High school students from all over the country compete for the title of Biotech Champion in Kalundborg

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If you see extra young people with safety glasses and white coats in Kalundborg on November 1, it's probably because of the Biotech Championships, where no less than 243 high school students from 13 different high schools across Denmark come to Kalundborg to compete for the title of the country's best biotech talent.

Repeat success

The Biotech Championships were first launched in January 2019 and have since become an annual event. The purpose is clear: to spread awareness and attract people to the many exciting education and career opportunities in Kalundborg and Northwest Zealand.

And this is actually the second time the Biotech Championships will be held in 2023.

We are proud that so many high school students want to showcase their talent at the Biotech Championships in Kalundborg and not least happy that the students are passionate about bio and natural science subjects. At the same time, we want even more people to discover the many exciting opportunities in the STEM subjects, and therefore we choose to comply with the high schools' request to hold the event in November rather than in January in order to give as many students as possible the opportunity to participate in relation to the high schools' other activities.

Martina Koch, Project Manager for the Biotech Championships .

Martina continues with a smile:

At the same time, we are faced with a request from both companies and education programs that there should not be too long between visits from the country's high school students, and so we have to hold two championships this year.

From local relevance to global significance

The many hopeful students are working on one of four cases within the topics of fermentation, enzyme activity, wastewater treatment and chemical synthesis. The four cases each represent elements that are crucial to the production processes at Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, Kalundborg Forsyning and Lundbeck respectively.

On November 1, all high school students will meet for the Biotech Championships at Campus Kalundborg, where they will present their case in teams with a proposal for the production of a new product and/or a solution to an environmental/societal problem with a focus on circular production and/or one or more of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

All high school students are invited to an education and career fair

Kalundborg's educational environment has grown steadily since 2016, and today you can study for a Bachelor of Engineering in Biotechnology, a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, a Bioanalyst, an Architect, a Master of Engineering, a Process Operator, a Master of Science in Biomanufacturing and, from 2024, a Master of Science in Biosolutions. And the education offering continues to grow.

In addition to today's case competition, local stakeholders have therefore organized a fair where students can learn more about Kalundborg's many educational and career opportunities, and where high school students both with and without a case can meet representatives from the Biotech City's companies and educational institutions.

Martina Koch, Project Manager, University College Absalon.

Biotekbyen backs up

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.

Attracting and retaining skilled labor is a challenge for Biotech City's growing industry, with more than 1,200 new jobs created in the municipality in 2022 alone.

Attracting students to the city's education programs is of great importance in terms of developing talent locally and thus establishing a strong food chain targeted to the needs of the industry.

Christian Beenfeldt, Project Director at Knowledge Hub Zealand, which together with Absalon is the organizer of the Biotech Championships

The fact that the Biotech Championships are becoming a reality year after year - and twice in 2023 - is largely due to the great support from local players via cases, presentations, participation in judging panels, sponsorships, etc.

The Biotech Championships November 2023 are backed by:

Kalundborg Municipality, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, NNE, Unibio, Kalundborg Refinery, Kalundborgegnens Erhvervsråd, Kalundborg Forsyning, Lundbeck, Chr. Hansen, Kalundborg Symbiose, Algiecel, Helix Lab, Fermhub Zealand, DTU - Technical University of Denmark, KU - University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen School of Engineering, University College Absalon and Knowledge Hub Zealand.

Aerial view of Helix Lab and Campus Kalundborg next to the Biotech City industry.