Bringing business and academia together in Denmark

SPOTLIGHT ON DENMARK

The private sector is helping drive innovation in Denmark and boosting its international research reputation

Denmark is among the leaders globally in terms of overall investment in research. Nikolaj Helm-Petersen, Innovation Center Denmark

PHYSICIST JEPPE Dyre has devoted his career to studying the molecular structure of viscous liquids — not an obvious route for research that could reduce Denmark's greenhouse gas emissions. But thanks to a collaboration involving Danish company NCC, a leading producer of asphalt and paving, Dyre's knowledge could help cut Denmark's total road-transport carbon output by at least 5 percent. The collaboration between NCC, the Danish Road Directorate, the Technical University of Denmark and Dyre's home institute Roskilde University aims to develop a material that reduces rolling resistance between tyres and the road. “It's highly satisfactory to use our knowledge from fundamental research to benefit society,” says Dyre, based at Roskilde's Centre for Glass and Time. “It's not just applied research that produces real-world results.”

The collaboration is not uncommon. Denmark is committed to bringing industry and academia together to boost innovation and productivity. Private sector companies and funds account for two-thirds of all investment in research and development (R&D) in the country, equivalent to 2.1 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP), while the public sector contributes a further 1 percent of GDP. The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (DASTI) has been running an industrial PhD programme since the 1970s, and in March 2011 the agency called for businesses to have a greater role in the EU's forthcoming Horizon 2020 research-funding framework programme. How is this integration being fostered, and what does it mean for researchers based in Denmark?

Matchmaking universities

For many years, it was Danish companies that reached out to universities or researchers with a particular project needing scientific expertise. Danish universities have long since recognised the benefits of developing these relationships and many have established meeting points for scientists and companies. Aalborg University, for example, operates a ‘matchmaking’ network comprising departmental representatives who liaise with companies and contacts in external business promotion offices. The University of Southern Denmark runs a similar network in collaboration with the Growth Forum of Southern Denmark; its current research areas include agricultural and assistive technologies and spinal rehabilitation.

“About half of our students' research projects are business-related,” says Eskild Holm Nielsen, dean of the faculty of engineering and science at Aalborg University. He says a close relationship with industry helps scientists understand which areas of fundamental research will have the most impact on commercial and social needs. “Our PhD students work a lot with real-life issues,” he says. “I would estimate that 75 percent of their projects are in collaboration with the private sector.”

Building foundations

In addition to DASTI's work and the relationships between individual companies and universities, there are several independent foundations encouraging collaboration between the public and private sectors. One example is the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation, which was established by the state in 2004 to increase the country's innovative output. “Many European countries are very good at doing fundamental research, but are challenged in transferring the research to the commercial sector,” says Klaus Bock, deputy chairman of the foundation's board. Initial results from the foundation's projects showed a significant impact on businesses. Small companies that took part in a project grew by an average of 77% by the time the project was completed.

Danish companies have also established independent foundations that are funding research in the public sector. Since 2007 the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF) has donated more than 1.8 billion kroner (US$320 million) to the University of Copenhagen to fund three research centres: the NNF Center for Protein Research, the NNF Center for Basic Metabolic Research and the Danish Stem Cell Center (DanStem). In 2010 it granted 700 million kroner (US$120 million) to the Technical University of Denmark to fund the NNF Center for Biosustainability. “We grant money to larger-scale projects because this helps make Danish research competitive internationally and attract the best researchers worldwide,” says NNF scientific officer John Wittschieben.

Scientists based at the centres say the investment is having the desired effect. “We have created vibrant academic environments,” explains Oluf Borbye Pedersen, scientific director of the metabolic genetics division at the NNF Center for Basic Metabolic Research. “It is our ambition to have a centre at Harvard-level.”

Matthias Mann, the research director at the NNF Center for Protein Research and a departmental director at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, says that because of the integration between business and academia it's easier to link fundamental research with applied research in Denmark than it is in Germany: “The collaboration with industry works extremely well.”

The University of Copenhagen has also received a funding boost from the A.P. Møller Foundation, owned by Danish shipping magnate Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, and the Nordea Foundation, associated with the Stockholm-based Nordea banking group. The Møller Foundation donation is contributing to the construction of a striking new science building at the university's Panum Institute. Ulla Wewer, dean of the faculty of health and medical sciences, says the developments are having a positive effect throughout the university. “It generates an atmosphere of enthusiasm,” she says. “Initiatives such as the new Panum building create momentum, which could help establish Copenhagen as an international science metropolis.”

