The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

60
Annual Report 2013/2014 www.fivu.dk/dcsr Strategic research 2004–2014

description

Read about how strategic research has resulted in printable solar cells, how a visit to the toilet in a summer cottage led to a breakthrough in enzyme research and many other stories from a decade of strategic research.

Transcript of The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Page 1: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Annual Report 20132014wwwfivudkdcsr

Strategicresearch 2004ndash2014

Contents

ForewordProblem-oriented researchspurs innovation

International collaboration strengthens Danish researchA super-bright idea

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Strategic research training programmes create opportunities and solutionsAn entirely unique profile

An expensive and slimy problem

The quality concept of the Danish Council

for Strategic Research

Public-private partnerships benefit researchers and companiesFrom hay and waste to food and medicine

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

The unruliness of research

Key figuresBoard and organisationFunding recipients 2013A decade of Strategic ResearchSecretariat

34

6

81215

161822

23

2428303236

38

4042435457

Cove

r pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

The Danish Council for Strategic Research3

Figures for grants awarded in 2013

ForewordSignificant results from strategic research

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research seeks to promote and advance research with high international impact which is geared to resolving key chal-lenges 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 pri-

oritised the funding of research with the potential

to realise value creation through public-private

partnerships and the involvement of users and

international parties

The following sums up the significant results

achieved by the Council over a decade of stra-

tegic research

mdash Active international participation has been

achieved in the majority (82 per cent) of the

Councils funded projects

mdash Participation in strategic research activities

readies researchers for participation in inter-

national research projects

mdash Private-sector participation has been

achieved in 91 per cent of the Councils funded

projects

mdash Participation by private-sector enterprises

strengthens both basic and applied research

mdash The Council has contributed to the training of

1750 PhDs

mdash PhDs trained in interdisciplinary strategic

environments are attractive to business and

industry

mdash Strategic research boosts university degree

programmes

mdash Extensive interdisciplinarity and user involve-

ment promote the potential applicability of

the research

mdash The Council has granted research funding

worth approx DKK 65 billion

mdash To this may be added co-financing of DKK 44

billion

mdash The average grant size has increased from

DKK 4 million to approx DKK 19 million

On the following pages we present a small selec-

tion of the diverse research activities funded by the

Council

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 Councils

programme commissions for their immense and

dedicated efforts which have been a crucial factor

for the importance of the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research for both Danish research and Danish

society generally

I look forward to the continuation of the many posi-

tive experiences with the Danish National Innova-

tion Foundation

March 2014

Peter Olesen

Chair of the Board

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

4 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Interview Strategic research within the Danish National Innovation Foundation

Problem- oriented research spurs innovation

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research5

Danish society needs a founda-tion that is mandated to operate strategically without constraints in order to pave the way for even more research-based innova-tion The opinion comes from the Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Oles-en 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 inter-national research collaboration

ldquoIn the decade of its existence the Danish Council

for Strategic Research has been an important

factor in strengthening public-private partner-

ships on research focused on solving significant

challenges in societyrdquo says Peter Olesen who

has chaired the Council since 2008 ldquoThe Council

has served as the catalyst in advancing research

collaboration that could not have happened

spontaneouslyrdquo

One of the areas given especially high priority

by the Danish Council for Strategic Research has

been that of catalysing international collabora-

tion ldquoWe live in a globalised world where the com-

petition 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 ldquoThis is crucially

important for Danish business and industrys

competitiveness on the global market and for the

development of the public sectorrdquo

The Councils focus has certainly been to get inter-

national collaboration into gear In its first year

less than a quarter of the Councils 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 Councils 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

research and to it being conducted in interdisci-

plinary settings in close interaction with users

ldquoIt paves the way for the research-based in-

novation on which Denmark will be reliant in the

futurerdquo Peter Olesen asserts ldquoWe 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 sectorsrdquo

Consequently there will also be a need for invest-

ment 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 en-

vironment energy and transport is set to become

far more prominent in international contexts

ldquoThe EU has also adopted the approach ndash just look

at Horizon2020 We are in great need of stra-

tegic research conducted within public-private

partnerships and with the involvement of relevant

users This is the best guarantee that the research

results will actually be used by large and small

enterprises public authorities hospitals and

educational institutionsrdquo

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 Con-

sequently Peter Olesen is expecting more than

half of the foundations 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 arms length from

the political system will be upheld

ldquoFirstly I hope that the foundation is still in exist-

ence 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 re-

search and innovation at a high international level

and with emphasis on user involvement and that

the foundation has catalysed further strengthen-

ing of international collaboration on research and

innovationrdquo bull

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 Danish National Innovation Foundation

Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Olesen will continue on the board of the Dan-ish 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

6 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 inter-national research collaboration Consequently the focus has been on increasing the proportion of grants to projects involving inter-national partners

In addition the Council has concluded bilateral

cooperation agreements with India China Brazil

and South Korea and participates in a number of

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 ongo-

ing allocations of increasing funding amounts to

joint European research projects The individual

grants are typically smaller than the Councils

grants but are of strategic importance in pro-

moting promising partnerships between the best

researchers in Europe

Bilateral cooperationmdash Opens doors for Danish researchers seek-

ing to collaborate with researchers in ldquonewrdquo

growth countries which Danes have no pre-

vious tradition for allying themselves with

and in which collaboration may be associated

with certain barriers

mdash 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

mdash Facilitates access to a large body of global

expertise

mdash Is a long-term investment with high poten-

tial in terms of research and commercial

applications

mdash Strengthens Danish research because it is

carried out jointly with highly qualified inter-

national researchers

mdash Ensures researcher mobility ndash bright minds

come to Denmark and Danish research-

ers have the opportunity to join some of the

best international environments as visiting

researchers

7 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Grants for bilateral projects 2009ndash2013

South Korea

Brazil

India

China

DKK millions

0

40

30

20

10

20112012

20132009

2010

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research is participating in the following joint European programmes

BONUS Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme

JPI Agriculture Food Security and Climate Change bull Urban Europe bull Neurodegenerative Diseases bull Anti-microbial Resistance bull Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life bull More Years Better Lives bull Water bull Climate bull Oceans

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 bull ELECTROMOBILITY+ bull ICT and robot-ics in agriculture bull Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA) bull EUPHRESCO 2 (plant health) bull Human Infectious Dis-eases bull Sustainable Food bull Synthetic Biology bull Fisheries Aquaculture and Seafood Processing bull Plant Sciences

