Skolar is an international community of researchers, research funders, science communications professionals and research-minded stakeholders who believe that academics have great ideas that should be communicated with the society. To promote these ideas, Skolar arranges an annual Research Pitching Competition in collaboration with the world's leading startup event Slush. Eight researchers pitch their ideas on Slush stage and one of them wins a €100 000 Skolar Award to advance their research idea. The competition encourages postdoc researchers in the early stages of their academic careers to pitch their most ambitious ideas. All finalists receive a unique four-day science communications bootcamp before the grand finale. The Skolar side events also engage the general public with research. Saastamoinen Foundation is one of the funding partners of Skolar.
Winners of the Skolar Award
Thomas Hausmaninger (2019)
The winner of the 2019 Skolar Award, Thomas Hausmaninger, presented a solution that aims to optimize indoor farming and improve future’s food production. His research idea includes creating a breathalyzer test for plants that would provide a way to detect what the plants need and adjust their living conditions, such as brightness, humidity and temperature.
Sandra Jernström (2018)
Sandra Jernstöm won the award in 2018 with her research idea that explores new ways of treating cancer. Her idea suggested that analyzing different cells, not just cancer cells, might provide solutions to how to treat different kinds of cancer more accurately and individually.
Johan Seijsing (2017)
In 2017, the award went to Johan Seijsing. His research idea would examine enzymes found in nature that might provide a novel treatment against bacterial infections. His solution also addressed the issue of antibiotic resistance, one of the big problems of our time.
Read more about the Skolar Award and winners here.
Photo: Vilja Pursiainen / Kaskas Media