A bridge between science and industry

Absalon has received a grant of DKK 65 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to run a biotech project house (Biomanufacturing Project House) in Kalundborg. In addition to the foundation grant, Novo Nordisk A/S is financing a completely new building that will house the new activities. The project house will be built side by side with Absalon's upcoming campus in Kalundborg, which will be completed in the autumn of 2021.

The new project house will house graduate students from the universities whom will complete their master's projects in Kalundborg in collaboration with the nearby biotech industry. The house will also house activities for Absalon's graduate engineering students. The ambition is to create a strong business-friendly educational environment, and to strengthen the interaction between the universities' students, lecturers and researchers on the one hand and the biotech companies in the Kalundborg area on the other:

“It is with both joy and pride that Absalon receives the grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the funding from Novo Nordisk A/S. I am sure that Biomanufacturing Project House will strengthen Kalundborg's already strong position in biotech production”, Camilla Wang, Rector of Absalon, says.

An attractive study and research environment

The new Biomanufacturing Project House will provide a framework for approximately 15 master's projects annually. This is done in collaboration with the universities across the country, which at the same time must ensure a broad influx of students from all over Denmark. The students are offered scholarships for a 5-12 month stay in Kalundborg with housing and access to the facilities in the project house. At the same time, they maintain the connection to their university:

 “It will be a very attractive opportunity for graduate students. They can create projects in close collaboration with Denmark's leading biotech companies, they get access to brand new experimental facilities and a good study environment - and they get free offered housing nearby. The companies get the opportunity to build relationships with potential future employees and bring new knowledge for the benefit of production development into the company. Finally, I am pleased that Absalon's own graduate engineering students now have better opportunities to continue on to a master's degree without having to move away from Kalundborg and the network of companies they have come to know, ” Camilla Wang explains.

A broad collaboration behind the initiative

According to Camilla Wang, this new initiative can only succeed because there is a strong will and spirit of cooperation among all actors in and around Kalundborg:

“We saw the same will and spirit of cooperation when we managed to get the diploma engineering education to Kalundborg. This new initiative has been created by a wide circle, and it shows the strength that already exists in Kalundborg, which has both created a world-leading industrial symbiosis, and which now creates the next step in making Kalundborg a hot spot for companies, education and research in biotech production, ” Camilla Wang says.

Construction is expected to start as early as 2021, and the first students are expected to begin project work as early as the beginning of 2022.

Click here to read the press release from the Novo Nordisk Foundation