Funds earmarked for joint European projects 2010ndash2013

DKK millions

0

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

20112012

20132010

The diagram includes strategic research pro-jects alliances centers and SPIR

Number of grants and proportion involving international partners 2007ndash2013

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

Number of grants

20112012

20132007

20082009

2010

0

40

60

80

100

20

0

Proportion of grants with international partners

Number of grants with international partners

Number of grants

16

38

60

89

76

85 82

The Danish Council for Strategic Research8

A super- bright idea

Nanophotonics Towards better and cheaper diodes

A super- bright idea

The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode In a close Danish-Chinese collab-oration Haiyan Ou is research-ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is help-ing Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future ndash and these super-diodes can be used in everything from comput-er 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 chal-

lenges with diodes as we know them today For

instance the light they produce is generally not

very bright and they are expensive to manufac-

ture This has put a damper on any major com-

mercial breakthrough

However Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on

changing the stakes She is head of the Danish

contribution to the bilateral research project

SBLED ndash Super-Bright LEDs ndash as a researcher in

and developer of new super-bright LEDs that are

also less expensive to produce The Chinese part-

ners 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 col-

laboration into a world-class research project

ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment while in Denmark wersquore good at nanofabricationrdquo

Hayian OuAssociate professor DTU Fotonik

Pho

to O

an

h

Sca

np

ix

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 2: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Contents

ForewordProblem-oriented researchspurs innovation

International collaboration strengthens Danish researchA super-bright idea

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Strategic research training programmes create opportunities and solutionsAn entirely unique profile

An expensive and slimy problem

The quality concept of the Danish Council

for Strategic Research

Public-private partnerships benefit researchers and companiesFrom hay and waste to food and medicine

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

The unruliness of research

Key figuresBoard and organisationFunding recipients 2013A decade of Strategic ResearchSecretariat

34

6

81215

161822

23

2428303236

38

4042435457

Cove

r pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

The Danish Council for Strategic Research3

Figures for grants awarded in 2013

ForewordSignificant results from strategic research

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research seeks to promote and advance research with high international impact which is geared to resolving key chal-lenges 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 pri-

oritised the funding of research with the potential

to realise value creation through public-private

partnerships and the involvement of users and

international parties

The following sums up the significant results

achieved by the Council over a decade of stra-

tegic research

mdash Active international participation has been

achieved in the majority (82 per cent) of the

Councils funded projects

mdash Participation in strategic research activities

readies researchers for participation in inter-

national research projects

mdash Private-sector participation has been

achieved in 91 per cent of the Councils funded

projects

mdash Participation by private-sector enterprises

strengthens both basic and applied research

mdash The Council has contributed to the training of

1750 PhDs

mdash PhDs trained in interdisciplinary strategic

environments are attractive to business and

industry

mdash Strategic research boosts university degree

programmes

mdash Extensive interdisciplinarity and user involve-

ment promote the potential applicability of

the research

mdash The Council has granted research funding

worth approx DKK 65 billion

mdash To this may be added co-financing of DKK 44

billion

mdash The average grant size has increased from

DKK 4 million to approx DKK 19 million

On the following pages we present a small selec-

tion of the diverse research activities funded by the

Council

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 Councils

programme commissions for their immense and

dedicated efforts which have been a crucial factor

for the importance of the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research for both Danish research and Danish

society generally

I look forward to the continuation of the many posi-

tive experiences with the Danish National Innova-

tion Foundation

March 2014

Peter Olesen

Chair of the Board

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

4 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Interview Strategic research within the Danish National Innovation Foundation

Problem- oriented research spurs innovation

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research5

Danish society needs a founda-tion that is mandated to operate strategically without constraints in order to pave the way for even more research-based innova-tion The opinion comes from the Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Oles-en 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 inter-national research collaboration

ldquoIn the decade of its existence the Danish Council

for Strategic Research has been an important

factor in strengthening public-private partner-

ships on research focused on solving significant

challenges in societyrdquo says Peter Olesen who

has chaired the Council since 2008 ldquoThe Council

has served as the catalyst in advancing research

collaboration that could not have happened

spontaneouslyrdquo

One of the areas given especially high priority

by the Danish Council for Strategic Research has

been that of catalysing international collabora-

tion ldquoWe live in a globalised world where the com-

petition 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 ldquoThis is crucially

important for Danish business and industrys

competitiveness on the global market and for the

development of the public sectorrdquo

The Councils focus has certainly been to get inter-

national collaboration into gear In its first year

less than a quarter of the Councils 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 Councils 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

research and to it being conducted in interdisci-

plinary settings in close interaction with users

ldquoIt paves the way for the research-based in-

novation on which Denmark will be reliant in the

futurerdquo Peter Olesen asserts ldquoWe 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 sectorsrdquo

Consequently there will also be a need for invest-

ment 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 en-

vironment energy and transport is set to become

far more prominent in international contexts

ldquoThe EU has also adopted the approach ndash just look

at Horizon2020 We are in great need of stra-

tegic research conducted within public-private

partnerships and with the involvement of relevant

users This is the best guarantee that the research

results will actually be used by large and small

enterprises public authorities hospitals and

educational institutionsrdquo

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 Con-

sequently Peter Olesen is expecting more than

half of the foundations 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 arms length from

the political system will be upheld

ldquoFirstly I hope that the foundation is still in exist-

ence 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 re-

search and innovation at a high international level

and with emphasis on user involvement and that

the foundation has catalysed further strengthen-

ing of international collaboration on research and

innovationrdquo bull

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 Danish National Innovation Foundation

Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Olesen will continue on the board of the Dan-ish 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

6 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 inter-national research collaboration Consequently the focus has been on increasing the proportion of grants to projects involving inter-national partners

In addition the Council has concluded bilateral

cooperation agreements with India China Brazil

and South Korea and participates in a number of

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 ongo-

ing allocations of increasing funding amounts to

joint European research projects The individual

grants are typically smaller than the Councils

grants but are of strategic importance in pro-

moting promising partnerships between the best

researchers in Europe

Bilateral cooperationmdash Opens doors for Danish researchers seek-

ing to collaborate with researchers in ldquonewrdquo

growth countries which Danes have no pre-

vious tradition for allying themselves with

and in which collaboration may be associated

with certain barriers

mdash 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

mdash Facilitates access to a large body of global

expertise

mdash Is a long-term investment with high poten-

tial in terms of research and commercial

applications

mdash Strengthens Danish research because it is

carried out jointly with highly qualified inter-

national researchers

mdash Ensures researcher mobility ndash bright minds

come to Denmark and Danish research-

ers have the opportunity to join some of the

best international environments as visiting

researchers

7 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Grants for bilateral projects 2009ndash2013

South Korea

Brazil

India

China

DKK millions

0

40

30

20

10

20112012

20132009

2010

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research is participating in the following joint European programmes

BONUS Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme

JPI Agriculture Food Security and Climate Change bull Urban Europe bull Neurodegenerative Diseases bull Anti-microbial Resistance bull Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life bull More Years Better Lives bull Water bull Climate bull Oceans

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 bull ELECTROMOBILITY+ bull ICT and robot-ics in agriculture bull Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA) bull EUPHRESCO 2 (plant health) bull Human Infectious Dis-eases bull Sustainable Food bull Synthetic Biology bull Fisheries Aquaculture and Seafood Processing bull Plant Sciences

Funds earmarked for joint European projects 2010ndash2013

DKK millions

0

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

20112012

20132010

The diagram includes strategic research pro-jects alliances centers and SPIR

Number of grants and proportion involving international partners 2007ndash2013

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

Number of grants

20112012

20132007

20082009

2010

0

40

60

80

100

20

0

Proportion of grants with international partners

Number of grants with international partners

Number of grants

16

38

60

89

76

85 82

The Danish Council for Strategic Research8

A super- bright idea

Nanophotonics Towards better and cheaper diodes

A super- bright idea

The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode In a close Danish-Chinese collab-oration Haiyan Ou is research-ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is help-ing Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future ndash and these super-diodes can be used in everything from comput-er 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 chal-

lenges with diodes as we know them today For

instance the light they produce is generally not

very bright and they are expensive to manufac-

ture This has put a damper on any major com-

mercial breakthrough

However Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on

changing the stakes She is head of the Danish

contribution to the bilateral research project

SBLED ndash Super-Bright LEDs ndash as a researcher in

and developer of new super-bright LEDs that are

also less expensive to produce The Chinese part-

ners 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 col-

laboration into a world-class research project

ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment while in Denmark wersquore good at nanofabricationrdquo

Hayian OuAssociate professor DTU Fotonik

Pho

to O

an

h

Sca

np

ix

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 3: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research3

Figures for grants awarded in 2013

ForewordSignificant results from strategic research

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research seeks to promote and advance research with high international impact which is geared to resolving key chal-lenges 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 pri-

oritised the funding of research with the potential

to realise value creation through public-private

partnerships and the involvement of users and

international parties

The following sums up the significant results

achieved by the Council over a decade of stra-

tegic research

mdash Active international participation has been

achieved in the majority (82 per cent) of the

Councils funded projects

mdash Participation in strategic research activities

readies researchers for participation in inter-

national research projects

mdash Private-sector participation has been

achieved in 91 per cent of the Councils funded

projects

mdash Participation by private-sector enterprises

strengthens both basic and applied research

mdash The Council has contributed to the training of

1750 PhDs

mdash PhDs trained in interdisciplinary strategic

environments are attractive to business and

industry

mdash Strategic research boosts university degree

programmes

mdash Extensive interdisciplinarity and user involve-

ment promote the potential applicability of

the research

mdash The Council has granted research funding

worth approx DKK 65 billion

mdash To this may be added co-financing of DKK 44

billion

mdash The average grant size has increased from

DKK 4 million to approx DKK 19 million

On the following pages we present a small selec-

tion of the diverse research activities funded by the

Council

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 Councils

programme commissions for their immense and

dedicated efforts which have been a crucial factor

for the importance of the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research for both Danish research and Danish

society generally

I look forward to the continuation of the many posi-

tive experiences with the Danish National Innova-

tion Foundation

March 2014

Peter Olesen

Chair of the Board

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

4 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Interview Strategic research within the Danish National Innovation Foundation

Problem- oriented research spurs innovation

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research5

Danish society needs a founda-tion that is mandated to operate strategically without constraints in order to pave the way for even more research-based innova-tion The opinion comes from the Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Oles-en 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 inter-national research collaboration

ldquoIn the decade of its existence the Danish Council

for Strategic Research has been an important

factor in strengthening public-private partner-

ships on research focused on solving significant

challenges in societyrdquo says Peter Olesen who

has chaired the Council since 2008 ldquoThe Council

has served as the catalyst in advancing research

collaboration that could not have happened

spontaneouslyrdquo

One of the areas given especially high priority

by the Danish Council for Strategic Research has

been that of catalysing international collabora-

tion ldquoWe live in a globalised world where the com-

petition 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 ldquoThis is crucially

important for Danish business and industrys

competitiveness on the global market and for the

development of the public sectorrdquo

The Councils focus has certainly been to get inter-

national collaboration into gear In its first year

less than a quarter of the Councils 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 Councils 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

research and to it being conducted in interdisci-

plinary settings in close interaction with users

ldquoIt paves the way for the research-based in-

novation on which Denmark will be reliant in the

futurerdquo Peter Olesen asserts ldquoWe 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 sectorsrdquo

Consequently there will also be a need for invest-

ment 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 en-

vironment energy and transport is set to become

far more prominent in international contexts

ldquoThe EU has also adopted the approach ndash just look

at Horizon2020 We are in great need of stra-

tegic research conducted within public-private

partnerships and with the involvement of relevant

users This is the best guarantee that the research

results will actually be used by large and small

enterprises public authorities hospitals and

educational institutionsrdquo

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 Con-

sequently Peter Olesen is expecting more than

half of the foundations 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 arms length from

the political system will be upheld

ldquoFirstly I hope that the foundation is still in exist-

ence 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 re-

search and innovation at a high international level

and with emphasis on user involvement and that

the foundation has catalysed further strengthen-

ing of international collaboration on research and

innovationrdquo bull

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 Danish National Innovation Foundation

Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Olesen will continue on the board of the Dan-ish 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

6 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 inter-national research collaboration Consequently the focus has been on increasing the proportion of grants to projects involving inter-national partners

