Aarhus University helping new biotech initiative in Kalundborg
Kalundborg is to be the focal point for the Biomanufacturing Project House (BPH), to attract engineering Master's students from Denmark and abroad and strengthen Kalundborg’s leading position in biotech. The board at the BPH includes Lars Ditlev Mørck Ottosen, head of department at Aarhus University.
With DKK 120 million of funding from, among others, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Kalundborg is aiming to set up a physical framework and content for a brand new research and degree programme to attract students at Master's degree level from Denmark and abroad.
The ambition of the Biomanufacturing Project House (BPH) is to strengthen Kalundborg’s position as Scandinavia's largest bioindustrial cluster and thereby enhance all of Danish production.
The board of the BPH has now been appointed and it includes the department head at the Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Professor Lars Ditlev Mørck Ottosen:
"Biotechnology is at the heart of how we solve major societal challenges related to climate, sustainability and health. It’s absolutely crucial for bio-based production related to the green transition, circular bioeconomy and medicine, so I think it’s extremely positive we now have the BPH to strengthen Denmark's position in the area," he says.
The BPH will be run under University College Absalon, which teaches bachelors of engineering in Kalundborg. The new project house building is being built beside the University College's new campus in Kalundborg, which will be completed in the autumn of 2021.
At the BPH, students from Danish and international universities will conduct applied research into bioproduction, circular production, Industry 4.0 and related areas in collaboration with local industrial stakeholders.
The first students will begin their project work at the BPH in early 2022, and the plan is to complete 75 MSc projects during the first project period, which runs to 2026.
"The initiative is excellent news for Kalundborg. More students will be able to carry out industry-relevant research in collaboration with industrial players, and companies will have access to a local research environment for the first time. The students will also be able to forge links to companies and the local area, and this in turn will create relationships and profile local career paths, so that more people will want to stay," says Martin Damm, Mayor of Kalundborg Municipality, in a press release.
Approx. 15 projects will be available to students every year, and collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Southern Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, Aalborg University, and others, will ensure a broad recruitment base.
Students will be offered scholarships with 5-12 months' stay in Kalundborg including housing and access to the research facilities at the BPH.
Construction work is expected to commence in 2021, and the first students will be starting their project work in early 2022.
Contact
Professor Lars Ditlev Mørck Ottosen
Mail: ldmo@eng.au.dk
Tel.: +45 51371671