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On 26 January 2023, the Biotech City will hold its fifth annual Biotech Championships, where 250 students from across the country will compete in biotech solutions.
There is a known shortage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) skills nationwide. This challenge is further exacerbated for companies outside the major education cities, where attracting highly specialised labour is crucial.
Kalundborg has the potential to be a leading centre for biotechnology education, research and innovation. Attracting students to the city's education is therefore of paramount importance in developing talent locally and thus establishing a strong food chain targeted at industry needs.
Knowledge Hub Zealand, together with Absalon University of Applied Sciences, are the organisers of the Biotech Championships.
The Biotech Championships have been launched as one of many initiatives to help highlight the many exciting educational and career opportunities offered by North West Zealand, and the Biotech City in particular, with a view to attracting students to the area's growing educational environment.
That the Biotech Championships become a reality year after year, regardless of format, is not least due to the great support from Biotech City stakeholders through cases, presentations, participation in judging panels as well as sponsorship of prizes, etc.
Kalundborg Municipality, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, NNE, Kalundborg Refinery, Kalundborgegnens Erhvervsråd, Kalundborg Forsyning, Lundbeck, Chr. Hansen, Kalundborg Symbiose, Helix Lab, Nucleus Forlag, Fermhub Zealand, Absalon and Knowledge Hub Zealand.
The Biotech Championships will be held as a case competition, with a winning team to be selected by the end of the day. The day will also include activities such as a pop-up chemistry show and a fair, where you can learn more about Kalundborg's career and education opportunities and meet company representatives from the Biotech City and surrounding area.
All participants are also invited to the newly inaugurated research and education centre Helix Lab, where they can hear presentations on the world-renowned Kalundborg Symbiosis.
Many curious students and teachers come from all over the country to Kalundborg for the Biotech Championships. It is a golden opportunity to give a taste of what the city has to offer students and what opportunities there are for an exciting career afterwards. Therefore, high school students who are not participating in the competition are also welcome.
The high school students worked on one of four case studies at home on the topics of fermentation, enzyme activity, wastewater treatment and chemical synthesis. Each of the four cases represents elements that are crucial to the production processes of Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, Kalundborg Forsyning and Lundbeck respectively.
After a welcome to Campus Kalundborg, the registered students will present their cases in teams to panels of judges composed of teachers and company representatives. The case presentations each contain a proposal for the manufacture of a new product and/or a solution to an environmental/social problem with a focus on circular production and/or one or more of the UN's 17 global goals.
High school students work on an experiment during the Biotech Championships 2020
For the past two years, the Biotech Championships have been held online due to the corona pandemic. Now the organisers are excited about the prospect of finally being able to show off Kalundborg's new campus area to the many participants.
In recent years, we have done what we could to give students a taste of the Biotech City, but it will never be the same online. Now we're itching to welcome students and teachers so they can experience our new facilities for themselves, feel the special atmosphere and sense the proximity to Kalundborg's industry that is so unique to the city," says
The close cooperation between education and industry is one of the advantages of being a student in the Biotech City. Having industry so close means that we can offer a high degree of practice-related learning such as project collaboration, company visits, guest lectures, mentoring, etc. in collaboration with the city's companies - to the benefit of the students.
Aerial view of Kalundborg Campus and Helix Lab next to the Biotech City industry.
Knowledge Hub Zealand
Biotekparken 1
4400 Kalundborg
Knowledge Hub Zealand
Biotekparken 1
4400 Kalundborg