to help accelerate drug discovery and
development across AstraZeneca’s core disease areas.
Successful candidates will be awarded a fully funded
postdoctoral research position and join the vibrant scientific community within
AstraZeneca. Working alongside a leading university, the researchers will also
receive access to in-house expertise, compounds, novel tools and technologies
and mentoring support to develop their ideas and innovate.
We are delighted to launch the R&D Postdoctoral Challenge to
support the next generation of science leaders and help them translate their
ideas into meaningful benefits for patients.”
Shortlisted applicants will have the chance to pitch their
research ideas to a panel consisting of AstraZeneca and external life science
leaders in October, with the selection of finalists decided later in the year.
Proposals will be reviewed based on scientific merit, and potential to create
real impact for patients, society and healthcare systems.
Further information on the R&D Postdoctoral Challenge,
including entry criteria and details on how to submit innovative research
proposals, can be found at:
https://openinnovation.astrazeneca.com/rd-postdoctoral-challenge.html.
The Company has three world class strategic R&D centres
including The Discovery Centre (DISC) in Cambridge in the UK, one in
Gaithersburg, Maryland in the greater Washington, D.C. region of the US, and
another in Gothenburg in Sweden, as well as further hubs across the world. It has
integrated R&D teams and accelerated decision-making processes, using its
unique scientific capabilities, to deliver one of the most productive pipelines
in the industry.
Since 2005, AstraZeneca has achieved an almost six-fold
improvement in the proportion of its pipeline molecules that have advanced from
preclinical investigation to completion of Phase III clinical trials – from 4%
to 23%. This improvement moves AstraZeneca well above the current industry
average success rate of 14% in the 2018-2020 timeframe.
Of the Company’s 80,000 employees, more than 13,000 work
exclusively in R&D. In 2021, its scientists published a total of 871
manuscripts, with 196 in high impact peer-review journals (impact factor
greater than or equal to 15 according to Reuters five-year rating), compared to
one in 2010.