Strategic research 2004–2014 www.fivu.dk/dcsr
Annual Report 2013/2014
Contents
3 Foreword 4 Problem-oriented research spurs innovation 6 International collaboration strengthens Danish research 8 A super-bright idea 12 Dementia — a shared European problem 15 Strategic research training programmes create opportunities and solutions 16 An entirely unique profile 18 An expensive and slimy problem 22 The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research 23 Public-private partnerships benefit researchers and companies 24 From hay and waste to food and medicine 28 30 32 36
Smarter use of existing knowledge The solar cell printer Hospitalisation at home on the couch A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies 38 The unruliness of research Key figures Board and organisation Funding recipients 2013 A decade of Strategic Research Secretariat
Cover photo: Dennis Kunkel/Phototake/Polfoto
40 42 43 54 57
Foreword Significant results from strategic research The Danish Council for Strategic Research seeks to promote and advance research with high international impact, which is geared to resolving key challenges in society and which will be potentially instrumental in achieving increased national economic growth and welfare. The Council was established in 2004. Over the decade that has now passed, the Council has prioritised the funding of research with the potential to realise value creation through public-private partnerships and the involvement of users and
ment promote the potential applicability of the research. — The Council has granted research funding worth approx. DKK 6.5 billion. — To this may be added co-financing of DKK 4.4 billion. — The average grant size has increased from DKK 4 million to approx. DKK 19 million. On the following pages we present a small selection of the diverse research activities funded by the Council.
international parties.
Shortly before the Council is dissolved, I would like to take this opportunity to thank both the present and former members of the Board and the Council's programme commissions for their immense and dedicated efforts which have been a crucial factor
The following sums up the significant results achieved by the Council over a decade of stra-
for the importance of the Danish Council for Strategic Research for both Danish research and Danish society generally.
tegic research: — Active international participation has been achieved in the majority (82 per cent) of the Council's funded projects.* — Participation in strategic research activities readies researchers for participation in international research projects. — Private-sector participation has been achieved in 91 per cent of the Council's funded projects.* — Participation by private-sector enterprises strengthens both basic and applied research. — The Council has contributed to the training of 1,750 PhDs. — PhDs trained in interdisciplinary strategic environments are attractive to business and industry. — Strategic research boosts university degree programmes.
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— Extensive interdisciplinarity and user involve-
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I look forward to the continuation of the many positive experiences with the Danish National Innovation Foundation. March 2014
Peter Olesen Chair of the Board The Danish Council for Strategic Research
* Figures for grants awarded in 2013.
Problemoriented research spurs innovation 4/
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Photo: Trine Bukh
Interview: Strategic research within the Danish National Innovation Foundation
Danish National Innovation Foundation At the end of 2013 a political compromise was made by which the Danish Council for Strategic Research will be dissolved on 1 April 2014. This same date will see the creation of the D anish National Innovation Foundation. Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research, Peter Olesen, will continue on the board of the Danish National Innovation Foundation until the end of 2014 together with the chair of the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation and the chair of the Danish Council for Technology and Innovation.
Danish society needs a foundation that is mandated to operate strategically without constraints in order to pave the way for even more research-based innovation. The opinion comes from the Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research, Peter Olesen, ahead of the creation of the Danish National Innovation Foun dation on 1 April 2014. But the hope is also that the foundation will catalyse strengthened international research collaboration.
research, and to it being conducted in interdisciplinary settings, in close interaction with users.
“In the decade of its existence, the Danish Council for Strategic Research has been an important factor in strengthening public-private partnerships on research focused on solving significant challenges in society,” says Peter Olesen, who has chaired the Council since 2008. “The Council
at Horizon2020. We are in great need of strategic research conducted within public-private partnerships, and with the involvement of relevant users. This is the best guarantee that the research
has served as the catalyst in advancing research collaboration that could not have happened spontaneously.” One of the areas given especially high priority by the Danish Council for Strategic Research has been that of catalysing international collaboration. “We live in a globalised world where the competition is very tough. To keep Danish research at the forefront, we have to collaborate with the best in the world. Only in this way can we provide for the training of highly qualified researchers and graduates for both the public and private sectors," says Peter Olsen. “This is crucially important for Danish business and industry's competitiveness on the global market and for the development of the public sector.” The Council's focus has certainly been to get international collaboration into gear. In its first year, less than a quarter of the Council's grants were made to research conducted in active partnership with international researchers. Today this is more the rule rather than the exception. The double bottom line: training and innovation More than half of the Council's grants are used for research training. This provides a vital boost to research-based teaching, and hence to future graduates' qualifications in strategically important areas. But the Council also attaches importance to the problem-oriented focus of the
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“It paves the way for the research-based innovation on which Denmark will be reliant in the future,” Peter Olesen asserts. “We operate with a kind of double bottom line: We have to ensure both capacity-building at the universities and the translation of research into innovation in the private and public sectors.” Consequently, there will also be a need for investment in strategic research in the years ahead. Peter Olesen predicts that the interdisciplinary approach to solving significant challenges in society within, for example, health, foods, the environment, energy and transport is set to become far more prominent in international contexts: “The EU has also adopted the approach – just look
results will actually be used by large and small enterprises, public authorities, hospitals and educational institutions.” Danish National Innovation Foundation The agreement on the Danish National Innovation Foundation stipulates the balance that is to exist between grants for strategic research and grants for technology development and innovation. Consequently, Peter Olesen is expecting more than half of the foundation's grants to continue to be made to strategic research. At the same time, Peter Olesen emphasises that Danish society needs a foundation that is mandated to operate strategically without constraints in order to pave the way for even more research-based innovation. Asked where the Danish National Innovation Foundation will be in ten years, the retiring chair expresses the hope that the system of operating at arm's length from the political system will be upheld: “Firstly, I hope that the foundation is still in existence in ten years' time, and that it is permitted to pursue long-term strategic plans without frequent politically-determined adjustments. I also hope that the foundation will have proved an effective catalyst for public-private partnerships on research and innovation at a high international level and with emphasis on user involvement, and that the foundation has catalysed further strengthening of international collaboration on research and innovation.” •
International collaboration strengthens Danish research One of the stated objectives for the Danish Council for Strategic Research has been that its grants shall serve to strengthen international research collaboration. Consequently, the focus has been on increasing the proportion of grants to projects involving international partners. In addition, the Council has concluded bilateral cooperation agreements with India, China, Brazil and South Korea, and participates in a number of
Bilateral cooperation: — Opens doors for Danish researchers seeking to collaborate with researchers in “new” growth countries, which Danes have no pre vious tradition for allying themselves with, and in which collaboration may be associated with certain barriers. — Provides Danish business and industry with opportunities on rapidly growing markets that are often also more difficult to gain access to than those with which Denmark traditionally has collaborated. — Facilitates access to a large body of global expertise.
multilateral partnerships at the European level. Participation in multilateral European research collaboration Participation in European research collaboration within areas of strategic importance for Denmark opens up opportunities for extending research partnerships across national borders, and for exerting Danish influence on calls for funding within Horizon 2020. To that end, since 2009, the Council has stepped up its European commitment through its ongoing allocations of increasing funding amounts to joint European research projects. The individual grants are typically smaller than the Council's grants, but are of strategic importance in promoting promising partnerships between the best researchers in Europe.
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— Is a long-term investment with high potential in terms of research and commercial applications. — Strengthens Danish research because it is carried out jointly with highly qualified international researchers. — Ensures researcher mobility – bright minds come to Denmark and Danish researchers have the opportunity to join some of the best international environments as visiting researchers.
The Danish Council for Strategic Research is participating in the following joint European programmes:
Funds earmarked for joint European projects 2010–2013
BONUS: Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme DKK. millions
JPI: Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change • Urban Europe • Neurodegenerative Diseases • Antimicrobial Resistance • Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life • More Years, Better Lives • Water • Climate • Oceans
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 13 20
12 20
11 20
10 20
ERA-net: Industrial Biotechnology 2 • ELECTROMOBILITY+ • ICT and robotics in agriculture • Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA) • EUPHRESCO 2 (plant health) • Human Infectious Diseases • Sustainable Food • Synthetic Biology • Fisheries, Aquaculture and Seafood Processing • Plant Sciences.
Grants for bilateral projects 2009–2013 DKK. millions 40
South Korea Brazil
30
India China
20
10
0 13 20
12 20
11 20
10 20
09 20
Number of grants and proportion involving international partners 2007–2013* Number of grants 70
100%
89%
60
85%
82%
76%
50
80%
60%
38%
30
40% 16%
Proportion of grants with international partners
20%
10 0
0% 13 20
12 20
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10 20
8
09 20
0 20
07 20
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Number of grants with international partners
60%
40
20
Number of grants
* The diagram includes strategic research projects, alliances, centers and SPIR.
Nanophotonics: Towards better and cheaper diodes
A superbright idea
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“In China, they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment, while in Denmark we’re good at nanofabrication.” Hayian Ou Associate professor, DTU Fotonik
The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode. In a close Danish-Chinese collaboration, Haiyan Ou is research ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources. Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is helping Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future – and these super-diodes can be used in everything from computer monitors to solar panels. Artificial light is essential in our society. We need streetlights and various types of indoor lighting; and we need lights for displays in telephones and for TV and computer flat screens. From this perspective, diodes have enormous eco-friendly potential, representing a huge, new market on a global scale. However, there are some challenges with diodes as we know them today. For instance, the light they produce is generally not very bright and they are expensive to manufacture. This has put a damper on any major commercial breakthrough.
Photo: Oanh/Scanpix
However, Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on changing the stakes. She is head of the Danish contribution to the bilateral research project SBLED – Super-Bright LEDs – as a researcher in and developer of new, super-bright LEDs that are also less expensive to produce. The Chinese partners in the project, Chinese Academy of Science and Beijing Jiao Tong University, are both leaders in the field of LEDs and are helping to turn the collaboration into a world-class research project.