In addition the Council has concluded bilateral

cooperation agreements with India China Brazil

and South Korea and participates in a number of

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 ongo-

ing allocations of increasing funding amounts to

joint European research projects The individual

grants are typically smaller than the Councils

grants but are of strategic importance in pro-

moting promising partnerships between the best

researchers in Europe

Bilateral cooperationmdash Opens doors for Danish researchers seek-

ing to collaborate with researchers in ldquonewrdquo

growth countries which Danes have no pre-

vious tradition for allying themselves with

and in which collaboration may be associated

with certain barriers

mdash 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

mdash Facilitates access to a large body of global

expertise

mdash Is a long-term investment with high poten-

tial in terms of research and commercial

applications

mdash Strengthens Danish research because it is

carried out jointly with highly qualified inter-

national researchers

mdash Ensures researcher mobility ndash bright minds

come to Denmark and Danish research-

ers have the opportunity to join some of the

best international environments as visiting

researchers

7 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Grants for bilateral projects 2009ndash2013

South Korea

Brazil

India

China

DKK millions

0

40

30

20

10

20112012

20132009

2010

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research is participating in the following joint European programmes

BONUS Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme

JPI Agriculture Food Security and Climate Change bull Urban Europe bull Neurodegenerative Diseases bull Anti-microbial Resistance bull Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life bull More Years Better Lives bull Water bull Climate bull Oceans

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 bull ELECTROMOBILITY+ bull ICT and robot-ics in agriculture bull Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA) bull EUPHRESCO 2 (plant health) bull Human Infectious Dis-eases bull Sustainable Food bull Synthetic Biology bull Fisheries Aquaculture and Seafood Processing bull Plant Sciences

Funds earmarked for joint European projects 2010ndash2013

DKK millions

0

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

20112012

20132010

The diagram includes strategic research pro-jects alliances centers and SPIR

Number of grants and proportion involving international partners 2007ndash2013

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

Number of grants

20112012

20132007

20082009

2010

0

40

60

80

100

20

0

Proportion of grants with international partners

Number of grants with international partners

Number of grants

16

38

60

89

76

85 82

The Danish Council for Strategic Research8

A super- bright idea

Nanophotonics Towards better and cheaper diodes

A super- bright idea

The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode In a close Danish-Chinese collab-oration Haiyan Ou is research-ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is help-ing Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future ndash and these super-diodes can be used in everything from comput-er 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 chal-

lenges with diodes as we know them today For

instance the light they produce is generally not

very bright and they are expensive to manufac-

ture This has put a damper on any major com-

mercial breakthrough

However Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on

changing the stakes She is head of the Danish

contribution to the bilateral research project

SBLED ndash Super-Bright LEDs ndash as a researcher in

and developer of new super-bright LEDs that are

also less expensive to produce The Chinese part-

ners 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 col-

laboration into a world-class research project

ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment while in Denmark wersquore good at nanofabricationrdquo

Hayian OuAssociate professor DTU Fotonik

Pho

to O

an

h

Sca

np

ix

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 4: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

4 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Interview Strategic research within the Danish National Innovation Foundation

Problem- oriented research spurs innovation

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research5

Danish society needs a founda-tion that is mandated to operate strategically without constraints in order to pave the way for even more research-based innova-tion The opinion comes from the Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Oles-en 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 inter-national research collaboration

ldquoIn the decade of its existence the Danish Council

for Strategic Research has been an important

factor in strengthening public-private partner-

ships on research focused on solving significant

challenges in societyrdquo says Peter Olesen who

has chaired the Council since 2008 ldquoThe Council

has served as the catalyst in advancing research

collaboration that could not have happened

spontaneouslyrdquo

One of the areas given especially high priority

by the Danish Council for Strategic Research has

been that of catalysing international collabora-

tion ldquoWe live in a globalised world where the com-

petition 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 ldquoThis is crucially

important for Danish business and industrys

competitiveness on the global market and for the

development of the public sectorrdquo

The Councils focus has certainly been to get inter-

national collaboration into gear In its first year

less than a quarter of the Councils 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 Councils 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

research and to it being conducted in interdisci-

plinary settings in close interaction with users

ldquoIt paves the way for the research-based in-

novation on which Denmark will be reliant in the

futurerdquo Peter Olesen asserts ldquoWe 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 sectorsrdquo

Consequently there will also be a need for invest-

ment 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 en-

vironment energy and transport is set to become

far more prominent in international contexts

ldquoThe EU has also adopted the approach ndash just look

at Horizon2020 We are in great need of stra-

tegic research conducted within public-private

partnerships and with the involvement of relevant

users This is the best guarantee that the research

results will actually be used by large and small

enterprises public authorities hospitals and

educational institutionsrdquo

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 Con-

sequently Peter Olesen is expecting more than

half of the foundations 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 arms length from

the political system will be upheld

ldquoFirstly I hope that the foundation is still in exist-

ence 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 re-

search and innovation at a high international level

and with emphasis on user involvement and that

the foundation has catalysed further strengthen-

ing of international collaboration on research and

innovationrdquo bull

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 Danish National Innovation Foundation

Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Olesen will continue on the board of the Dan-ish 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

6 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 inter-national research collaboration Consequently the focus has been on increasing the proportion of grants to projects involving inter-national partners

In addition the Council has concluded bilateral

cooperation agreements with India China Brazil

and South Korea and participates in a number of

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 ongo-

ing allocations of increasing funding amounts to

joint European research projects The individual

grants are typically smaller than the Councils

grants but are of strategic importance in pro-

moting promising partnerships between the best

researchers in Europe

Bilateral cooperationmdash Opens doors for Danish researchers seek-

ing to collaborate with researchers in ldquonewrdquo

growth countries which Danes have no pre-

vious tradition for allying themselves with

and in which collaboration may be associated

with certain barriers

mdash 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

mdash Facilitates access to a large body of global

expertise

mdash Is a long-term investment with high poten-

tial in terms of research and commercial

applications

mdash Strengthens Danish research because it is

carried out jointly with highly qualified inter-

national researchers

mdash Ensures researcher mobility ndash bright minds

come to Denmark and Danish research-

ers have the opportunity to join some of the

best international environments as visiting

researchers

7 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Grants for bilateral projects 2009ndash2013

South Korea

Brazil

India

China

DKK millions

0

40

30

20

10

20112012

20132009

2010

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research is participating in the following joint European programmes

