Five Years of Connections, Collaboration, and Impact
To mark this five-year milestone, we spoke with people from across the Helix Lab community to hear how Helix Lab has created value and made an impact on their professional and personal journeys.
“Helix Lab Is Still Relevant to Me Today and Will Remain Relevant in the Future”
Axel Larsen, Helix Lab Fellow, Spring 2022. Currently working as a Process Scientist at Novo Nordisk.
“After completing my degree and my Fellowship at Helix Lab, I began my career at Novo Nordisk in Kalundborg in 2023. The transition felt very natural because I was already familiar with the city.
Helix Lab definitely remains valuable to me. After a few years in professional life, it is natural to begin considering different career paths, and this is where the Helix Lab Alumni network becomes particularly valuable.
You can see how former Fellows are developing their careers, hear about their experiences, and learn from both their successes and their challenges. It provides inspiration and a stronger foundation for assessing which directions align with your own interests and competencies.
For me, this is the greatest professional value of the network. I am personally considering a leadership career, which makes it especially interesting to speak with former Fellows who have already taken on formal leadership roles. It allows me to reflect on their experiences and gain a realistic understanding of what such a role entails.
In that sense, Helix Lab remains professionally relevant to me. Even though I have been employed for several years, Helix Lab is still an important part of my CV and something that is recognized locally in Kalundborg. When I applied for positions at Novo Nordisk, I listed Thomas Neergaard (former Scientific Director at Helix Lab) as a reference, without knowing that he had previously been the manager of the person who eventually hired me. That was, of course, a coincidence, but it also illustrates how strong the Helix Lab network really is.
One of the things Helix Lab does particularly well is keeping the community alive, even after Fellows become Alumni.
When I was asked how I look back on Helix Lab, my answer was actually that I do not only look back. I see Helix Lab as something that is still relevant today and will continue to be relevant in the future.
If the organization did not actively maintain the network, many people would probably gradually lose touch. For me, the opposite has happened. I actually feel that I have become more connected to Helix Lab over time.
As part of the very first cohort—the first “guinea pigs,” you might say—it has also been exciting to follow the development of the organization. It has been inspiring to see how Helix Lab has become increasingly effective at creating the right opportunities and connections between students and companies, evolving into something even more meaningful.”
“Helix Lab Has Filled a Gap that was Previously Unmet”
Krist Gernay, Chair of the Board of Directors, Professor of Industrial Fermentation Technology at DTU Chemical Engineering, and affiliated with BRIGHT, Novo Nordisk’s new research institute for the green transition.
“I have been involved with Helix Lab from the very beginning, in fact, even before the building itself was completed. From the outset, I have served as Chair of the Board and have been involved in developing the procedures and structures that Helix Lab is built upon today.
Looking back on the past five years, I am particularly impressed by how quickly Helix Lab has become an established and recognized part of the ecosystem in Kalundborg. It has evolved from an idea and a building under construction into a national and international reference point for collaboration between universities, students, and companies. Few would have imagined such extensive development from the beginning.
Collaborations between a single university and a single company exist in many places. What makes Helix Lab unique is the breadth of the collaboration. Most of the larger companies in Kalundborg support the initiative, while several Danish universities are actively involved. This creates an ecosystem that is truly unique.
Helix Lab has filled a gap that previously went unmet. There are no other initiatives in Kalundborg that offer something comparable, and even at national level there are few similar examples.
Today, Helix Lab is a place that many people in technical and scientific research are familiar with, and has put Kalundborg on the map as a place where universities and companies can come together around concrete projects.
Collaborations between researchers and companies existed before as well, but they were often based on personal relationships. Helix Lab has helped institutionalize these collaborations and make them more systematic. That is a major strength.
In addition
“A Collaboration Beyond Traditional Student Projects”
Emmanouil Papadakis, Scientific Academia Specialist in CMC and PS Partnerships at Novo Nordisk. Has collaborated with Helix Lab since its establishment in 2021.
“In Novo Nordisk, I focus on strengthening research, innovation, education, and talent development within biomanufacturing. My roles involving Helix Lab include both thesis supervision and lead supervision, so I focus on identifying industrial needs while ensuring scientific quality, academic relevance, and a strong industrial connection.
What makes the collaboration with Helix Lab particularly valuable is that it goes beyond traditional student projects or isolated research activities. Through Helix Lab, students gain exposure to real industrial challenges early in their academic journey. At the same time, Novo Nordisk gains the opportunity to engage with future talent, identify competencies, and build relationships before students enter the job market.
I can think of several examples where the collaboration with Helix Lab has made a difference for Novo Nordisk. One important contribution has been the talent pipeline. Helix Lab has helped create strong connections with students who later continued their careers within Novo Nordisk or in other industries in the Kalundborg area. I know former Helix Lab students who have joined areas such as fermentation and other parts of API Manufacturing.
From a project perspective, several MSc projects have created great value. Precipitation projects are strong examples of this. They made the exploration of a particle size measurement technique possible, which again made it possible to characterize and improve precipitation processes across Novo Nordisk. CIP (Cleaning-in-Place) optimization projects established an experimental framework to study and evaluate the potential for process optimization. And water recycling projects have explored and assessed potential technologies while generating new knowledge on how wastewater can be recycled and reused.
Another important aspect is the multidisciplinary environment. Helix Lab creates a space where different academic backgrounds, perspectives, and industrial needs come together. This often leads to new ways of thinking and discussions that may not naturally emerge in more traditional organizational settings.
I also believe that the collaboration has matured significantly over time. There is now a clearer structure around projects, stakeholder involvement, and expectations, which strengthens both the quality of the collaborations and the long-term relationships.”