Nanocrystals refract light better Aided by the latest research in nanophotonics, which is the engineering art of manipulating light and optics on a molecular scale, Haiyan Ou’s diodes convert more electricity into light than traditional diodes, which lose a significant share of their electricity as heat. Furthermore, the surface of the new diodes is pitted with nanoparticles of silver, which magnify the radiance in the surroundings. In this way, Haiyan Ou’s super-diodes are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than traditional LEDs.
of the research project is to improve Denmark’s competitiveness in the field of LEDs and – through collaboration with some of the strongest partners in China – to make Denmark a leader in the light technology of the future. To this end, Haiyan Ou has started her own business with a super-diode type that is already ready for market. Together with Innovation Centre Denmark in Shanghai, she is attempting to promote the diodes and to put them into mass production in China.
Optimising the production methods already in
Although this bilateral collaboration is very
use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the
promising, it can be a big challenge to plan and conduct technically demanding and complex
new super-diodes significantly less expensive to manufacture. The super-diodes can be used in many sectors and in many products that use artificial light sources. Diodes that emit more light entail lamps and devices that use less electricity or require fewer diodes to produce the desired brightness. The super-diode is ready for production The new diodes are not just excellent light emitters, but can also be used to capture light, for example in solar panels. Just as the new diodes emit significantly more light when they receive electricity, they also generate more electricity when they receive light. In this way, the new diodes can also be used to optimise electricity production, a process Haiyan Ou has already patented.
2013 Strategic Research Award winner In 2013, Haiyan Ou (to the left) received one of the first Strategic Research Awards for research of particularly high innovative potential. Strategic Research Awards are granted to researchers who conduct outstanding research with special strategic characteristics. The award is worth DKK 75,000 intended for research activities and competence building. The Council’s Chair of the Board, Peter Olesen, and the other price winner, Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech, is also seen in the picture.
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In other words, the super-diodes have an extremely wide field of application. In fact, one objective
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research such as nanotechnology on two different continents. Which is why good planning and coordination are essential. Collaboration across the globe The three partners in the project maintain daily contact via e-mail or they arrange meetings in China and Denmark. The result is a close DanishChinese scientific collaboration. At the same time, Haiyan Ou’s Chinese background helps to bridge the linguistic and cultural divides that can otherwise make collaboration between Europe and Asia difficult. And good communication between the partners ensures that everyone gets the most out of the
Light source of the future
Ordinary LED
SBLED
LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluorescent lamps. Traditional LEDs have an efficacy of 120 to 140 lumen per watt, but the SBLEDs might have an efficacy of 150 to 180 lumen per watt. That is an increase of 10 to 20 per cent. The service life is expected to be the same.
150 Lm/W
100 Lm/W
Nano holes Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED. Holes are pitted into to surface. There are silver nanoparticles in the bottom of the holes. This special surface treatment focuses and magnifies the light emission of the SBLED, as opposed to the random light emission in traditional LEDs.
collaboration: “The advantage is that we complement each other extremely well,” explains Haiyan Ou. “In China, they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment, while in Denmark we’re good at nano fabrication. At the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), we would not be able to achieve the level of our Chinese partners as quickly if it were not for this partnership. In this respect, international collaboration makes perfect sense.” •
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50 Lm/W
0 Lm/W
Super-bright LEDs Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life. Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources – such as streetlights, indoor lamps and flat screens. Super-Bright LEDs are better at converting electricity into light and magnifying the radiance in the surroundings.
Biomarkers: International collaboration makes Danish researchers better
Dementia — a shared European problem
For a small country like D enmark, it is vital that we collaborate with other countries in the face of significant societal challenges such as dementia. Today, approx. 7 million Europeans have A lzheimer’s or a similar dementia-related condition, and this figure is set to rise as Europe’s population ages.
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In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND), a number of European countries are working together to address the challenges associated with dementia disorders. One of the challenges within dementia research is harmonising the methods used to diagnose the conditions. They need to be uniform in clinical practice and in research-related contexts. This is what Professor Gunhild Waldemar from the University of Copenhagen is working on in the JPND-funded research project Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The objective of the project is to identify early
biochemical changes in the brain and to make it possible to diagnose Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s more quickly. “It is very valuable for Denmark that our research is comparable on an international scale,” explains Gunhild Waldemar, who is also head of the Danish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen University Hospital – Rigshospitalet. “It not only makes it applicable internationally, but in time it will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical industry. Through Danish researchers, companies
Collaboration on research in Europe: JPIs Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic collaborations that focus and mobilise research resources to address major societal challenges. Via the Danish Council for Strategic Research, Denmark is participating in nine JPIs. Since 2009, the Danish Council for Strategic Research has earmarked DKK 57.6 million for JPI research projects.
will be linked to the right international networks of researchers and methods, and they will be ready to take active part when it is technologically possible to develop and produce drugs targeting
direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimated today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year.
neurodegenerative diseases.” “The huge and growing number of dementia pa-
“It is very valuable for Denmark that our research is comparable on an international scale.”
A family of research nations
Gunhild Waldemar Head of the Danish Dementia Research
“Denmark is part of a family of research nations, all of which face a colossal challenge in this area. No single nation can cover the entire range of research needed in the field. And especially as a
Centre at Copenhagen University Hospital – Rigshospitalet.
JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic Research is participating in on behalf of Denmark. Professor Mogens Hørder, who has been on the JPND executive board since 2009, has helped to identify the areas where there is a particularly urgent need for research within neurodegenerative diseases. The initiative focuses not only on research that can prove significant for the individual, but also on the potentially enormous health and socioeconomic benefits:
small country, it is a huge advantage, as it means we can ally ourselves with specific research fields where we either have the best prerequisites or the greatest need,” says Mogens Hørder, adding: “We do not have a national strategic research programme within neurodegenerative diseases, but we can benefit from the results of the joint programme. And since we have been involved from the beginning, we have had a significant influence on the work being conducted.” By 2040, dementia-related costs will reach DKK 15–20 billion a year In Europe, about 7 million people live with Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative diseases. The annual cost of dementia disorders in Europe is approx. EUR 130 billion. Because the number of elderly people in the European population is rising sharply, the number of patients and the associated costs are expected to double every twenty years. Nearly 89,000 Danes are believed to have a neurodegenerative disorder. This figure is expected to increase to 160,000 by 2040. The
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tients requires sharper focus on research in welfare technological support functions within social and health services. There is a pressing need for new solutions,” maintains Mogens Hørder. “Even in the short term, research in welfare technology can result in significant benefits for community healthcare, which will, within the next few years, need to realign the nursing home structure to match the needs of the growing numbers of patients with dementia. Denmark already has special expertise in this area. Through our international research collaboration, we can boost the potential, and Danish companies can quickly and directly profit from the collaboration.” Fast action and awareness are crucial According to Gunhild Waldemar, the steep increase in the number of people with dementia makes fast action crucial: “In order to respond to this societal challenge, we really need to speed up the research. And we can only do this by joining forces internationally. We have to match the rate of the demographic trend, otherwise the price we as a society will have to pay for neurodegenerative diseases will be colossal.” For Mogens Hørder, greater awareness of the collaboration is vital for future research: ”It will boost user involvement and the participation of local authorities and the health service. With increased focus on research and health policy, Denmark’s participation could be even stronger, our influence on the efforts within JPND greater – and our ability to pull research in the direction of our own interests correspondingly better. The more attention and involvement we can get from the municipalities and the health sector, the more we will benefit,” says Mogens Hørder. “And that is what characterises strategic research: the users define the demand.” •
Strategic research training programmes create opportunities and solutions More than half of the grants funded by the Danish Council for Strategic Research go to PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. One of the objectives of research training programmes in a strategic research project is to attract and train talented young researchers. They help to boost capacity at the universities and contribute to solving major societal challenges in the public and private sectors.
Grants made by the Danish Council for Strategic Research are also culture-bearers in that the Council promotes collaboration across institutions – between public and private-sector research and between Danish and international researchers. This serves to promote the research concepts of newly trained researchers and their approaches to addressing a societal problem strategically. — From its creation in 2004 up to 2014, the Danish Council for Strategic Research has funded approx. 1,750 PhD students. — PhDs in strategic research projects often receive interdisciplinary training, since strategic research addresses societal challenges and therefore requires an interdisciplinary approach. — PhDs in strategic research projects are trained in environments that focus on international collaboration. In 2013, 82 per cent of the funded projects included binding international collaboration.
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Competence development: Knowledge boosting in the energy sector
An entirely unique profile
Since the Danish Council for Strategic Research was created in 2004, nearly 1,750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or partially funded by Council grants. Close to one third of all PhDs have been trained in sustainable energy and the environment. But what kind of experience comes with training as part of a large, strategic research project?
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One researcher who trained on funding from the Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter Stanley Jørgensen, who is now a researcher at DTU’s Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, at the Risø Campus just outside of Roskilde, west of Copenhagen. He specialises in 3D image characterisation, which can be used to optimise the energy conversion of fuel cells. Peter Stanley Jørgensen was a PhD student at one of the first strategic research centres to be funded by the Danish Council for Strategic Research, the Strategic Electrochemistry Research Centre (SERC). Today, strategic research centres receive grants of at least DKK 30 million, and at SERC eight PhDs and seven postdocs have been trained.
Photo: Trine Bukh
“Joining a centre like SERC was definitely a strength,” says Peter Stanley Jørgensen about his PhD studies, which he started in 2007. He notes in particular the centre’s bi-annual sessions where all PhD students had to present their projects, as a good way to structure the work. “And socially I also gained a lot from being part of such a team.” Salami technique Academically, Peter Stanley Jørgensen stuck out a little in the group of PhD students. Whereas most of the other PhDs came from a background in chemistry and physics, Peter Stanley Jørgensen’s starting point on joining the project was a background in mathematical modelling. At SERC he used this knowledge to characterise the structures of electrodes in order to understand why the electrodes in a fuel cell succeed or fail in energy conversion. The actual conversion of energy in a fuel cell – from chemical energy to electrical energy – takes place in so-called triple-phase boundaries, where the right materials are present and where gasses (hydrogen, oxygen and water vapour) have access via pores in the electrodes. In order to characterise the fuel cell, it is imaged using an electron microscope. With the aid of an ion beam and the salami technique – slicing off thin sections at a time – it is possible to gradually slice off a few nanometres of the fuel cell while capturing images of the process. The many images are then used for further modelling and calculations.
