In September 2022, Leiden2022 successfully welcomed 132 Bright Young Minds, selected from 65,000+ participants worldwide. These young finalists from 33 countries took part in the European finale of EUCYS 2022. During the week of 13 September, the city was swamped with young international talents aged 14 to 20 years old. EUCYS2022 offered a week full of activities, like the Opening Ceremony, a Science Fair, dinners, lunches, cultural activities, visits to leading academic organisations and so on. Leiden2022 is especially proud of the successful innovations that were developed at the occasion of this 33rd edition. For example, Leiden2022 presented a Scientific Playground in the main venue and invited 1,000 young high school students from the region to experience Leiden2022 and EUCYS. They were invited to join the conversation, to gain knowledge and experience from contestants, and to discover science, society and culture. This scientific playground was successfully realized, together with the Dutch Research Council.
In the first phase of EU TalentOn, a campaign was created in collaboration with Woedend! Creative agency, to reach young academics all over Europe. This campaign was enrolled successfully and attracted over 700 applicants from more than 30 countries. The second phase emphasizes the selection process of top applicants, designed in close collaboration with the Lorentz Center and the team of the European Commission. In total, 104 applicants were selected for all Mission Areas. A teaming session was hosted to allow participants to get acquainted, buddy up, and team up. From that moment, teams could already start preparing for the EU TalentOn in September in Leiden. The participants followed a full 4-day program allowing them to be driven and inspired to find solutions, and concurrent combine existing academic with new entrepreneurial skills. The teams were guided to define a problem to solve, brainstorm about solutions, and develop a business framework with presentation of the concept. The program included 12 mini-lectures by researchers, professors and entrepreneurs, as well as 3 site-visits to industrial and scientific partners. More than 30 experts from industry and academia were available to the teams for questions and validation.
All teams performed a one-minute pitch to the general public on the third evening. Reactions of the general public helped in finetuning each project for a final pitch to the Grand Jury on the last day of the EU TalentOn. The five mission arena winners were judged by the heads of the jury, who chose the winner of EU TalentOn 2022. In total, 16 prizes totaled 82.000 euros in prize money.
