This September, a group of fourteen ambitious, international students will join the Copenhagen Bioscience PhD Programme – an interdisciplinary PhD Programme within biomedicine and biotechnology. Four of those will be enrolled at DTU Biosustain.
A new interdisciplinary PhD Programme within biomedicine and biotechnology is now seeing the light of day.
The initiative called Copenhagen Bioscience PhD Programme is a unique new concept for PhD education in Denmark with applicants applying to a programme and not to a specific PhD supervisor.
The fully funded four-year programme is initiated by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and is hosted by four large research centres in Greater Copenhagen supported by the Foundation. One of those is The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, DTU Biosustain, at Technical University of Denmark.
Students will do rotations
"By financing this International PhD Programme, the Novo Nordisk Foundation wants to contribute to the education of the next generation of top researchers and to promote interdisciplinarity"
Birgitte Nauntofte, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation
The first year of the programme includes short rotations between different labs and teaching at all four centres to enable successful student-supervisor matching and to expose the students to different areas of research and techniques.
Senior Researcher Morten Nørholm from DTU Biosustain is facilitator for the programme at DTU Biosustain and member of the Steering Committee. He is looking forward to seeing how the programme – and especially the rotations – will play out:
"I hope that this PhD program will be known as one of the best in the world, and thereby increasing the knowledge about the possibilities within bioscience and biotech in Greater Copenhagen," he says and continues:
"Furthermore, I believe the programme will contribute to more collaborations between the four NNF centers, which is an advantage when our aim is to do world-class science and educating elite scientists."
Attracting top-class international students
The four NNF centers are located at Technical University of Denmark and at the University of Copenhagen.
“The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is delighted to welcome this new initiative for attracting top-class international students to Copenhagen. The PhD Programme and its students will intensify scientific exchange within the Faculty and across all the centers. It will increase interdisciplinary collaboration and contribute to Copenhagen’s profile as an internationally-recognized Science City,” says Ulla Wewer, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.
The first 14 students are from 11 different countries, including China, Russia, Peru, Turkey and Colombia.
Next generation of leading scientists
The programme aims to produce a cohort of scientists that will be competitive anywhere in Europe or the US.
“This is a pioneering approach to PhD education in Denmark. The PhD Programme is designed to combine the best aspects of American and European/Danish PhD education, producing well-rounded, independent, critically thinking scientists in an optimal time frame,” says Joshua Brickman, Professor at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Section for Basic Stem Cell Biology, University of Copenhagen, and Chair of the Steering Committee for the Programme.
A maximum of 16 students will be selected for the Programme each year. When running at full capacity, approximately 60 students will work across the four centres, with the PhD Programme forming a common bond. Applicants must have a qualifying degree and significant research experience from outside Denmark.
Birgitte Nauntofte, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, says: “By financing this International PhD Programme, the Novo Nordisk Foundation wants to contribute to the education of the next generation of top researchers and to promote interdisciplinarity. Denmark must attract the brightest young researchers to maintain and expand the country’s strong positions within biomedicine and biotechnology. This group of ambitious talents will receive a top-quality research education in the Centers’ international and innovative research environments.”
An official opening event will be held at the Novo Nordisk Foundation on September 9 with all 14 students participating.
Further information:
Amelia Green, Coordinator, Copenhagen Bioscience PhD Programme: amelia.green@cpr.ku.dk
The PhD Programme spans the following four large research centres:
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Section for Basic Stem Cell Biology
The centres, embedded at the University of Copenhagen’s Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and the Technical University of Denmark in Greater Copenhagen, employ more than 700 people.
All the centres carry out free and independent research. Researchers at the centres work on ambitious, innovative projects at a high scientific level within biomedicine and biotechnology.
The vision of the centres is to contribute to solving major global challenges such as diabetes and the depletion of natural resources.
The 14 students have been recruited through a competitive interview process with approximately 350 applicants. Selection is based on the applicant’s own achievements (education, research experience, motivation, recommendations).
Read more about the Copenhagen Bioscience PhD Programme at https://cphbiosciencephd.org/