“A broad, interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a project.” Mogens Bjerg Mogensen Professor, head of SERC
Unique expertise The combination of mathematical modelling and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley Jørgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary competences. During his PhD studies, it was sometimes difficult to navigate two research environments, but on completing the programme, the expertise he had acquired proved useful in diverse contexts. This interdisciplinary PhD profile is also pointed out by the head of SERC, Professor Mogens Bjerg Mogensen, as one of the strategic research centres’ special strengths. “When researching and
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Green gas: fuel cells and electrolysis cells A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydrogen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products. Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmentally harmful particles. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are a special type of fuel cell that can also run efficiently on natural gas. The natural gas is used more efficiently in a fuel cell than in a gas turbine, and thus emits less CO2 per kWh. In the reversed process, electrolysis, energy is stored as hydrogen or green gas (carbon-neutral synthesis gas). It can be used to store energy from fluctuating energy sources, such as wind and the sun. The green gas can be used to make, among other things, carbon-neutral synthetic petrol for use in transport systems.
developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies, you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within disciplines such as chemistry, physics, mechanics and mathematics. This is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students on a project,” explains the head of the centre. New knowledge and project teams The interdisciplinary PhD and research environment at SERC has generated around 100 articles and two patent applications – and helped to strengthen the knowledge base at Topsøe Fuel Cell, which produces the type of fuel cell (solid oxide fuel cell – SOFC) on which SERC has concentrated most of its research. Furthermore, the centre has also applied its pre-existing knowledge about fuel cells to new contexts. One outcome of this is a new type of oxygen sensor, and another former SERC PhD is now working on a proof-of-concept project in close collaboration with the company Dansensor in an attempt to put the oxygen sensor into production. Peter Stanley Jørgensen also applies his knowledge from SERC in other contexts. “In the process we developed some data analysis methods which can also be applied in many other areas,” explains the researcher. For instance, they can be applied to electrolysis cells, batteries and materials for magnetic cooling. “That’s part of the interest in what I do – I get to learn about new fields of study where my expertise can be put to use, and where I'm part of a wider project team. My research can actually come to something.” •
Biofilm: Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics
An expensive and slimy problem
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“When bacteria combine into biofilm, they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces. These layers can be almost impossible to penetrate.” Michael Givskov Professor, Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)
Research in bacterial communication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic, multiresistant strains that infect 100,000 Danes each year. At the CAR research centre, chemists, biologists and doctors are working together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria: biofilm.
Photo: Dennis Kunkel/Phototake/Polfoto
What do dental plaque, the dank smell in a washing machine and chronic infections have in common? Quite a lot on a microscopic level. All three are caused by bacteria, which combine to form a slimy substance called biofilm – and in all three the slime is almost impenetrable. “When bacteria combine into a biofilm, they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces. These layers can be almost impossible to penetrate,” Professor Michael Givskov says about the problem which he and his staff at the Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR) are investigating. The special surface on biofilm makes it difficult for both the human immune system and antibiotics to combat these types of infections.
Recent years’ research in biofilm has shown that it plays a much bigger role in human infections than was originally thought. Around 100,000 Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infections, of which the vast majority occur during hospitalisation. Michael Givskov estimates that this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion – a year. Not to mention the human costs.
Bacteria find strength in numbers: biofilm Bacteria can join together to form complex structures called biofilm. When bacteria form biofilm they grow extremely strong on the surface. Bacterial colonies in biofilm can withstand up to 1,000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria.
Tic Tacs and biofilm “These chronic infections are a huge and serious problem with significant socioeconomic consequences,” maintains Michael Givskov, as he gives a tour of the brand new laboratories at the Panum Institute in Copenhagen, where some of the CAR researchers are based. “And today, there are no drugs that specifically target biofilm.”
While human white blood cells have no problem consuming individual bacterial cells, they have great difficulty penetrating the surface of biofilm. Via the biofilm the bacteria communicate to each other by way of quorum sensing, also called the QS system. Blocking this communication weakens the biofilm. The latest research shows that biofilm is the preferred form of existence for bacteria.
The walls bear images of biofilm taken with electron microscopes. Enlarged, the rod-shaped bacteria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky surface. The images are of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium, which is the model organism at the heart of the centre’s work. For a patient with cystic fibrosis, pseudomonas can be life threatening if it gets into the lungs. Much of what we know today about biofilm comes from research into cystic fibrosis – a disease on which researchers across the street at Copenhagen University Hospital – Rigshospitalet are world-leading experts. But pseudomonas is also a major problem in chronic ulcers and among patients with implants such as pacemakers or artificial hips. In such cases there is a risk of developing a chronic infection which can be extremely difficult to treat. The problem increases with the spread of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.
In close up. With a scanning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail. The film itself comprises, among other things, carbohydrates and non-coding DNA. The surface displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film.
Attacking the enemy’s communication lines In the war on antimicrobial resistance, Michael Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a strategy from classic warfare. Attack the enemy’s communication lines. Until the 1970s, it was generally thought that bacteria cells were so primitive that they could not communicate with each other. But they do communicate, and it is, in fact, a significant prerequisite to their ability to form biofilm. Bacteria communicate by secreting various chemical substances as part of a process called quorum sensing (QS). Researchers at CAR have discovered several substances that can block the QS communication between bacteria in biofilm. This effectively tricks the bacteria into thinking that they are no longer part of the biofilm, thus weakening the biofilm and making it less resistant to drugs and the human immune system. Garlic is the weapon Finding a substance that can weaken the biofilm has required close collaboration among several disciplines: biologists, chemists, doctors and ex perts in the human immune system. Microbiologists at the University of Copenhagen are working closely with chemists and nanotechnicians from DTU. “The ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique training in chemical biology. You won’t find this discipline anywhere else in Denmark today,” says Michael Givskov.
Photo: Maria Alhede & Thomas Bjarnsholt
The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted in a patent of the compound ajoene, derived from
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Mushroom structure Under optimum growth conditions in the laboratory, microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom. Ajoene, a substance in garlic, can weaken biofilm.
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garlic. This compound blocks bacterial communication within the QS system. But even though the substance has been proven effective, hospitals should not expect to see a drug any time soon. Financing not keeping pace Even though WHO has identified antimicrobial resistance as the biggest global threat to public health, not much is being invested in the area. Clinical drug trials are too expensive for the public coffers to finance. On top of that, the pharmaceutical industry is not interested in investing in new types of antibiotics. “The view in the industry is that antibiotics are a less profitable business area because there are restrictions on their use. At the same time, there is far too little public-sector research funding targeting the area,” comments Michael Givskov on the challenge of funding the development of new antibiotics. Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promising field. The methods being developed at CAR
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can technically be used anywhere there are problems with biofilm: in the health sector, in the agriculture and food industry and in households. This is an entirely new way of fighting undesirable bacteria – both the kind that threatens lives and the kind that threatens our washing. •
Antibiotic resistance — a global health threat All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of resistant bacteria. This is why restrictions have been placed on the use of antibiotics. The prevalence of resistant bacteria is increasing. Without effective antibiotics, we risk people dying from infections such as pneumonia. Bacteria respect no borders. This is why resistance is a global problem.
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The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research
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Strategic quality
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Strategic research is subject to special quality criteria. The Council assesses the quality of applications on the basis of three equivalent criteria: the relevance, potential impact and quality of the research. This three-fold quality concept is applied in evaluation of applications submitted to the Danish Council for Strategic Research, and in the Council's follow-up of funded research activities.
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Public-private partnerships benefit researchers and companies Solving major societal challenges requires collaboration between the private and the public sectors. The Danish Council for Strategic Research has therefore been a catalyst for public-private partnerships. In 2013, 91 per cent of the funded projects had private partners. Patents, licenses and applications An impact survey from 2011* gives a good idea of the huge potential of public-private partnerships: — 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m) resulted in spin-outs — 9 per cent of the research activities obtained patents, 15 per cent applied for patents and an additional 11 per cent had plans to file for patents — 4 per cent achieved licences, and 11 per cent had plans to enter into licensing agreements — In an impressive 32 per cent of cases, new or improved products, technologies, methods or equipment were taken into use, and a further 37 per cent expected this to happen.
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Researchers: Applicability increases For researchers in strategic research projects, these partnerships mean that: — More than half have obtained better insight into companies’ research needs — Two thirds have strengthened their partnerships with companies and are considering entering into partnerships in future — for 80 per cent, they resulted in increased applicability of their research.* Small and medium-sized enterprises: Access to expertise and methods Researchers are not the only ones to gain from public-private partnerships. A survey from 2011** shows that the participation of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships: — strengthens SMEs’ networks and their ability to maintain and exploit their networks — strengthens SMEs’ ability to develop and apply new technologies and expertise — strengthens SMEs’ market positions and their access to new markets. *Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants, conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011. **Survey of SMEs’ participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Research’s ordinary grants, the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innovation’s research vouchers, conducted by DAMVAD in 2011.
Bioeconomics: Set the proteins free
From hay and waste to food and medicine
Food and feed
Unutilised
Today Global climate challenges, explosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the world’s resources. But what if waste products such as hay and crop waste could be recycled as animal feed, antibiotics and diesel? The recently concluded BIOREF project worked on new methods for breaking down crop waste so that valuable substances like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off.
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Litter for animals
Heating and electricity
Soil nutrition
“Today, there is great interest in proteins, animal feed and medicine, so that is some of what our project will produce.� Birgitte Ahring Professor, Aalborg University and Washington State University Food and feed
Medicine and antibiotics Ingredients
Biochemicals
Materials
In the future
High quality feed
Biofuel
Litter for animals
Smarter utilisation of waste Today, large amounts of plant residue are regarded as waste or are utilised ineffectively. Via biorefining, it is possible to break down the plant and extract components for high value products such as biomedicine, biochemicals, new food ingredients or other materials.
Heating and electricity
Thus, smart use of biomass will help guarantee both food safety, feed production, production of heating and electricity, and environmental concerns, while the new bio-based alternatives will replace fossil-based materials and fuels.
