Helix Lab Fellowships: A way to foster local integration and international collaboration

Helix Lab Fellowships stands as a testament to successful professional and social integration, as evidenced by compelling statistics since the start in 2022. The Helix Lab Fellowship program has welcomed 50 MSc thesis students (Helix Lab Fellows) from the Danish universities - DTU, AAU, SDU, UCPH, AU, and RUC. Among them, 48 have successfully completed the program and graduated, showcasing the program’s effectiveness in guiding students through their academic journeys.
The 50 Helix Lab Fellows, comprising 21 Danish and 29 international participants from 22 different nationalities, has an important impact on the cultural and professional landscape of Kalundborg. Impressively, 29 of the Fellow alumni now work with and contribute their skills to local industry, including Novo Nordisk, NNE, Novonesis, Kalundborg Refinery, and Unibio, demonstrating the strong industry ties and career pathways Helix Lab fosters and Kalundborg offers.
The success of Helix Lab Fellowship Program is not just in its numbers but in the profound personal and professional impacts it has on its participants. Many international Fellows reported that their true integration into Danish communities began at Helix Lab and in Kalundborg, where they experience getting Danish friends and thereby achieving a greater understanding and integration into the Danish culture.


Furthermore, 22 Helix Lab Fellow alumni have made Kalundborg their permanent home, illustrating the Helix Lab program’s success in making Kalundborg an attractive place to live and work. The communal living arrangements offered as part of a Helix Lab Fellowship, means that Fellows share housing facilities and engage with the local community through the Helix Lab Program, have proven crucial in building a strong sense of belonging. These shared experiences are pivotal not only for integrating international students into Danish society but also for nurturing robust professional and social networks.
As we look forward to welcoming eight new Helix Lab Fellows as well as four PhD students this fall, Helix Lab continues to commit to its role as a place for research and community development in Kalundborg. Moreover, we look forward to a semester with more Tech Talks open for all interested, where academic enthusiasm meets networking.
The mission for Helix Lab is amongst other things to foster a scientific community in Kalundborg and judging by the numbers we are well on our way. We look forward to build upon these results and expand the community with the new MSc educations from UCPH and DTU in Kalundborg and with our pilot version for a Helix Lab PhD program.
