Published: 12-11-2014 16:54 | Updated: 01-12-2015 13:24

KI is once again entrusted with organising the summer school Amgen Scholars Program

Karolinska Institutet has received renewed funds to organise the Amgen Scholars Program. This means that over the next four summers, a total of 80 students will be able to benefit from the university's cutting-edge expertise in practical research. All in order to inspire them to pursue a future career in research.

Jonas Sundbäck. Photo: Stefan Zimmerman. “The idea is to increase interest in medical research, to find the best future researchers and to lay a foundation for them. This is a way for us to contribute our unique knowledge, and to ensure a new generation of researchers,” says Jonas Sundbäck, coordinator of the Amgen Scholars Program at Karolinska Institutet.

The university has received a little over SEK five million in funding from the Amgen Foundation. Money that is annually distributed among 20 scholarship holders over four years. The students accepted to the program receive a scholarship as well as travel and board for the eight weeks of the summer they spend researching at Karolinska Institutet.

The program starts with a basic introduction to scientific research. The students then participate in the regular activities of a research group at one of the KI departments. Everything is finally summarised in a short scientific report and a poster, which are presented at a joint closing ceremony at Karolinska Institutet. At the end of the program, the students travel to Cambridge for a two-day European symposium, where they meet with participants that have completed the program at one of the other universities in Europe.

“This is a unique set-up for a summer school, which is greatly appreciated by the participants,” says Jonas Sundbäck.

As of the first of December, all students registered to do a Bachelor of Science at any European university (in a country that has signed the Bologna Declaration) have the chance to apply for a scholarship for the Amgen Scholars Program 2015. In previous years, Karolinska Institutet has received applications from highly qualified students, and we have high hopes that this will be the case again this year. Thanks to the generous funding, any qualifying student can apply, regardless of financial status.

“We want to select the best students, irrespective of background or financial circumstances, and provide them with an opportunity to conduct research full time. It is important that they have a genuine interest in research, and excellent study results,” says Jonas Sundbäck.

The Amgen Scholars Program was launched in 2006 at ten of the most prominent universities in the USA by the American organisation Amgen Foundation. Two years later, the project expanded to Europe, and Karolinska Institutet has been involved since 2009. Today, the project has a total of 17 participating universities in the USA, Europe and Japan. Over the years, the Amgen Foundation has donated more than 200 million dollars to local, regional and international organisations. All in order to create cutting-edge expertise in science, and find the best innovators of the next generation.