Soil nutrition
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The world’s need for food and medicine is colossal, the extent of arable land is shrinking fast, and there is far too much resource wastage in the production of foods. For years, our resource consumption has contributed to climate problems, and our consumption is becoming increasingly dependent on non-sustainable solutions. And to make things worse: the limited resources are not being fully exploited. Huge amounts of waste products are incinerated as waste to produce electricity and heating. However, much of the waste we burn today is a gold mine of substances that can be used smarter – if we can extract and utilise them separately.
Danmark and bioeconomics In 2013, Denmark formed a national expert panel on bioeconomics to help the Danish Government sharpen focus on resolving challenges and profit from the potential of smarter exploitation of bioresources. Denmark and the Danish Council for Strategic Research have several ongoing research and innovation activities within biorefining and smart exploitation of biomass. Denmark is at the forefront in refinery technology and has strong companies operating in the field. Denmark has established several biorefinery pilot plants and there are plans to build a full-scale biorefinery plant.
This is what Birgitte Ahring, professor at Aalborg University and Washington State University, is working to find a solution to. The focus of the BIOREF strategic research project is crop waste, grasses and garden/park waste which contain significant amounts of proteins, calories and fibres that can be refined and utilised in highvalue products – and the residual product can still be converted into transport fuel, electricity and heating.
”Previously, research in bioeconomics was only about producing biofuels, but in recent years, we have seen much greater focus on highvalue products.” Birgitte Ahring Professor, Aalborg University and Washington State University Waste as a resource Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at Aalborg University and the University of Copenhagen have joined forces with three small Danish companies to conduct research into exploiting the value potential of biomass. And there is plenty of potential: biomass contains components that can be converted into medicine, feed, additives for feed and food products, biological alternatives to today’s fossil-based chemicals, ingredients, materials and biofuel. By utilising biorefining methods, biomass can be fractionally distilled into these many products via biological, (bio)chemical, physical and/or thermochemical conversion. A biorefinery can
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therefore become more than just a link in the chain that breaks down waste – now it can also produce optimised, useable biomass – like a factory that optimises an integrated production of many types of products in the most viable resource-related and economic value stream. “Previously, research in bioeconomics was only about producing biofuels, but in recent years, we have seen much greater focus on high-value products,” explains Birgitte Ahring. “We may as well find a smart way to utilise the components. Today, there is great interest in proteins, animal feed and medicine, so that is some of what our project will produce.” Danish crop waste replaces imported soy-based animal feed In Birgitte Ahring’s project, the partners have therefore conducted research in the best possible way to exploit crop waste via biorefineries by realising the value potential of the components. For instance, the removal of proteins from biomass has no impact on the viability of the residual product in biofuels. Today, we import tonnes of non-sustainable soy protein from South America, and Danish pig farming is completely dependent on the import of this feed supplement. By “accessing” the proteins by means of biorefining, the composition of the Danish biomass will make it significantly more suitable for animal feed, resulting in a real alternative to the massive soy imports. “The nutritional composition of the biomass we use for feed today doesn’t match the animals’ needs – it simply does not contain enough bio-
available accessible protein. But processing
Biorefining
methods such as biorefining can significantly improve the feed value of, say, hay and grass – it “opens” the structures of the plants,” says Birgitte Ahring.
“This project and our ongoing collaboration will lead to a new attitude to waste as a resource, and change the procedures for how waste is collected, processed and refined in order to fulfil the objective as a resource,” says Morten Brøgger Kristensen, head of technology at the Solum
The small company Biotest ApS proved to have the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants.
Group, which supplied pre-processed crop waste for biorefining, and contributed inputs on the
The company worked with the researchers to develop a method that could fragment grass and
profitability of various solutions from a macroscopic perspective. •
lucerne, resulting in a high-value food protein that can be used not only as concentrated feed for pigs to replace imported soy, but also has uses in the pharmaceutical industry. What makes the protein unique is that it is not denatured. Rather, its natural structures have been retained, which means that the protein is less allergenic and has a higher value. New patent application out “We have been quick off the mark and created something that is in great demand – a method to produce high-quality feed protein for animals. The potentials of this new method and the result-
Can a toilet fungus save the world?
ing protein product are enormous, both within food and feed. We have a patent application out, which we are expecting a lot from,” says Birgitte In biorefining, the ability of fungi and bacteria to decompose plant parts is exploited. The biomass is broken down with the help of enzymes from select microorganisms, combined with certain temperature and pressure levels. These processes fragments the biomass, and the components can be used for products such as biomedicine, high value protein, biochemicals and materials.
Ahring. During the project, the researchers also developed a new method of screening for new enzymes, which has already resulted in a patent that Aalborg University and Novozymes use today. Similarly, Birgitte Ahring hopes that this new method of refining biomass will serve to reduce the massive imports of soy protein for animal feed, make a difference in pharmaceutical production and develop medicines and antibiotics. “The biorefining process revealed that several of the plant components have antimicrobial effects. We haven’t tested them on a large scale yet, but there is an article on the topic on the way. This might have great potential for medicinal and prebiotic use,” says Birgitte Ahring. Protein and medicine can make biofuel good business The production of biomedicine and high-value protein can be key products in the efforts to replace fossil fuels with biofuels. This is because the price of biofuel is too low to make biorefining profitable. But if the same plant can produce high-value products, feed and biofuel, the subsequent profitable development would make it attractive to convert waste into resources.
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During the course of the project, researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown Aspergillus species.. It was found on a toilet seat in a summer cottage by a curious PhD student. The fungus has a uniquely high ability to produce an enzyme that can break down plant structures and thereby release the carbohydrates that are otherwise “packed away” and not bio-available. Furthermore, the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable, which is crucial in biorefining processes under high temperatures. This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plants’ energy content. The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolutionary enzyme has led to an important patent. Further research is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus.
Recirculation: Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle
Smarter use of existing knowledge
The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food p roduction and systems, and this has adverse impact on ecosystems, ground water, biodiversity, public health and global warming. Enter Tommy Dalgaard and his team of researchers who are working on a model to serve as a tool for rebalancing the nitrogen cycle on a grand scale. Nitrogen occurs naturally in air, soil and water. But the nitrogen cycle is not just a cyclical process of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants, consumed by humans and animals and returned
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to the soil as waste. Nitrogen-based soil fertilisation is crucial for protein supply to the growing number of domestic animals and humans, and so reducing nitrogen consumption is no easy task. So far, many stakeholders – from farmers to food producers and government authorities – have tried to solve the nitrogen issues in isolation. For decades this has simply shifted the nitrogen imbalance along, making the problem even more complex and perplexing. But there is every opportunity to change that now. Agro ecologist and senior researcher Tommy Dalgaard from Aarhus University heads the strategic research alliance DNMARK, which will create a tool that makes it possible in practice for all stakeholders to mitigate overconsumption of nitrogen and hence the problem of pollution from a collaborative, holistic perspective. Much
Photo: Adam Haglund/Mascot/Polfoto
of the unnecessary use of nitrogen that cause problems could be avoided if we pool our existing know-how and technologies. Both too much and too little nitrogen are not good Ignorance about environmental tolerances and the fertilisation requirements of individual soils or management of production waste has resulted in massive overconsumption, which in turn has caused the leaching of vast volumes of nitrogen into aquatic environments. Unnaturally high concentrations of nitrogen have caused major problems such as hypoxia in fjords and other bodies of water in Denmark, along with ground
Cooperation locally and globally The imbalance in the nitrogen cycle is both a local and a global problem. The combined tool will illustrate to the farmers the difference they can make if they join forces and involve other stakeholders in finding solutions. The farmers can assess and decide on the solutions on their own. The companies that have joined the alliance will be able to commercialise the model and export it abroad. An increasing production of meat and a large consumption of animal products in countries with a growing middle class, e.g. China, necessitates holistic solutions. USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool.
water pollution. Conversely, every year, farmers sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen allocation is limited on otherwise hardy land, where more crop could be produced and of a higher grade.
newly produced nitrogen has to be added again. All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty complex and confounding system.
The local farmer and the authorities who regulate farming may be well-intentioned, but if the farmer cannot determine how much nitrogen each field requires or how much the environment can tolerate, then he is caught between a rock and a hard place. Nitrogen comes from cities too Farming is not the only piece in the nitrogen puzzle; cities and industrial production also impact the nitrogen cycle imbalance. When industry processes foods and consumers prepare food, they discharge high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water.
“We maintain that both can be achieved, that is, producing more, while reducing environmental depletion.” Tommy Dalgaard Agro ecologist, Senior Researcher, Aarhus University In this way, nitrogen is moved around in a large and complex chain of concurrent processes: We apply nitrogen to farmland, from where it is both leached into aquatic environments and transferred to the industry that produces foods. . The problem is that from both industry and consumers, excessive amounts of nitrogen end up in air, discharge water and waste rather than being returned to the soil and the plants, which is why
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The solution is more complex than the problem – yet viable The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitrogen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy, environment and climate alike. “We need to apply the environmental technologies already available to us,” Tommy Dalgaard explains, “but linked to each other. That happens to be a Danish strength – the ability to tackle problems in every part of the chain. This explains why a great many partners have signed up to the alliance. The idea is to reinvent the system by linking our needs, know-how, experience, technologies and then researching any gaps in the chain.” The modelling system and advisory concepts Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be developing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit of a range of initiatives and to spur cooperation between the stakeholders. The alliance is made up of of Danish and foreign researchers, farmers, municipalities, advisers, ministries and enterprises. “Denmark spotted the problems before the others – we’ve been working on these problems since the 1980s. We just haven’t resolved them yet. The challenge is that we have to both reduce nitrogen pollution while creating added value” Tommy Dalgaard explains. “And we maintain that both can be achieved, that is, producing more, while reducing environmental depletion.” •
Plastic solar cells: From under performer to competitive technology
The solar cell printer
Plastic wrap with laser cutting
Glue
Positive electrodes
Light absorbing layers
Negative electrodes
Solar cell modul
Through participation in a strategic research project on plastic solar cells, Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM), located in Birkerød, has developed new printing technologies, which are launching GM into a new market. The new solar cells can be produced at low temperatures with inexpensive and readily available materials. This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable – financially as well as environmentally.
