Sciana is a systems leadership programme for health and wellbeing and a network of health leaders based in Europe. It is dedicated to joint exploration and collective problem-solving of future challenges for health and wellbeing. 

The programme fosters cross-country and interdisciplinary learning, innovation and collaboration. It inspires fellows to grow by learning from cutting-edge thinking in health and leadership as well as other fellows’ work and candid accounts of their leadership experiences. Fellows are given dedicated time, tools and support to devise and test new ways of tackling big issues facing our health systems. 

See our mission, vision, and values. 

Partners

Careum is committed to achieving health literacy in Switzerland, conducting research on current health care issues and supporting innovations for the health and care of the future. Careum seeks to shape a better future for health care. They train the specialists of tomorrow, promote networking and collaboration and promote innovations. 

The Health Foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing better health and health care for people in the UK. The organisation’s aim is a healthier population, supported by high quality health care that can be equitably accessed. Its programmes include making grants to those working at the front line, carrying out research and policy analysis. 

The Bosch Health Campus draws together all of the Robert Bosch Stiftung’s institutions and funding activities in the field of health care on the site of the Robert Bosch Hospital (RBK) in Stuttgart. This includes patient care, biomedical research, education and continuing professional development for doctors and nurses, and the funding of promising ideas for better health care.

Programme Development and Management Partner

Salzburg Global Seminar is an independent non-profit organisation founded in 1947 with a mission to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world. Salzburg Global brings more than 70 years of dedicated experience of crafting and leading experiential learning networks and programs, which are tailored to Fellows’ interests and needs, and designed with Fellow-led and peer-to-peer learning components. 

Sciana is a network of mid-senior level health leaders connected to Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. Our Fellows are influential professionals who are already in leadership roles in organizations making a significant impact in health in various capacities, including as experienced patient and media representatives. If you are passionate about advancing system leadership and accelerating whole of society health agendas, we encourage you to apply. 

We encourage all gender, race, and people with disabilities to apply. At Sciana, we value diversity and strive to create an inclusive community of healthcare leaders who come from different backgrounds and bring unique perspectives to the table.

Application for the Cohort 7 programme will be open from April to July 2024.

The application and selection process involves three steps: 

1. Fill out our application form.  

1. Selected candidates will be invited for an online interview  

1. If the online interview is successful, candidates will join the selection committee in a final in-person interview.  

Thanks to the generous support of the three foundations, you will receive a scholarship to cover your participation fee, accommodations, and travel support to and from Salzburg. Bursary funding is available to support the impact of the programme challenge work and cross-boundary collaborations, for example site visits. 

This cohort-based programme consisting of four residential meetings over a two-year period. Each cohort brings of 18 fellows from Germany, Switzerland and the UK. A significant portion of the programme structure is dedicated to an applied health leadership project referred to as the Sciana Challenge. Comparative health system learning, and cohort-specific interests are also incorporated into the programme content. Through a co-development process, fellows make suggestions on programme speakers, topics and format of engagement.  

The programme focuses on key topics which have an impact on health and health systems, specifically five major areas, such as: the improvement of population health, leadership and implementation of reforms and policies within healthcare systems, workforce shortages, sustainable healthcare systems to mitigate the impact of climate change on public health.  

In the spirit of Salzburg Global residential programmes, the designs of programme sessions seek to cultivate a trusting community of health leaders and a peer-support dynamic among fellows. Therefore, ample opportunities are offered for networking and for participants to get to know one another – fellows, guest speakers, the foundations and the Salzburg Global team. 

Sciana runs two cohort programmes in parallel, which allows each cohort to meet and engage with fellows of the outgoing and incoming cohort at each residential meeting. 

Sciana Fellows must be committed to attending the three day residential meetings when they apply to join the network. As there are usually only 18 Fellows per cohort and demand for places are high, attending all four seminars is required. Availability is a prerequisite for all applications. 

The Sciana Challenge is an applied health leadership project addressing a real-world systemic issue affecting health and wellbeing. Introduced in cohort 2, this programme component gives Fellows an opportunity to think ahead on big issues; and find cross-boundary strategies to tackle issues within their settings. The programme encourages Fellow to experiment and test new ideas and international and cross-sectoral collaborations. 

More information here.

The programme involves participation in four, three-day residential meetings in Salzburg over two years (two each year, in May and November). For the applied health leadership component, Fellows spend two to four hours each month to advance their work in small groups in between residentials.  

After the residential programmes, Fellows remain connected to a network of over 100 leaders. They are encouraged to actively contribute to the network. Fellows have continued to organize site visits, invite Sciana peers to workshops and talks, offered Sciana masterclasses on topics of their expertise, joined Sciana international meetings at the OECD, returned to Salzburg as a guest speaker and participated in a wide range of Salzburg Global programmes.  

Fellows have valued the time and space away from their day-to-day to reflect on the future of health, connects leaders from various professions, countries and systems and fosters a long-lasting connections and friendship. You can reflect on your leadership approach, improve and enlarge your skills for yourself and others.  

Many network activities are informally organized by fellows. However, Sciana welcomes all cohort Fellows to participate in a range of opportunities, such as: 

• Participating in foundation-led events and online sessions (e.g. Sciana masterclass) 

• Joining international Sciana Network meetings at international health organizations or European health organizations  

• Contributing and receiving news from the network via the Sciana Newsletter and the online community platform. 

• Returning to residentials as a guest speaker 

• Listening to recordings of the Sciana Lectures, masterclass and deep dives 

• Participating in Salzburg Global programmes   

The Sciana Advisors bring substantial national and international experience of health leadership in academia, education, politics, media, and commerce. Together they provide a complimentary range of leadership skills and styles, in depth understanding of local, national, and international political contexts, and shared values. 

Their role is to act as a resource for the Fellows, to advise and provide them with critical feedback on their proposals and outputs, inspire them for their leadership journey and support with connections, introductions to a wider network to help their work and leadership vision.  

Find our current Sciana Advisors listed in our people.

Sciana inspires the adoption of a new leadership paradigm associated with greater health and wellbeing. It departs from traditional approaches to leadership. With growing recognition of much needed shifts to current leadership paradigms to improve health systems and health, the Sciana programme facilitates curated discussions with Fellows on adapting mindset, skills, leadership approach and collaboration for tackling future health system challenges.  

The leadership programme structure and design align with the latest thinking on best approaches to shaping and supporting senior leaders. This stands in contrast to the standardised, lecture-based curriculum offered by business schools and traditional educators. 

As a modern leadership programme, Sciana delivers an evolving curriculum, tailored to emerging future health system challenges and Fellow interests. It seeks to foster self- and group-directed experiences, which more closely replicates conditions in which Fellows lead. The programme provides a safe and experimental space for proactive collaboration, testing group dynamics and building of informal networks.  

Becoming a fellow of Sciana also comes with becoming a Salzburg Global Fellow. This Fellowship comes with a range of benefits: 

• Access to an international, cross-sector and interdisciplinary community of Fellows online on our online community platform or in person in Salzburg. Many of Salzburg Global fellows are remarkable pioneering leaders across a variety of sectors and regions. The culture among the Salzburg Global Fellows is marked by an openness to the exchange of raw ideas, co-ideation and co-creation and spirit of coalition-building and collaboration. These connections can help Fellows gain insights from different health systems and regional experiences to advance the Sciana Challenge and initiatives in their working lives. 

• Fellows are welcome invited to participate and contribute to Salzburg Global programs that strategically align with Sciana Fellow interests and/or serve to advance Fellow’s challenge work and leadership vision. Each Salzburg Global program connects Sciana Fellows to a community of 60 international participants through an in-depth peer-to-peer, cross-system learning experience on the designated health theme.