BONUS Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme

JPI Agriculture Food Security and Climate Change bull Urban Europe bull Neurodegenerative Diseases bull Anti-microbial Resistance bull Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life bull More Years Better Lives bull Water bull Climate bull Oceans

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 bull ELECTROMOBILITY+ bull ICT and robot-ics in agriculture bull Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA) bull EUPHRESCO 2 (plant health) bull Human Infectious Dis-eases bull Sustainable Food bull Synthetic Biology bull Fisheries Aquaculture and Seafood Processing bull Plant Sciences

Funds earmarked for joint European projects 2010ndash2013

DKK millions

0

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

20112012

20132010

The diagram includes strategic research pro-jects alliances centers and SPIR

Number of grants and proportion involving international partners 2007ndash2013

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

Number of grants

20112012

20132007

20082009

2010

0

40

60

80

100

20

0

Proportion of grants with international partners

Number of grants with international partners

Number of grants

16

38

60

89

76

85 82

The Danish Council for Strategic Research8

A super- bright idea

Nanophotonics Towards better and cheaper diodes

A super- bright idea

The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode In a close Danish-Chinese collab-oration Haiyan Ou is research-ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is help-ing Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future ndash and these super-diodes can be used in everything from comput-er 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 chal-

lenges with diodes as we know them today For

instance the light they produce is generally not

very bright and they are expensive to manufac-

ture This has put a damper on any major com-

mercial breakthrough

However Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on

changing the stakes She is head of the Danish

contribution to the bilateral research project

SBLED ndash Super-Bright LEDs ndash as a researcher in

and developer of new super-bright LEDs that are

also less expensive to produce The Chinese part-

ners 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 col-

laboration into a world-class research project

ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment while in Denmark wersquore good at nanofabricationrdquo

Hayian OuAssociate professor DTU Fotonik

Pho

to O

an

h

Sca

np

ix

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 5: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research5

Danish society needs a founda-tion that is mandated to operate strategically without constraints in order to pave the way for even more research-based innova-tion The opinion comes from the Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Oles-en 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 inter-national research collaboration

ldquoIn the decade of its existence the Danish Council

for Strategic Research has been an important

factor in strengthening public-private partner-

ships on research focused on solving significant

challenges in societyrdquo says Peter Olesen who

has chaired the Council since 2008 ldquoThe Council

has served as the catalyst in advancing research

collaboration that could not have happened

spontaneouslyrdquo

One of the areas given especially high priority

by the Danish Council for Strategic Research has

been that of catalysing international collabora-

tion ldquoWe live in a globalised world where the com-

petition 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 ldquoThis is crucially

important for Danish business and industrys

competitiveness on the global market and for the

development of the public sectorrdquo

The Councils focus has certainly been to get inter-

national collaboration into gear In its first year

less than a quarter of the Councils 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 Councils 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

research and to it being conducted in interdisci-

plinary settings in close interaction with users

ldquoIt paves the way for the research-based in-

novation on which Denmark will be reliant in the

futurerdquo Peter Olesen asserts ldquoWe 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 sectorsrdquo

Consequently there will also be a need for invest-

ment 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 en-

vironment energy and transport is set to become

far more prominent in international contexts

ldquoThe EU has also adopted the approach ndash just look

at Horizon2020 We are in great need of stra-

tegic research conducted within public-private

partnerships and with the involvement of relevant

users This is the best guarantee that the research

results will actually be used by large and small

enterprises public authorities hospitals and

educational institutionsrdquo

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 Con-

sequently Peter Olesen is expecting more than

half of the foundations 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 arms length from

the political system will be upheld

ldquoFirstly I hope that the foundation is still in exist-

ence 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 re-

search and innovation at a high international level

and with emphasis on user involvement and that

the foundation has catalysed further strengthen-

ing of international collaboration on research and

innovationrdquo bull

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 Danish National Innovation Foundation

Chair of the Danish Council for Strategic Research Peter Olesen will continue on the board of the Dan-ish 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

6 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 inter-national research collaboration Consequently the focus has been on increasing the proportion of grants to projects involving inter-national partners

In addition the Council has concluded bilateral

cooperation agreements with India China Brazil

and South Korea and participates in a number of

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 ongo-

ing allocations of increasing funding amounts to

joint European research projects The individual

grants are typically smaller than the Councils

grants but are of strategic importance in pro-

moting promising partnerships between the best

researchers in Europe

Bilateral cooperationmdash Opens doors for Danish researchers seek-

ing to collaborate with researchers in ldquonewrdquo

growth countries which Danes have no pre-

vious tradition for allying themselves with

and in which collaboration may be associated

with certain barriers

mdash 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

mdash Facilitates access to a large body of global

expertise

mdash Is a long-term investment with high poten-

tial in terms of research and commercial

applications

mdash Strengthens Danish research because it is

carried out jointly with highly qualified inter-

national researchers

mdash Ensures researcher mobility ndash bright minds

come to Denmark and Danish research-

ers have the opportunity to join some of the

best international environments as visiting

researchers

7 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Grants for bilateral projects 2009ndash2013

South Korea

Brazil

India

China

DKK millions

0

40

30

20

10

20112012

20132009

2010

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research is participating in the following joint European programmes

BONUS Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme

JPI Agriculture Food Security and Climate Change bull Urban Europe bull Neurodegenerative Diseases bull Anti-microbial Resistance bull Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life bull More Years Better Lives bull Water bull Climate bull Oceans

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 bull ELECTROMOBILITY+ bull ICT and robot-ics in agriculture bull Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA) bull EUPHRESCO 2 (plant health) bull Human Infectious Dis-eases bull Sustainable Food bull Synthetic Biology bull Fisheries Aquaculture and Seafood Processing bull Plant Sciences

Funds earmarked for joint European projects 2010ndash2013

DKK millions

0

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

20112012

20132010

The diagram includes strategic research pro-jects alliances centers and SPIR

Number of grants and proportion involving international partners 2007ndash2013

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

Number of grants

20112012

20132007

20082009

2010

0

40

60

80

100

20

0

Proportion of grants with international partners

Number of grants with international partners

Number of grants

16

38

60

89

76

85 82

The Danish Council for Strategic Research8

A super- bright idea

Nanophotonics Towards better and cheaper diodes

A super- bright idea

The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode In a close Danish-Chinese collab-oration Haiyan Ou is research-ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is help-ing Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future ndash and these super-diodes can be used in everything from comput-er 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 chal-

lenges with diodes as we know them today For

instance the light they produce is generally not

very bright and they are expensive to manufac-

ture This has put a damper on any major com-

mercial breakthrough

However Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on

changing the stakes She is head of the Danish

contribution to the bilateral research project

SBLED ndash Super-Bright LEDs ndash as a researcher in

and developer of new super-bright LEDs that are

also less expensive to produce The Chinese part-

ners 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 col-

laboration into a world-class research project

ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment while in Denmark wersquore good at nanofabricationrdquo

