Nordic Life Science 1
NORDIC LIFE SCIENCE EDITOR IN CHIEF: MALIN OTMANI
ART DIRECTOR: ANNIKI SKEIDSVOLL EDÉN REPORTERS: ELLEN R. DELISIO, PIA ANDREA, CHRIS TACHIBANA, AMY BROWN ENGLISH PROOFREADING: GAIL ADAM REPRO: LENA HOXTER COVER PHOTO: JENNY ÖHMAN PRINTED BY: DANAGÅRDLITHO 2019 PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: MATTIAS OLME PRODUCT MANAGER: ADAM RÅSBERG MARKETING & SALES: ANDRES VARGAS ANDRES@NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG +46 8 588 941 56 COPYRIGHT 2019 BY MEDIAVALUE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WHITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. A MAGAZINE FROM MEDIAVALUE MV INFORMATION AB, KINDSTUGATAN 1 111 31 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN PHONE: +46 8 588 941 51 SUBSCRIPTION: ONE YEAR PRINT AND ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION: 1 990 SEK / 199 EUR / 219 USD 01. FOUR PRINTED ISSUES OF THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE 02. ALL ISSUES ONLINE, READABLE ON YOUR PREFERRED DEVICE 03. WEEKLY NEWS UPDATES FROM OUR NEWSLETTER NORDIC LIFE SCIENCE NEWS CALL: +46 8 588 941 52 OR SIGN UP AT: NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG ARE TWO HEADS, or brains, better than one? Well, perhaps not always but diversity has been shown to fire imagination and stimulate people to come up with new ideas, while studies have shown that if the collaborators communicate, are competent and confident they perform better and make more sensible decisions (Bahrami et al., Science, 2010). Even the lone genius Albert Einstein supposedly collaborated with his fellow students. Within life science we also have a lot of successful historic examples, duos like Watson & Crick and Charpentier & Doudna, and let’s not forget one of the world’s largest collaborative biological projects, the Human Genome Project. Not convinced yet? Take a look at the last slide of every Nobel Laureate’s Nobel lecture – the list of colleagues they want to acknowledge is usually very long. REGARDLESS IF A discovery is made by a single person, the importance of a collaborative environment should not be underestimated. We need environments that encourage researchers to build cross-border and interdisciplinary teams and attack problems that no person alone, or no country or discipline alone, can solve. An atmosphere where you share the larger goals could also encourage a young scientist to continue follow his or her calling. Recurrent advice from the young talented researchers we spoke to in this issue was the importance of networking; talking to others in order to open up your perspectives, beeing a team player and discussing your findings. THIS DOESN’T just apply to the scientific community. In order to build successful businesses, collaboration is also the key. According to our profile in this issue, venture capital specialist Eugen Steiner, “you need both the geniuses who invent stuff and very smart people who can turn the discovery into products, as well as the business developers who create the network, and the investors.” So, more than one brain. In our interviews with up-and-coming Nordic life science companies they also all agree; building a good team around your technology is key and you can’t do everything yourself! PARTNERS: So, if two heads are better than one when building a business I think it is also true that two hearts are better than one. If you share a common passion you are more likely to succeed and it won’t take long until the due date for your baby, ... I mean your company. MALIN OTMANI EDITOR IN CHIEF FOR DAILY UPDATES OF THE NORDIC LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY, VISIT: NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG.