Abdi İbrahim Lights the Way for High School Students Through Science

The third cycle of the Discovering the Future Program, launched by Abdi İbrahim in collaboration with Science Virus, a next-generation learning initiative dedicated to improving the lives it touches, has been completed.

Of over 5,000 high school applicants in this cycle, 1,050 students were admitted to the program. Participating high school students attended trainings delivered by experts in their fields. Students who successfully completed the program experienced the joy of receiving participation certificates.

Abdi İbrahim, Turkey's pharmaceutical sector leader for 22 years without interruption, successfully completed the third cycle of the Discovering the Future Program, organized this year in collaboration with Science Virus, a next-generation learning initiative. In the third cycle of the program, 1,050 high school students with strong imagination, willing to drive change and choosing the path of science; had the opportunity to develop themselves through 17 topic areas, 63 trainings and 4 webinars under the modules of "Creative Competencies", "Global Sustainability" and "Digital Transformation and Biotechnology Journey".

In the program adopting the approach of "looking to the future with the values of the past to understand today," each module was designed inspired by people who left their mark in history through their inventions and discoveries over time. Edward De Bono, one of the most renowned thinking experts of the 20th century and recognized internationally as an authority on creative thinking techniques, was the inspiration for the Creative Competencies module of Discovering the Future. The Global Sustainability module was inspired by philosopher and inventor Buckminster Fuller, who introduced the concept of "Global Village" and emphasized that humanity is interconnected on a global scale. The Digital Transformation and Biotechnology Journey module drew inspiration from Dorothy Hodgkin, who pioneered the X-ray crystallography technique used to determine the three-dimensional structure of biomolecules.

Within these three modules; trainings were conducted on Inquiry and Curiosity, Creative Problem Solving, Storytelling and Imagination, Design-Oriented Thinking, Sustainable Development Goals, Global Citizenship and Living Together, Circular Economy and Partnerships, Transformative Action, Digital Skills and Technology, The World of Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence and New Generation Technologies, Social Innovation in Health and Life Technologies.

Educational process enriched with webinars and workshops 

In addition to trainings, "Discovering Biotechnology Webinars" were held with young people at the end of each module. In the webinar series, expert names from AbdiBio came together with young people to discuss biotechnology, careers in biotechnology and Abdi İbrahim's work in this field. Additionally, "Digital Content Workshops" were organized at the end of each module to enable young people to produce their own content.

The Discovering the Future Library, created to support young people's creativity, encourage them to share knowledge with each other, and enable them to express themselves freely in the digital world, also drew great interest in the program. Young people had the opportunity to publish their content in this digital library, ranging from podcasts to images, essays to poetry.

Unlike previous cycles this year, a webinar titled "Career in the Pharmaceutical Sector" was also organized with alumni from the three cycles of the program invited. High school students participating in the webinar had the opportunity to find answers to questions they were curious about, such as career opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector, professions in this field and appropriate university departments.

We will continue to support children and young people through our education projects

Stating that they are very pleased with the intensive participation of young people in the Discovering the Future Program, Abdi İbrahim Group Head of Human Resources, Corporate Communications and Sustainability Dr. M. Oğuzcan Bülbül said: "As a 112-year-old company, we do not limit our mission to producing pharmaceuticals; through our social investment projects, we work to leave a positive mark on the world. Within the scope of our HEAL2050 sustainability strategy structured with a long-term value creation focus, we implement high-impact, value-adding, purpose-driven projects. The Discovering the Future Program, which we launched with the vision of creating science awareness among young people, is among these projects. We are pleased to have successfully completed the third cycle of the program, which aims to equip young people with creative perspectives to make them agents of change and to strengthen them in the areas of science, biotechnology and global sustainability. We thank each young person who participated in our program and wish this experience to provide important contributions to their personal development and future career journeys. In line with our mission of Improving the Future, we will continue to support children and young people through our education projects."

15,000 applications from across Turkey in three years

The program, which aims to strengthen visionary, science-believing, entrepreneurial individuals with 21st century competencies, and brings high school students from across Turkey together with rich content prepared in different modules, received nearly 15,000 applications from every region of Turkey over three cycles. In the program with 2,665 high school students selected from among the applications, a total of 250 trainings across 74 different topic areas, 4 Entrepreneurship Stories Webinars and 10 Discovering Biotechnology Webinars were organized. 54 of the special content produced by young people were published in the Discovering the Future Library.