Hayian OuAssociate professor DTU Fotonik

Pho

to O

an

h

Sca

np

ix

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 6: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

6 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 inter-national research collaboration Consequently the focus has been on increasing the proportion of grants to projects involving inter-national partners

In addition the Council has concluded bilateral

cooperation agreements with India China Brazil

and South Korea and participates in a number of

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 ongo-

ing allocations of increasing funding amounts to

joint European research projects The individual

grants are typically smaller than the Councils

grants but are of strategic importance in pro-

moting promising partnerships between the best

researchers in Europe

Bilateral cooperationmdash Opens doors for Danish researchers seek-

ing to collaborate with researchers in ldquonewrdquo

growth countries which Danes have no pre-

vious tradition for allying themselves with

and in which collaboration may be associated

with certain barriers

mdash 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

mdash Facilitates access to a large body of global

expertise

mdash Is a long-term investment with high poten-

tial in terms of research and commercial

applications

mdash Strengthens Danish research because it is

carried out jointly with highly qualified inter-

national researchers

mdash Ensures researcher mobility ndash bright minds

come to Denmark and Danish research-

ers have the opportunity to join some of the

best international environments as visiting

researchers

7 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Grants for bilateral projects 2009ndash2013

South Korea

Brazil

India

China

DKK millions

0

40

30

20

10

20112012

20132009

2010

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research is participating in the following joint European programmes

BONUS Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme

JPI Agriculture Food Security and Climate Change bull Urban Europe bull Neurodegenerative Diseases bull Anti-microbial Resistance bull Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life bull More Years Better Lives bull Water bull Climate bull Oceans

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 bull ELECTROMOBILITY+ bull ICT and robot-ics in agriculture bull Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA) bull EUPHRESCO 2 (plant health) bull Human Infectious Dis-eases bull Sustainable Food bull Synthetic Biology bull Fisheries Aquaculture and Seafood Processing bull Plant Sciences

Funds earmarked for joint European projects 2010ndash2013

DKK millions

0

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

20112012

20132010

The diagram includes strategic research pro-jects alliances centers and SPIR

Number of grants and proportion involving international partners 2007ndash2013

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

Number of grants

20112012

20132007

20082009

2010

0

40

60

80

100

20

0

Proportion of grants with international partners

Number of grants with international partners

Number of grants

16

38

60

89

76

85 82

The Danish Council for Strategic Research8

A super- bright idea

Nanophotonics Towards better and cheaper diodes

A super- bright idea

The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode In a close Danish-Chinese collab-oration Haiyan Ou is research-ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is help-ing Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future ndash and these super-diodes can be used in everything from comput-er 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 chal-

lenges with diodes as we know them today For

instance the light they produce is generally not

very bright and they are expensive to manufac-

ture This has put a damper on any major com-

mercial breakthrough

However Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on

changing the stakes She is head of the Danish

contribution to the bilateral research project

SBLED ndash Super-Bright LEDs ndash as a researcher in

and developer of new super-bright LEDs that are

also less expensive to produce The Chinese part-

ners 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 col-

laboration into a world-class research project

ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment while in Denmark wersquore good at nanofabricationrdquo

Hayian OuAssociate professor DTU Fotonik

Pho

to O

an

h

Sca

np

ix

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 7: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

7 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Grants for bilateral projects 2009ndash2013

South Korea

Brazil

India

China

DKK millions

0

40

30

20

10

20112012

20132009

2010

The Danish Council for Strate-gic Research is participating in the following joint European programmes

BONUS Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme

JPI Agriculture Food Security and Climate Change bull Urban Europe bull Neurodegenerative Diseases bull Anti-microbial Resistance bull Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life bull More Years Better Lives bull Water bull Climate bull Oceans

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 bull ELECTROMOBILITY+ bull ICT and robot-ics in agriculture bull Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA) bull EUPHRESCO 2 (plant health) bull Human Infectious Dis-eases bull Sustainable Food bull Synthetic Biology bull Fisheries Aquaculture and Seafood Processing bull Plant Sciences

Funds earmarked for joint European projects 2010ndash2013

DKK millions

0

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

20112012

20132010

The diagram includes strategic research pro-jects alliances centers and SPIR

Number of grants and proportion involving international partners 2007ndash2013

40

50

60

70

30

20

10

Number of grants

20112012

20132007

20082009

2010

0

40

60

80

100

20

0

Proportion of grants with international partners

Number of grants with international partners

Number of grants

16

38

60

89

76

85 82

The Danish Council for Strategic Research8

A super- bright idea

Nanophotonics Towards better and cheaper diodes

A super- bright idea

The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode In a close Danish-Chinese collab-oration Haiyan Ou is research-ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is help-ing Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future ndash and these super-diodes can be used in everything from comput-er 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 chal-

lenges with diodes as we know them today For

instance the light they produce is generally not

very bright and they are expensive to manufac-

ture This has put a damper on any major com-

mercial breakthrough

However Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on

changing the stakes She is head of the Danish

contribution to the bilateral research project

SBLED ndash Super-Bright LEDs ndash as a researcher in

and developer of new super-bright LEDs that are

also less expensive to produce The Chinese part-

ners 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 col-

laboration into a world-class research project

ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment while in Denmark wersquore good at nanofabricationrdquo

Hayian OuAssociate professor DTU Fotonik

Pho

to O

an

h

Sca

np

ix

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 8: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research8

A super- bright idea

Nanophotonics Towards better and cheaper diodes

A super- bright idea

The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode In a close Danish-Chinese collab-oration Haiyan Ou is research-ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is help-ing Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future ndash and these super-diodes can be used in everything from comput-er 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 chal-

lenges with diodes as we know them today For

instance the light they produce is generally not

very bright and they are expensive to manufac-

ture This has put a damper on any major com-

mercial breakthrough

However Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on

changing the stakes She is head of the Danish

contribution to the bilateral research project

SBLED ndash Super-Bright LEDs ndash as a researcher in

and developer of new super-bright LEDs that are

also less expensive to produce The Chinese part-

ners 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 col-

laboration into a world-class research project

ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment while in Denmark wersquore good at nanofabricationrdquo