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The future production of solar cells with existing technology risks being thwarted by a lack of the right materials and high production costs. In the recently concluded project, “Polymer solar cells for solar energy conversion”, Professor Frederik C. Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark broad and world-leading expertise within plastic solar cells: “We have detailed knowledge of how to produce the necessary materials, the stability of plastic solar cells and, especially, the methods for producing them under industrial conditions. We got off to a very early start with this technology, and I feel pretty certain that Denmark is a world leader in the area. However, we wouldn’t be if it weren’t for this research project,” explains Frederik C. Krebs.
“Originally, the plastic solar cell was an underper-
high-quality Chinese manufacturers. Today, GM
former, but today its effect – that is, it’s electricity
is one of a very few companies to offer this new technology, and that gives the company a huge
production – is catching up to that of traditional solar cells. Since they already have a smaller eco-footprint and can also be produced much faster and cheaper, I think the prospects look very promising.”
“Within a relatively short space of time, we have developed a new, high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conventional printing machines.” Uffe Nielsen Director, Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM) The research matches new companies A notable characteristic of this research pro-
competitive edge. Production for the energy market One characteristic of multi-year research projects is a distinct difficulty in predicting just where the research will lead. However, as Frederik C. Krebs notes, this is the strength of research: “In contrast to GM, EnergiMidt was involved from the very outset – but it was too early; they couldn’t play an active role in the project at that time.” At this time, however, the research is ready for the next step. A competitive plastic solar cell plant requires the right combination of efficiency and solar cell service life, but this is a problem which Frederik C. Krebs expects to be resolved within two years. And so the power company, Energi Midt, is again involved, only this time in a new project. “Now the technology has evolved to a stage where an actual power company would be a likely candidate,” explains Frederik C. Krebs. •
ject has been the involvement of private-sector companies from the outset. However, over time, the research developed in new directions, and other companies turned out to be a process and production-related match with the research findings and the materials used in the production of plastic solar cells. The printing firm GM, located in Birkerød outside Copenhagen, develops advanced printing machines, and thanks to the partnership with DTU, the company’s CEO has managed to lead GM into a new and much larger market. “Our production plants suit the processes and the technology that form the basis for the production of plastic solar cells. And within a relatively short space of time, we have developed a new, high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conventional printing machines.” Double the annual sales Uffe Nielsen expects the company’s sales of the new products to double in the next financial year: “We are working with DTU on the development of a smaller version that will cost a quarter of the price of the current machine. This will open up our new markets even more. But the most important thing for our company is that this product enables us to move into a new market in relation to our conventional printing machines.” The traditional market is under a lot of pressure, and there is emergent competition from
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Research in solar energy From 2004 to 2013, the Danish Council for Strategic Research has granted DKK 75 million to solar energy research. A total of 13 different research projects have been funded. Of these, two are Sino-Danish grants (DKK 8.7 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million). The remaining approx. DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects. The focus of one research area is on cheaper, more efficient solar cells, including research into new materials. Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system – from singlefamily homes to large-scale distribution units.
Welfare technology: New options in medical care
Hospitalisation at home on the couch
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“Domiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for some types of patients.” Uffe Kock Wiil Head of Patient@home
The research and innovation platform Patient@home is designed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes. Domiciliary hospitalisation provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals. The aims will be achieved through the development of new services and products. Imagine you fall ill and need to go to hospital. But instead of being admitted to hospital with all its unfamiliar sounds, alien routines and its stream of new faces, you are hospitalised in familiar surroundings – in your own home. The result empowers patients with greater peace of mind and self-determination, while the hospitals can prioritise their resources more efficiently. Patients receive quasi-hospital care in their own homes on the recommendation of their GP, a home care nurse or the hospital. The carefully selected patients then have a special device installed in their home to monitor their state of health, and for use in communicating with their GP, home care nurse or hospital specialist. This communication proceeds either via telemonitoring or directly as video communication between the parties involved, making physical admission to hospital unnecessary. Photo: Patient@home
“Domiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for some types of patients,” explains Uffe Kock Wiil, head of Patient@home. “But it is also an advantage for us as researchers and for healthcare personnel: it offers untold opportunities for adopting new approaches, and so allows us to
do our bit in coming up with new solutions for patients.”
Patient@home
One of the aims of Patient@home is to achieve faster rehabilitation, more extensive outpatient
— Has received a SPIR grant of DKK 70m from The Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation and has a total budget of DKK 190m/EUR 25.5m for the period 2012-18
care and hospital care for people in their own homes. Through an interdisciplinary publicprivate partnership of healthcare personnel, patients, private enterprises and research institutions, Patient@home is developing a number of new welfare-technology-driven products and services to reduce both the number and duration of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals. This minimises pressure on the hospitals’ financial and human resources. But equally, it empowers patients to engage actively and take responsibil-
— Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors. — Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes. — Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally. — Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students.
ity for their own health.
“Reducing admissions not only spares the hospitals. People who are not critically ill are spared needless admission.”
Letting the elderly stay at home
Red, yellow, green?
One of Patient@home’s projects focuses on the large number of patients in need of high-intensity care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation. Sygehus Sønderjylland (Hospital of Southern Jutland) attends to some 9,500 citizens aged
Another way of reducing the number of hospital admissions is to improve the basis for assessing
Peder Jest Medical director at Odense University
sistant or home care nurse visiting the patient to take readings using custom-installed equipment. This might be a blood pressure monitor or a pulse
Hospital
65+ annually as emergency admissions. This corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospital’s medical admissions. The project will consequently be trialling the options for monitoring patients’ clinical pathways across sectors and services in order to reduce emergency (re)admissions, while strengthening the continuity of patient care. When a person is hospitalised in their own home, the monitoring is performed by the healthcare as-
oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen saturation. These monitoring devices communicate via a mobile device with a portal solution which consolidates the latest data with existing data on the patient. Via this portal, the hospital clinician, nurse and other professionals responsible for the patient, have direct access to the data, enabling them to make important decisions without having to obtain further information first. This way, the patient avoids having to be needlessly admitted for treatment, while costly – and even life-saving – time is saved. The project is also trialling preventive in-home admissions. Based on the values measured, and through domiciliary visits, the health service can intervene in time if a patient’s condition deteriorates, but while the patient is still at home. This prevents needless emergency admissions.
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the patients’ condition before they are admitted. A project at Odense University Hospital is working on this very aspect. The aim is to create more precise models using monitoring and data gathering in a joint database to ensure that the right patients are admitted. How will this be achieved? Almost all citizens admitted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emergency department. Triage assigns the patients to several categories: from red through yellow to green – depending on how critical their condition is. Red-category patients are sent directly to the hospital’s trauma unit, while yellow-category patients are assigned to emergency rooms, where they are machine-monitored. Green-category patients are retriaged subsequently. “Reducing admissions not only spares the hospitals. People who are not critically ill are spared needless admission with all the worries entailed for them personally and their next of kin,” says medical director at Odense University Hospital, Peder Jest. “But it is also an advantage for us as clinicians, in that it gives us more time to focus on patients who are seriously ill, and in that way improve care delivery to them and their experience as in-patients.” In this way, the project will give healthcare professionals new options for identifying patients deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs, i.e. blood pressure, pulse rate, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, temperature and the like. The planned approach to this is to develop new models, which are more effective in predicting and alerting personnel to potentially life-threat-
Remote monitoring The idea behind remote monitoring is that data from different measurements carried out at home electronically is transferred to a portal, which gives remote health care staff access to the data. The device can also provide video communication between the patient and the health care staff.
ening complications before they arise and consequently increase the reliability of assessments as to which patients must be admitted, and which can safely be discharged. A new Danish success story This system of in-home medical care holds great promise, for both public-sector partners such as hospitals, regions and local authorities, and the private sector.
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“There is huge growth potential at stake for businesses that are ready to catch the ball and run with it,” says Uffe Kock Wiil. “In fact, like the Danish wind turbine industry, this could be a major success story for Denmark if we continue to give it priority and pool our efforts.” As such, Patient@home not only holds growth potential for the public sector, but also to a great extent for the private sector. •
Photo: Filippo Bosco
Nanosensors: From research projects to offshoot and startups
A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies A strategic research project may branch out into multiple new offshoot research activities and spinout companies to market the research. This is what Anja Boisen and her research team achieved. In their research to develop sensors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries.
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“It all started at a conference in Trondheim, Norway, with a newly developed chip from DTU Nanotech,” recounts Anja Boisen, professor at the Department for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Technical University of Denmark - DTU. Anja Boisen enthuses about her research activities, which started with a modest invention capable of detecting particles such as airborne explosives. Later, this led to a much bigger and hugely successful research project. The discovery has huge potential in demining or detecting explosives at airports. With the potentials inherent in bringing the technology to market, and the reliability required by detection devices such as a minesweeper, Anja Boisen’s research team, working under the XSENSE strategic research project, developed
Nanograss
four different techniques for detecting explosives.
Drive and nerve
This resulted in a raft of new technologies with applications within a wide range of sectors.
Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught the research team to think out of the box and to
From eight to a thousand samples a second
ally themselves with experts they might not otherwise have collaborated with: “This entire journey,
Analysis of the components of airborne explo-
Nanograss is a fluid and gas sensor, which is produced by etching into a silicon plate. This results in a grass-like structure. When this substrate comes into contact with a fluid or gas, the silicon ‘straws’ trap the molecules by leaning towards each other in clusters.
sives requires many sensitive measurements
which started with explosives, is probably not over yet. The sensors we have developed have not
and tests. It certainly requires more than what conventional laboratory equipment can muster.
yet been combined in the package we originally envisaged. That said, the individual sensors
But at a chance meeting with researchers from Taiwan, the idea came up of using the technology
have major potential in their own right within a
from a DVD player. In this technique, sample particles are placed on a rotating disc, and a laser
wide range of areas such as in the food industry. Research discoveries and technological breakthroughs are often chance events.”
head detects the samples optically. Using this technology, the researchers can read a thousand
One essential component in strategic research
samples per second, whereas before, conven-
partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-
tional laboratory equipment would have let them
jects. “It’s vital to involve companies closely in the
read no more than eight.
research activities as early as possible and try to catch their interest,” stresses Anja Boisen. “You
This technology has now been patented and has proved to have huge potential. It also spawned yet another strategic research project, called MUSE, which refines the technology for reading and analysing different samples. The company Grundfos is involved in developing the technique for detection of hormones in water, and the company Virogates is looking at the technique in connection
have to keep asking them which research results they are interested in.”
with analysis of biomarkers in blood. Meanwhile, the company Unisensor is involved in development of the technology itself.
From the scientist’s perspective, gearing research to product enhancement and manufacturing in partnership with industry is never going to be plain sailing. It is a major step to take, and there are many pitfalls. “Some of what you’re researching may not turn out as expected, or might even come to nothing. As a researcher, you need huge drive, nerve and unfailing curiosity,” says Anja Boisen.
Nanograss Another technology developed under the XSENSE
So far, Anja Boisen’s research has been im-
project is the so-called nanograss substrate. Nanograss is a fluid and gas sensor produced by etching into a silicon plate. This results in a
mensely successful, resulting in three patents, a spinout, while another two startups are in the offing. Added to this, is the support for numerous
grass-like structure. When this substrate comes into contact with a fluid or gas, the silicon ‘straws’
new research and proof of concept projects. But the research is continuing – because there is no knowing what the least discovery might lead to. •
trap the molecules by leaning towards each other in clusters. This permits recognition and analysis of any molecules the plate comes into contact with. The nanograss substrate is cheap to mass-produce, requiring only two production phases. The new startup Silmeco has put the technology into production so that companies and universities can purchase the nanograss substrates for processes such as gas measurement. As for the original explosives detector, Anja Boisen and her research team are still working to enhance the product and bring it to market. The final product will most likely combine two or three of the developed sensors for optimum reliability. However, the research team still needs a major commercial partner in order to break through into the market and commercialise an actual minesweeper.
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From explosives to DVD technology: strategic research is evolving Anja Boisen’s research is a good example of how a strategic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing. The project has given rise to: — Three patents. — A new company startup – and two more in the offing. — A new strategic research project called MUSE on the application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples.
User-oriented follow-up: Flexibility promotes progress
The unruliness of research
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Whenever new concepts are refined, they rarely go by the book. This is true of both research and innovation. How to ensure that research projects deliver on their promise if the assumptions on which they were based change along the way? For the Danish Council for Strategic Research, the answer is user-oriented follow-up.
The Danish Council for Strategic Research's policy on follow-up The awarding programme commission follows the project from beginning to end, and must approve any material changes made along the way. The project is monitored through annual, mid-term and final research reports. Meetings are held ad hoc between the programme commission and the grant-holder. During the grant period, the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission.
For a decade, the Danish Council for Strategic Research has been making grants for research to solve challenges in society. But research is a complex process with many stakeholders, and for which no precise and advance definition can be made of the individual steps. This is particularly true of solutions-oriented research which is predi-
For Jacob Buur, user-oriented follow-up means so much because he happens to do research in user-driven innovation. Originally, SPIRE intended to research how users can aid innovation within
cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and alliances with the private sector and public-sector institutions. So how to strike the right balance
enterprises, but along the way, the project was enlarged to include innovation among employees within enterprises.
between risk-taking and investment supervision when the funded research projects often stretch over four to five years? “A research project tends to evolve a great deal while ongoing,” says Jacob Buur, professor at the University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE, Sønderborg Participatory Innovation Research Centre. The centre was launched in 2008 with funding from the Danish Council for Strategic Research, and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up on the grant was flexible and farsighted.
“It was surprising to discover that the more different stakeholders are involved, the better the result,” says Jacob Buur. “This made the process more difficult, but yielded better results. Innovation is socially shaped. This is a rethinking of innovation based on people rather than objects.” This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the Council’s follow-up was based on the research and the people involved in it so that the project could evolve along the way. Flexibility is a necessity
“It is inherently true of research that you can’t define the route to a specific end-product in advance.” Jacob Buur Professor at University of Southern Denmark and head of the research centre SPIRE Innovation happens along the way “Research, like innovation, happens between people. We noticed that personally when a researcher left the project, and we had to replace him,” Jacob Buur recounts. “It is rarely possible to find new people who are a perfect match for the original position, but in that situation we were encouraged by the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the project to match the new researcher’s expertise.”
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
The Danish Council for Strategic Research operates a policy of conducting follow-up on the research project’s own terms. As Jacob Buur puts it: “It is inherently true of research that you can’t define the route to a specific end-product in advance. The Council has focused on the progress made by the research rather than strict management according to a predefined plan, and this has given us an ideal framework for making the most of any windows of opportunity that presented themselves in the course of the research”. The fact that SPIRE found this approach successful for research is borne out by an evaluation conducted by an international panel of experts in 2013. The evaluation highlights that the researchers were proactive and seized the opportunities that presented themselves along the way. This produces better results – for the benefit of companies and society alike. •
Key figures 2004–2013*
* Including SPIR, but exÂcluding international grants. Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants.
Total grants
Research training
Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-
The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-
gic Research do not entirely follow the National Budget allocations, as some applications are considered in the year preceding allocation of funds under the National Budget. In 2013, the Council awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres,
funds a large number of PhD programmes. The number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellowships within the funded research activity.
alliances and projects, totalling DKK 619 million. DKK millions
Number of PhDs
1200
300
1000
250
800
200
600
150
400
100
200
50
0
0 13 20 12 20 11 20 10 20 09 20 08 20 07 20 06 20 05 20 04 20
13 20 12 20 11 20 10 20 09 20 08 20 07 20 06 20 05 20 04 20
Success rate
Average grant size
The success rate, meaning the percentage of total amounts applied for that were granted by the Council, ranged from 13 to 28 per cent.
The average size of grant in 2013 was DKK 18.8 million.
Per cent
DKK millions 20
30 25
15 20 15
10
10 5 5 0
0
The Danish Council for Strategic Research
13 20 12 20 11 20 10 20 09 20 08 20 07 20 06 20 05 20 04 20
13 20 12 20 11 20 10 20 09 20 08 20 07 20 06 20 05 20 04 20
40/
What has been funded? 2004–2013 Over the decade of its existence, the Danish
1%
Council for Strategic Research has granted in the region of DKK 6.5 billion to strategic research.
cl d an
Cl
% 25
im
gy er
at e
En
En vir o
nm
im
en
at e
ad
t6 %
basis of annual grant figures
ap t io
n
The figure shows how the funding breaks down across strategic themes – determined on the
nd h a 5% t l a He a se 1 e dis
Tran spor infra t a nd s t r uc ture 3 %
nd re a
2% t io n
lt u
Educ a
f li co n nd Cu 41/
The Danish Council for Strategic Research
% 26
Pe ac ea
od Fo
ct 0, so 2% c ie ty 4%
h wt o r s ic g logie g e at no 18% Str tech
Board and organisation The Danish Council for Strategic Research is composed of a Board of Directors and a variable number of programme commissions. In 2013-2014, the Council was composed of a board, whose members are listed below, and the programme commissions shown in the organisation chart. The Board: Chair Professor Peter Olesen, Director, ActiFoods ApS
Vice President Anne Skriver, Chr. Hansen A/S
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Vice-chair
Senior Advisor
Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen,
Dean Mette Thunø, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University
Svend Erik Sørensen, Danish Crown AmbA
Department of Computer Sciences, Aarhus University and Director, Alexandra Institute Ltd.
Professor Frede Blaabjerg,
Head of Department
Dean, professor Per Michael
Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University
Helle Westphal, DHI Denmark
Johansen, Faculty of Engineering, University of Southern Denmark
Vice-Dean, professor Birthe Høgh,
Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment
Board
Programme Commission on Individuals, Disease and Society
Programme Commission on Health, Food and Welfare
Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure
Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies
Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
Funding recipients 2013 The Danish Council for Strategic Research funds research within those areas in which the Danish Parliament makes annual allocations. In 2013, the Council awarded funding worth a total of approximately DKK 700m.
Programme Commision on Sustainable Energy and Enviroment In 2013, the Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment awarded approx. DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic research under the themes of “Energy and environment – energy systems of the future” and “Environmental technology”. Significant societal challenges in this research area Denmark is to be future-proofed by creating a sustainable growth economy and switching to energy and transport systems wholly based on renewable energy by 2050, in which the reliability of energy supply, climate and environmental considerations and cost-efficiency are the main pillars. The challenge consists of developing energy-efficient, intelligent and climate-friendly technologies capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of pollution, and of reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and, in so doing, also improving reliability of supply. The research shall promote improvements in which economic growth does not result in increasing negative environmental impacts, and where the focus is on a renewable, intelligent and environmentally sustainable energy system. Research efforts must also support the capacity for business and industry to capitalise on the major future market potentials in the field of climate, energy and environment.