The University of Copenhagen's proposed science building, an extension to the Panum Institute, to be completed by 2015. Credit: CF MØLLER

Supporting the best researchers

As well as funding infrastructure, commercial foundations in Denmark are also investing in academia's human resources. The Lundbeck Foundation, principal shareholder of the Lundbeck pharmaceutical company, awards grants for visiting professorships to attract international talent to Denmark and junior group fellowships to support mid-career researchers. “The fellowships are intended for what we call ‘post-postdocs’ — people who are ready to apply for a full-time post at a university,” explains Anne-Marie Engel, director of research at the Lundbeck Foundation. “We prioritise this group because we know there are more qualified people at this level than there are available positions at universities.”

Research supported by the Lundbeck Foundation does not have to be related to the business areas of its subsidiaries. While Lundbeck specialises in central nervous system (CNS) pharmaceuticals, for example, three of the fellows supported by the foundation are astrophysicists. “You don't see any CNS medicines coming from that,” says the foundation's chief executive, Christian Dyvig. “Quality is the determining factor.”

To further enhance Danish research, the Lundbeck Foundation has established the non-profit Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Foundation, which will award a single major international prize every year. ‘The Brain Prize’, worth €1 million (US$1.3 million), is given to a scientist or a group of scientists who are distinguished by an outstanding contribution to European neuroscience. The only criteria are that the winner has several years of their research career remaining, and that they agree to take part in an outreach programme with Danish neuroscientists. In March 2012 the Lundbeck Foundation announced it would donate €18 million (US$24 million) to a collaboration between several Danish universities, including Aarhus University, and the public mental health services in Greater Copenhagen for research on serious mental disorders.

International appeal

The investment in academia by the private sector and foundations in Denmark is attracting international attention. In 2010 the Chinese genomics powerhouse BGI (formerly Beijing Genomics Institute) announced it would establish its European headquarters in Copenhagen, following the largest-ever single grant from the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (84 million kroner; US$15 million) for a project to map the Danish genome. In February 2012 BGI opened its first European Genome Research Center at Copenhagen Bio Science Park (COBIS) and in March 2012 it announced a major global collaboration with Novo Nordisk. Since 2006, the total number of foreign applicants for university positions in Denmark has increased by around 8 percent. Half of all applicants are from outside Denmark, and one-third of all PhD students are foreign nationals.

The Danish government is striving to attract foreign researchers. One initiative, WorkinDenmark, is a website for international recruitment. The website has three associated regional centres offering advice on applying for jobs and moving to Denmark. Since 1992 a favourable tax scheme has been in place for foreign and Danish researchers who have worked abroad, which enables researchers employed by a Danish company or research institution to apply for tax reductions.

Nikolaj Helm-Petersen, technology and research attaché at the Innovation Center Denmark outpost in Munich, attributes part of the increase in foreign PhD students to the attractive working conditions in Denmark. “We probably have the world's highest PhD salaries,” he says. PhD students are both formally enrolled and employed at a university, with corresponding benefits such as paid maternity leave. Job satisfaction is also evident across other career stages: in 2010 Denmark came first in a global Nature survey about salaries and general working conditions (see http://go.nature.com/w8ylYL for more).

The Novo Nordisk Foundation, with its headquarters in Hellerup near Copenhagen, has donated more than 2.5 billion kroner (US$440 million) to public research in Denmark since 2007. Credit: MIKLOS SZABO

Denmark scores well on other measures of research success. The country is recognised as an innovation leader by the European Commission, second only to Sweden on the European Innovation Scoreboard. Since 2007 researchers in Denmark have been awarded 49 European Research Council (ERC) grants, 18 of which have gone to Aarhus University. Rector Lauritz B. Holm-Nielsen says the university has a leading position because its researchers stand out on the international research scene: “Our chemists, for example, have the highest citation impact for researchers in the Nordic region across all academic fields. That is critical when they apply for funds.”

Another encouraging sign for research in Denmark is the decision by the country's new government to cancel plans to make funding cuts to the 2012 national research budget. Denmark currently ranks third in the world after Finland and the United States in terms of investments in R&D in relation to GDP — excluding military-related costs, Denmark ranks second.

To consolidate Denmark's position in international research rankings — and continue to deliver real-world results — both the public and private sectors must continue their commitment to investing in science. “Denmark is among the global leaders in terms of overall investment in research,” says Helm-Petersen. “Talented researchers always want to be where the research funds are.”