Hayian OuAssociate professor DTU Fotonik

Pho

to O

an

h

Sca

np

ix

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 9: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

A super- bright idea

The light source of the future is the LED or Light Emitting Diode In a close Danish-Chinese collab-oration Haiyan Ou is research-ing diodes that are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources Access to Chinese facilities and expertise is help-ing Denmark take the lead in the lighting technology of the future ndash and these super-diodes can be used in everything from comput-er 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 chal-

lenges with diodes as we know them today For

instance the light they produce is generally not

very bright and they are expensive to manufac-

ture This has put a damper on any major com-

mercial breakthrough

However Chinese-born Haiyan Ou is working on

changing the stakes She is head of the Danish

contribution to the bilateral research project

SBLED ndash Super-Bright LEDs ndash as a researcher in

and developer of new super-bright LEDs that are

also less expensive to produce The Chinese part-

ners 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 col-

laboration into a world-class research project

ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive equipment while in Denmark wersquore good at nanofabricationrdquo

Hayian OuAssociate professor DTU Fotonik

Pho

to O

an

h

Sca

np

ix

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 10: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

10 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 Oursquos

diodes convert more electricity into light than tra-

ditional 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 sur-

roundings In this way Haiyan Oursquos super-diodes

are expected to be 10 to 20 per cent brighter than

traditional LEDs

Optimising the production methods already in

use for LEDs and cheaper materials make the

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 emit-

ters but can also be used to capture light for ex-

ample in solar panels Just as the new diodes emit

significantly more light when they receive elec-

tricity 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

In other words the super-diodes have an extreme-

ly wide field of application In fact one objective

of the research project is to improve Denmarkrsquos

competitiveness in the field of LEDs and ndash through

collaboration with some of the strongest partners

in China ndash 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

Although this bilateral collaboration is very

promising it can be a big challenge to plan and

conduct technically demanding and complex

research such as nanotechnology on two differ-

ent 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 Danish-

Chinese scientific collaboration At the same

time Haiyan Oursquos 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

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 stra-tegic characteristics

The award is worth DKK 75000 intended for research activities and competence building

The Councilrsquos Chair of the Board Peter Olesen and the other price winner Filippo Bosco from DTU Nanotech is also seen in the picture

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 11: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Nano holes

Sectional drawing of the surface of a SBLED compared to a traditional LED Holes are pitted into to sur-face 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

Light source of the future

LEDs are 20 times brighter than traditional candescent bulbs and 5 times brighter than fluo-rescent 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

100LmW

150LmW

50LmW

0LmW

SBLED

Ordinary LED

The Danish Council for Strategic Research11

collaboration ldquoThe advantage is that we comple-

ment each other extremely wellrdquo explains Haiyan

Ou ldquoIn China they have the facilities and the

expertise to work with large-scale and sensitive

equipment while in Denmark wersquore 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 senserdquo bull

Super-bright LEDs

Diodes consume very little electricity and have a very long service life

Diodes can be used in all artificial light sources ndash 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

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 12: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

12 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Dementia mdash a shared European problem

Biomarkers International collaboration makes Danish researchers better

For a small country like Denmark 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 Alzheimerrsquos or a similar dementia- related condition and this figure is set to rise as Europersquos population ages

In the Joint Programming Initiative for Neurode-

generative 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

Alzheimerrsquos disease and Parkinsonrsquos disease

The objective of the project is to identify early

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 13: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research is compa-rable on an international scalerdquo

Gunhild WaldemarHead of the Danish

Dementia Research

Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash

Rigshospitalet

The Danish Council for Strategic Research13

Collaboration on research in Europe JPIs

Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) are strategic col-laborations 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 576 million for JPI research projects

biochemical changes in the brain and to make it

possible to diagnose Alzheimerrsquos and Parkinsonrsquos

more quickly

ldquoIt is very valuable for Denmark that our research

is comparable on an international scalerdquo explains

Gunhild Waldemar who is also head of the Dan-

ish Dementia Research Centre at Copenhagen

University Hospital ndash Rigshospitalet ldquoIt not only

makes it applicable internationally but in time it

will also strengthen the Danish pharmaceutical in-

dustry Through Danish researchers companies

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

neurodegenerative diseasesrdquo

A family of research nations

JPND is one of a total of nine Joint Programming

Initiatives which the Danish Council for Strategic

Research is participating in on behalf of Den-

mark Professor Mogens Hoslashrder who has been

on the JPND executive board since 2009 has

helped to identify the areas where there is a par-

ticularly urgent need for research within neuro-

degenerative 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

ldquoDenmark 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

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 needrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder adding

ldquoWe 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 conductedrdquo

By 2040 dementia-related costs will reach

DKK 15ndash20 billion a year

In Europe about 7 million people live with Alzhei-

merrsquos 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 89000 Danes are believed

to have a neurodegenerative disorder This figure

is expected to increase to 160000 by 2040 The

direct costs of dementia in Denmark are estimat-

ed today to be between DKK 10-15 billion a year

ldquoThe huge and growing number of dementia pa-

tients requires sharper focus on research in wel-

fare technological support functions within social

and health services There is a pressing need for

new solutionsrdquo maintains Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoEven

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 inter-

national research collaboration we can boost the

potential and Danish companies can quickly and

directly profit from the collaborationrdquo

Fast action and awareness are crucial

According to Gunhild Waldemar the steep

increase in the number of people with dementia

makes fast action crucial ldquoIn order to respond to

this societal challenge we really need to speed

up the research And we can only do this by join-

ing forces internationally We have to match the

rate of the demographic trend otherwise the

price we as a society will have to pay for neurode-

generative diseases will be colossalrdquo

For Mogens Hoslashrder greater awareness of the

collaboration is vital for future research rdquoIt will

boost user involvement and the participation

of local authorities and the health service With

increased focus on research and health policy

Denmarkrsquos participation could be even stronger

our influence on the efforts within JPND greater

ndash 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 benefitrdquo says Mogens Hoslashrder ldquoAnd that is

what characterises strategic research the users

define the demandrdquo bull

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 14: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