Energy and environment — energy systems of the future CTEC – Center for thermoelectric energy conversion Professor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen, Aarhus University Grant: DKK 24.8m (total budget: DKK 36.0m) SEMPEL – Semiconductor materials for power electronics Professor Kjeld Pedersen, Aalborg University Grant: DKK 23.6m (total budget: DKK 29.3m) H2CAP – Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuels Professor Anker Degn Jensen, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 14.4m (total budget: DKK 17.9m) NomiGas – Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas production Professor Per Halkjær Nielsen, Aalborg University Grant: DKK 23.2m (total budget: DKK 30.5m) ABYSS – Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS – Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structures Senior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 21.6m (total budget: DKK 27.5m)
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
Wind2050 – Multidisciplinary study on local
HyDrive – Hydrostatic drive train transmis-
acceptance and development of wind power projects
sion for renewable energy applications
Senior researcher Kristian Borch, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 19.9m (total budget: DKK 23.6m)
Professor Torben Ole Andersen, Aalborg University Grant: 19,2 mio. kr. (total budget: DKK 24.8m)
UniTTe – Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidars Researcher Rozenn Wagner, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 13.8m (total budget: DKK 19.4m) CITIES – Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in cities Professor Henrik Madsen, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 44.0m (total budget: DKK 70.6m)
Environmental technology GEOCON – Advancing GEOlogical, geophysical and CONtaminant monitoring technologies for contaminated site investigation Professor Poul Løgstrup Bjerg, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 15.1m (total budget: DKK 24.4m) BUFFERTECH – Optimization of ecosystem
C3BO – Center for BioOil Professor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl, Aalborg University Grant: DKK 21.8m (total budget: DKK 30.0m)
services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methods Professor Knud Brian Kronvang, Aarhus University Grant: DKK 14.9m (total budget: DKK 21.3m)
CINEMA – Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 22.8m (total budget: DKK 45.0m) THERMCYC – Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 21.5m (total budget: DKK 30.9m)
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
Programme Commision on Health, Food and Welfare In 2013, the Programme Commission on Health, Food and Welfare awarded approx. DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research under the themes of “Connection between
Connection between food, health and lifestyle
food, health and lifestyle” and “Food”. Significant societal challenges in this research area Global changes in the natural environment and the climate, but also in societal and economic dimensions, are posing a mounting challenge in securing adequate supplies of food, feed, energy, materials and water for the growing world population. There is consequently a need to develop more efficient and competitive biological production that promotes health, the production of appetising quality foods, consumer protection, animal welfare and a clean environment and which in combination serve to realise the goals defined within sustainable production. Realisation of this vision holds considerable societal and commercial potential, not least in the international arena, and will thereby be a signifi-
HAPFAM – Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African markets Professor Jacob Holm Nielsen, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 20.0m (total budget: DKK 25.5m) StrucSat – How structure affects satiety Professor Richard Ipsen, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 17.4m (total budget: DKK 23.8m) OliGram – Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharides Associate professor Peter Stougaard, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 11.8m (total budget: DKK 15.5m)
cant driver for growth and development. LIFE-DNP – hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid, sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestylerelated diseases Professor Hans Stødkilde-Jørgensen, Aarhus University Grant: DKK 17.4m (total budget: DKK 33.9m)
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation
SPIR In 2013, the Danish Council for Strategic Re-
Food
search and the Danish Council for Technology and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 64.0m for a SPIR under the theme “Future production systems”.
PIGVAC – A plant-produced, immunoenhanced pig vaccine against PRRS Professor Finn Skou Pedersen, Aarhus University Grant: DKK 15.2m (total budget: DKK 19.5m)
SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research) is an initiative to make it more attractive for business and industry to participate in research and development activities with the Danish universities, approved technological
(MiCroP) – Microbial biofertilizers for
service institutes and other enterprises and innovation stakeholders.
enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste – novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food production Associate professor Ole Nybroe, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 19.3m (total budget: DKK 25.1m) BRCC – Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygni Associate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu, Aarhus University Grant: DKK 15.2m (total budget: DKK 19.8m) Keratin2Protein – Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversion Professor Søren Johannes Sørensen, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 13.3m (total budget: DKK 21.1m)
Future production systems MADE – Platform for Future Production Association MADE (Manufacturing Academy of Denmark), represented by Chair of the Board, Innovation Director Lars R. Enevoldsen Grant: DKK 64.0m, hereof: The Danish Council for Strategic Research: DKK 39.0m The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation: DKK 25.0m (Total budget: DKK 184.0m)
REWARD – Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industries Professor Søren Balling Engelsen, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 17.8m (total budget: DKK 26.2m)
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
Programme Commision on Individuals, Disease and Society In 2013, the Programme Commission on Individuals, Disease and Society awarded a total
Health research
of approx. DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic research under the theme “Health research”. Significant societal challenges in this research area Denmark faces a number of challenges in the health area. Disease causes great distress for the individual, and health service spending is of great economic significance. Patients must be assured of a high standard of treatment, and the organisation of the health service must guarantee patients maximum efficacy of treatment. The challenge consists both of preventing disease and of individualising the treatment of patients. Only through individualised treatment is it possible to progress to the next stage of development and avoid the consequences of overmedication and mismedication: injury and damage, side effects and high costs for both the individual and society.
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
NOCRC – Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectiveness Professor Torben Falck Ørntoft, Aarhus University Hospital Grant: DKK 20.0m (total budget: DKK 35.1m) FOETALforNCD – Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition: the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later life Professor Ib Christian Bygbjerg, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 17.9m (total budget: DKK 22.2m)
Programme Commision on Transport and Infrastructure In 2013, the Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure awarded a total of approx. DKK 15m to 2 grants for strategic research under the theme of “Energy efficient transport”. Significant societal challenges in this research area Transport systems are a vital nerve of modern society, and the transportation of people and goods by road, sea and air is increasing and is expected to continue to do so in future. The challenge consists of reducing the transport sector’s negative climate and environmental impacts balanced with the commitment to ensuring economic growth and increasing mobility. There are a number of challenges, e.g. as regards the negative environmental impacts of transportation, energy efficiency, coordination and long-term integration of urban and rural areas, and provision for more remote parts of the country. Research efforts in this area should contribute to developing and future-proofing transport and infrastructure systems designed to reduce pollution, congestion and transportation times by cost-efficient means.
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Energy efficient transport ACEMU – Advanced components for electro-mobility usage Professor Remus Teodorescu, Aalborg University Grant: DKK 7.3m (total budget: DKK 8.2m) In connection to this grant a development and demonstration grant of DKK 4.4m has been awarded to LithiumBalance A/S from EUDP, Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program. Contact: Project coordinator and CEO Lars Barkler. GREENSHIP – Green Liner Shipping Professor David Pisinger, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 7.5m (total budget: DKK 10.2m) In connection to this grant a development and demonstration grant of DKK 1.1m has been awarded to Maersk Line from EUDP, Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program. Contact: Project coordinator and Head of BI Business Partnering Jan Voetmann.
The Danish Council for Strategic Research
Programme Commision on Strategic Growth Technologies In 2013, the Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies awarded a total of approx. DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic research under the theme “Nanotechnology, biotechnology and information and communication technology”. Significant societal challenges in this research area The development and application of new technologies such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, synthesis biology, materials technology and information and communication technology are key drivers of productivity improvements and economic growth generally. The challenge lies in developing and applying the technologies for the development of new, innovative and competitive products and processes, while instilling public confidence in the use of new technologies. At the same time, the technologies may potentially pave the way for new solutions to key challenges facing society in areas such as energy, food, environment, health and education, while they may also form the basis for commercial development. Moreover, combining technologies holds great potential in relation to e.g. the development of the bio-based economy.
Nano-, and biotechnology and information and communication technology CIBIS – Creativity in blended interaction spaces Professor Kim Halskov, Aarhus University Grant: DKK 16.0m (total budget: DKK 25.3m) GPCR-Nanoscreen – Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptors Professor Dimitrios Stamou, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 22.9m (total budget: DKK 33.6m) EXMAD – Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond Professor Ulrik Lund Andersen, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 13.9m (total budget: DKK 19.0m) Neuro24/7 – Neurotechnology for 24/7 mental state monitoring Professor Lars Kai Hansen, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 6.8m (total budget: DKK 7.6m) MorphoMap – Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migration Professor Rune Linding, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 20.1m (total budget: DKK 26.3m)
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
Bilateral grants In 2013, the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted approx. DKK 40m for bilateral cooperation with the growth economies China, South Korea, Brazil and India. The funding was awarded by the programme commissions within the respective areas.
Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion BioCap – Bioenergy production from residual
Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy iDClab – Intelligent DC micro-grid living lab Professor Josep M. Guerrero, Aalborg University Grant: DKK 4.9m (total budget: DKK 5.4m)
biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl, University of Southern Denmark Grant: DKK 5.0m (total budget: DKK 5.6m) KDFuelCell – Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversion Associate professor Jens Oluf Jensen, Technical University of Denmark Grant: DKK 6.5m
PROAIN – PROActive INtegration of sustainable energy resources enabling active distribution networks Senior researcher Henrik William Bindner, Technical University of Denmark
(total budget: DKK 8.7m)
Grant: DKK 5.1m (total budget: DKK 6.6m)
Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology
Cooperation with Brazil within food science
DISC-B – Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkers Professor Stephen Michael Cohen, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 5.0m (total budget: DKK 12.3m)
BioSyn – Bioactive components from byproducts of food processing used in a syn biotic approach for improving human health and well-being Professor Lene Jespersen, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 3.3m (total budget: DKK 4.3m)
VICYDIP – The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 4.6m (total budget: DKK 7.6m)
IMPCON – IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumption Associate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Jørgensen, University of Copenhagen Grant: DKK 4.9m (total budget: DKK 5.7m)
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
Joint European grants The Danish Council for Strategic Research participates in a number of joint European research collaborations – BONUS, ERA-nets and Joint Programming Initiatives. In 2013, the Council awarded approx. DKK 59m to Danish participants in joint European projects. EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme.
Joint Programming Initiative: Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND) RiMod-FTD – Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementia Professor Albin Gustav Sandelin, University of Copenhagen Danish grant: DKK 1.3m (total European budget: DKK 24.8m)
ERA-net: Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2) DeYeastLibrary – Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applications Professor Jochen Förster, Technical University of Denmark Danish grant: DKK 1.9m (total European budget: DKK 11.5m) IPCRES – Integrated process and cell refactoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnology Associate professor Mhairi Workman, Technical University of Denmark Danish grant: DKK 3.4m (total European budget: DKK 16m) ProSeCa – Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniques Associate professor Timothy John Hobley, Technical University of Denmark Danish grant: DKK 3m (total European budget: DKK 17.8m)
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
APGeM – Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia Professor Leif Østergaard, Aarhus University Danish grant: DKK 1.9m (total European budget: DKK 12.9m)
ERA-net: Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect) HCV-ASSEMBLY – Identification of host factors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh, University of Copenhagen Danish grant: DKK 2.9m (total European budget: DKK 22.8m)
BONUS – Viable Ecosystems
ERA-net: European Phytosanitary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)
INSPIRE – Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt, Technical University of Denmark
EPITRIX – Epitrix species, life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard,
Danish grant: DKK 4.9m*
Aarhus University Danish grant: DKK 0.9m
(total European budget: DKK 30.8m)
(total European budget: DKK 2.0m)
BIO-C3 – Biodiversity changes – causes, consequences and management implications
Q-WOODCHIP – Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in
Head of innovation, ecology and aquaculture Anne Lise Middelboe, DHI Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Köster, Technical University of Denmark Danish grant: DKK 6.1m* (total European budget: DKK 48.7m)
wood chips for bio-energy Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn, University of Copenhagen Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen, Aarhus University Danish grant: DKK 1.9m (total European budget: DKK 3.2m)
COCOA – Nutrient COcktail in the COAstal zones of the Baltic Sea Professor Niels Jacob Carstensen, Aarhus University Professor Colin Andrew Stedmon, Technical University of Denmark Danish grant: DKK 7.0m* (total European budget: DKK 33.1m) Soils2Sea – Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard, GEUS Professor Jørgen Eivind Olesen, Aarhus University CEO Hubert de Jonge, SORBISENSE A/S Danish grant: DKK 11.2m* (total European budget: DKK 24.6m) CHANGE – Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic Sea Professor Helle Tegner Anker, University of Copenhagen Danish grant: DKK 0.9m* (total European budget: DKK 29.4m) BLUEPRINT – Biological lenses using gene prints Associate professor Lasse Riemann, University of Copenhagen Danish grant: DKK 8.7m*, ** (total European budget: DKK 33.4m)
MONOCHAMUS – Focusing on Monochamus spp., insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus Associate professor Lise Stengård Hansen, Aarhus University Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn, University of Copenhagen Danish grant: DKK 0.9m (total European budget: DKK 1.4m)
ERA-net: Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA) FareWellDock Senior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen, Aarhus University Danish grant: DKK 1.1m (total European budget: DKK 21.2m) SporeBiotic – Control of Clostridium difficile: an emerging threat to the European livestock industry Senior researcher Ole Højberg, Aarhus University Danish grant: DKK 1.8m (total European budget: DKK 12.2m)
* EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme. ** Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences.
