Foreword by Carol Parish, Chair of the Executive Steering Group and Paul Quinn, Vice-Chair of the Executive Steering Group

Welcome to the 2020 PharmaTimes International Clinical Researcher of the Year Awards! Marking its 21st anniversary, the PharmaTimes International Clinical Researcher of the Year competition is still designed to recognise and reward the talent and passion of industry and academic researchers, through the globe. This long-standing and rigorous competition keeps on reaching new countries year after year and 2020 continues this trend.

There are three stages to the competition; a multiple-choice questionnaire followed by an essay submission, a challenge developed by the judging committee, and then after scoring the top competitors attend a head-to-head finals day. This year due to restrictions we had to organise this virtually, rather than in person. This offers a unique opportunity for professionals working within the research fraternity to benchmark their skills against their peers, in a learning environment and be judged by high level industry leaders.

This year’s top clinical researchers competed in the finals days across 9 categories: Clinical Trial Administrator (CTA), Aspiring Clinical Research Associate, Clinical Research Associate, Project Manager, Team Leader, In-House Clinical Research Associate, Clinical Research Team and Clinical Site. This year also separated the 2019 new category of Start Up, into an award for individuals and one for a team.
The competition categories are reviewed annually by the Executive Steering Group to ensure we are reflecting the ever-changing environment that clinical researchers are working in.

Well done to everyone who applied and made it through each stage. We had 53 individual finalists and 17 teams who not only passed the first stage but passed through to the finals day – congratulations.

It is a fantastic achievement to reach the finals of the International Clinical Researcher of the Year competition. All of the finalists have shown incredible talent and determination – we wish them all the very best, and congratulate those who ended up taking home the coveted pharma award.