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The Danish Council for Strategic Research
A decade of strategic research Serious games (2005–2006): Computer games in teaching
In the period 2004–2013, the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 6.5 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society. Recipients of funding included...
Handling of large data sets (2006–2010): Better algorithms
The project ”The educational potential of commercial computer gaming technology” researched computer gaming technology as an educational resource. Gaming scenarios were found not only to enhance acquisition of facts, but also identification of consequences and correlations during gameplay. The project’s prototype was a computer game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where the aim was for school pupils to identify with the parties to the conflict and apply their understanding to daily news reports. One outcome of the research conducted by this project was the creation of the Serious Games Interactive company in 2006. The company now has branches in Denmark and the US and designs educational games for a large number of different clients such as Amnesty International, the National Museum of Denmark, Maersk, Siemens and the World Bank. Meanwhile, research is still ongoing on the application of “serious games” in learning contexts, and the participants have subsequently participated in several EU-funded research projects in this field.
The use of sensor technologies such as laser altimetry has made it possible to collect vast volumes of detailed terrain data for potential applications such as analysis of flooding and erosion risk. The problem is that the data volumes for collection are so large that it is often impossible to analyse them within a reasonable timeframe. The project ”Efficient Handling of Massive Heterogeneous Terrain Data” has consequently developed new algorithms capable of handling massive terrain data sets on ordinary computers. The software company SCALGO is one of the outcomes of the project, and its software has been used in several projects such as one to predict regions in Denmark at risk of flooding as a result of sea-level rise and extreme precipitation.
Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007–2011): Why are we becoming overweight?
Global partnerships (2008–2011): Cultural intelligence
Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) received one of the first grants made to a research
Intercultural communication and collaboration within multinational groups is increasingly
centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Research. DanORC started out by researching how
daily fare for businesses and national education systems. In this arena, the project “Cultural Intel-
specific dietary components, regardless of their calorific value, increase the propensity for obe-
ligence as a Strategic Resource” has researched
sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes
how businesses and educational institutions may gain cultural intelligence, that is, assimilate cul-
and cardiovascular disease. Following the end of the original grant period, DanORC has continued
tural diversity among different employee groups.
as a de-institutionalised national research centre in the field of obesity research.
One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish
The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-
ing Carlsberg and Ecco). A typical challenge in Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by differences in perceptions of authority, which is why the project offers different recommendations for organisational approaches to making the most of
ting for collaboration between four universities, eight hospitals and a number of private-sector stakeholders such as Arla (dairy) and Chr. Hansen (ingredients) on the causes of obesity and the development of healthy foods. Besides medical, epidemiological, biological and nutrition research, DanORC has also conducted historical studies of diets in the previous century in order to account for the modern-day obesity epidemic.
and Asian senior and middle managers from Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-
cultural diversity.
Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014): Connecting climate knowledge
Clinical research saves lives (2010–2015): Starch or saline?
How do human activities and natural fluctuation impact each other in terms of climate change? The answer has been mapped by Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (CRES) in a multidisciplinary, joint scientific platform to provide a coherent picture of uncertainties and regional details in scenarios for the climate of the future. The platform combines scientific studies in hydrology, agriculture, coasts, extreme rain, drought, sea-level rise and societal factors.
Each year, millions of lives worldwide are threatened by sepsis. Yet there is next to no science behind the medical interventions routinely undertaken to treat weak, acutely ill patients in intensive care.
CRES researchers have made a powerful contribution to the climate change debate in Denmark and at international summits and conferences. In August 2014, CRES will host the Third Nordic International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation, where researchers, practitioners and policy-makers will meet to discuss how the Nordic countries can best adapt to climate change.
The research project “New strategies for life-saving interventions in patients with severe sepsis” investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids traditionally given to patients with sepsis: starchbased or saline solutions. The starch-based resuscitation fluid was found to result in increased mortality and a higher rate of complications. The project has consequently developed a new method for treating sepsis which has already been introduced in a number of European countries – and it saves lives.
Bikeability (2010–2013): Taking cycling seriously
MAB3 (2012–2016): A seaweed biorefinery
Cycling benefits both the environment and human health – and the Danes are a nation of keen cyclists. But what determines whether or not we hit the pedals? This question was studied by the interdisciplinary Bikeability project, drawing on a combination of research-based insights into transport, urban planning and public health. The project studies who cycles, how much they cycle, how cycling has changed over time, and how urban design and infrastructure influence the national passion for cycling. Green environs, few stops, long cycle lanes and improved bicycleparking facilities all serve to promote cycling. The project’s results were presented at a major conference on “Taking Cycling Seriously” in the Danish Parliament building in January 2014, attended by the Danish Minister for Transport,
Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand for food, feed and other products sustainably and
and are otherwise publicised by sources such as the Danish Cyclist Federation’s website at www.cykelviden.dk.
on a sufficient scale. So why not turn to marine resources? The MAB3 biorefinery has risen to this challenge, and will be converting the biomass in seaweeds like sugar kelp and oarweed into products such as fish feed and biofuel. The vision is for the biorefinery to help facilitate the switch from dependence on fossil carbons and mineral fertiliser to the use of sustainable carbon and nitrogen from sources such as plant biomass. Concurrent with actual production, the plant is researching sustainable methods for “marine farming” involving the cultivation of seaweed.
Keen to read more research stories? Visit www.strategiskforskning.dk/en and search among the 450 research projects, alliances and centres that have received funding from the Council since 2004.
www.strategiskforskning.dk/en
Secretariat The Danish Council for Strategic Research is served by a secretariat within the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation. The secretariat will be pleased to provide further information concerning the individual programmes and Danish strategic research in general. The website at www.fivu.dk/dcsr provides contact details for individual members of staff, by specialist area.
Foto: Trine Bukh
International collaboration International collaboration strengthens Danish research. The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries engaged in binding collaboration.* The partners comprise prestigious universities, international companies and specialised research institutions.
24
Norway
44
The numbers on the map indicate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for cooperation in grants awarded 2010–2013.
UK
14
66
Switzerland
USA
13
Most popular partner institutions — number of projects participated in Lund University Norwegian University of Science and Technology University of California Chinese Academy of Sciences ETH Zürich University of São Paulo Chalmers University of Technology Stanford University Delft University of Technology Harvard University Karolinska Hospital/Institute
20
The Netherlands
Brazil
12 8 8 6 6 6 5 5 4 4 4
* The count includes the Council’s ordinary grants, Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants. Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included.
Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems
South Korea-project promises better, lower-cost fuel cells
The BONUS programme aims to strengthen
The Danish-South Korean research project KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lowercost components for high-temperature (HT)
strategic research partnerships and innovation between the Baltic Sea countries targeting the protection of Baltic Sea ecosystems. Danish applicants have been
PEM fuel cells. The HT-PEM fuel cells have
very successful in the programme’s first call and funding has been granted to pro-
concurrent power production in, and heating of, homes. The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is one of Denmark’s cutting-edge leads, while
jects concerning biodiversity, sustainable
applications in cars, standby generators and
fisheries, the adverse impacts of nutrient discharges from agriculture and yacht hull
South Korea also has strong research environ-
antifouling treatments.
field, commercial companies are now working to bring the fuel cells to market.
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ments in the field. Alongside research in the
2 in 1: Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit
Sweden
The project ”Activating the Building Construction for Building Environmental Control” was among the first three projects granted fund-
47
ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research cooperation programme launched in 2009.
Germany
32 China India
14
The project – which has seen a very close collaboration between Danish and Chinese partners – has developed a promising prototype for a brand new type of heat pump which combines heating, airconditioning and heat recovery with ventilation and air purification. Given the ongoing large-scale replacement of the Chinese housing stock and major problems with air quality in Chinese cities, the heat pump holds great commercial potential.
Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit
Childhood obesity in Denmark and India
The Danish-Brazilian IMBICONT (Improved biological control for Integrated Pest Management in fruits and berries) project is researching new biological methods for controlling pests such as spider mites, aphids and weevils which wreak havoc in fruit and berry production. The project is concentrating on Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit – and apples in both countries. By combining the expertise and methods of different countries, the researchers are able to achieve more than they could working isolated.
Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer poor quality of life and a number of complications such as elevated blood pressure, enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes. The BIOCHILD project is studying 4,600 Indian and 1,500 Danish children to establish the underlying causes of child obesity. The unique combination of resources from India and Denmark will make it possible to identify a number of biomarkers for use in subclassification of childhood obesity.
Publisher The Danish Council for Strategic Research Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation March 2014 Design: e-Types Daily Printed by: CoolGray Circulation: 1.000 ISSN: 2245-3172 ISSN (online): 2245-3245 This publication is available on the website of the Danish Council for Strategic Research at www.fivu.dk/dcsr
Contact Secretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation Bredgade 40 DK-1260 Copenhagen K
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