15 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

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 fel-lows 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 soci-etal 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 insti-

tutions ndash 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

mdash From its creation in 2004 up to 2014 the

Danish Council for Strategic Research has

funded approx 1750 PhD students

mdash PhDs in strategic research projects often

receive interdisciplinary training since stra-

tegic research addresses societal challenges

and therefore requires an interdisciplinary

approach

mdash 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

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 15: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

16 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

An entirely unique profile

Competence development Knowledge boosting in the energy sector

Since the Danish Council for Stra-tegic Research was created in 2004 nearly 1750 PhD students have participated in strategic research projects wholly or par-tially 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

One researcher who trained on funding from the

Danish Council for Strategic Research is Peter

Stanley Joslashrgensen who is now a researcher at

DTUrsquos Department of Energy Conversion and Stor-

age at the Risoslash 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 Joslashrgensen 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 16: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research17

Green gas fuel cells and electrolysis cells

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy via an electrochemical process in which oxygen and hydro-gen are converted into electricity with water and heat as residual products

Fuel cells that run off hydrogen emit no CO2 or environmen-tally 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

ldquoJoining a centre like SERC was definitely a

strengthrdquo says Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen about his

PhD studies which he started in 2007 He notes in

particular the centrersquos bi-annual sessions where

all PhD students had to present their projects as

a good way to structure the work ldquoAnd socially I

also gained a lot from being part of such a teamrdquo

Salami technique

Academically Peter Stanley Joslashrgensen stuck out a

little in the group of PhD students Whereas most of

the other PhDs came from a background in chemis-

try and physics Peter Stanley Joslashrgensenrsquos starting

point on joining the project was a background in

mathematical modelling At SERC he used this

knowledge to characterise the structures of elec-

trodes 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 ndash

from chemical energy to electrical energy ndash 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 ndash slicing off thin sec-

tions at a time ndash 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

Unique expertise

The combination of mathematical modelling

and energy expertise has given Peter Stanley

Joslashrgensen some rather unique interdisciplinary

competences During his PhD studies it was

sometimes difficult to navigate two research en-

vironments 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 cen-

tresrsquo special strengths ldquoWhen researching and

developing fuel cell and electrolysis technologies

you need a broad interdisciplinary effort within

disciplines such as chemistry physics mechan-

ics and mathematics This is not possible if you

only have one or a few PhD students on a projectrdquo

explains the head of the centre

New knowledge and project teams

The interdisciplinary PhD and research environ-

ment at SERC has generated around 100 articles

and two patent applications ndash and helped to

strengthen the knowledge base at Topsoslashe Fuel

Cell which produces the type of fuel cell (solid

oxide fuel cell ndash SOFC) on which SERC has concen-

trated 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 oxy-

gen 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 Joslashrgensen also applies his knowl-

edge from SERC in other contexts ldquoIn the process

we developed some data analysis methods

which can also be applied in many other areasrdquo

explains the researcher For instance they can

be applied to electrolysis cells batteries and

materials for magnetic cooling ldquoThatrsquos part of

the interest in what I do ndash I get to learn about new

fields of study where my expertise can be put to

use and where Im part of a wider project team

My research can actually come to somethingrdquo bull

ldquoA broad interdisciplinary effort is not possible if you only have one or a few PhD students in a projectrdquo

Mogens Bjerg MogensenProfessor head of SERC

Pho

to Trin

e B

ukh

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 17: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research18

An expensive and slimy problem

Biofilm Researchers follow new paths in search of effective antibiotics

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 18: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Research in bacterial commu-nication systems is the key to combating many of the chronic multiresistant strains that infect 100000 Danes each year At the CAR research centre chemists biologists and doctors are work-ing together to develop brand new drugs that can attack an ancient defence mechanism in bacteria biofilm

What do dental plaque the dank smell in a wash-

ing machine and chronic infections have in com-

mon Quite a lot on a microscopic level All three

are caused by bacteria which combine to form a

slimy substance called biofilm ndash and in all three

the slime is almost impenetrable

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into a biofilm they

produce certain chemical structures that form

several layers of protective surfaces These

layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

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

ldquoWhen bacteria combine into biofilm they produce certain chemical structures that form several layers of protective surfaces These layers can be almost impossible to penetraterdquo

Michael GivskovProfessor

Center for Antimicrobial Research (CAR)

Pho

to D

en

nis K

un

kel

Ph

oto

take

P

olfo

to

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 19: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

20 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Attacking the enemyrsquos communication lines

In the war on antimicrobial resistance Michael

Givskov and his colleagues have adopted a

strategy from classic warfare Attack the enemyrsquos

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 pre-

requisite 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

ldquoThe ten PhDs at our centre receive highly unique

training in chemical biology You wonrsquot find this

discipline anywhere else in Denmark todayrdquo says

Michael Givskov

The interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted

in a patent of the compound ajoene derived from

Recent yearsrsquo research in biofilm has shown that

it plays a much bigger role in human infections

than was originally thought Around 100000

Danes every year are afflicted by chronic infec-

tions of which the vast majority occur during

hospitalisation Michael Givskov estimates that

this costs the Danish health service DKK 4 billion ndash

a year Not to mention the human costs

Tic Tacs and biofilm

ldquoThese chronic infections are a huge and serious

problem with significant socioeconomic conse-

quencesrdquo 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 ldquoAnd today there are no

drugs that specifically target biofilmrdquo

The walls bear images of biofilm taken with elec-

tron microscopes Enlarged the rod-shaped bac-

teria look like giant Tic Tacs poured onto a sticky

surface The images are of the Pseudomonas aer-

uginosa bacterium which is the model organism

at the heart of the centrersquos 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 ndash a disease on

which researchers across the street at Copen-

hagen University Hospital ndash 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 infec-

tion which can be extremely difficult to treat The

problem increases with the spread of bacteria

that are resistant to antibiotics

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 1000 times the dosage of antibiotics than isolated bacteria

While human white blood cells have no problem consum-ing 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

In close up With a scan-ning electron microscope it is possible to see the biofilm in detail The film itself comprises among other things carbohydrates and non-coding DNA The sur-face displays some of the rod-shaped pseudomonas bacteria that make up the film

Photo Maria Alhede amp Thomas Bjarnsholt

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 20: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research21

garlic This compound blocks bacterial communi-

cation 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 pharmaceu-

tical industry is not interested in investing in new

types of antibiotics

ldquoThe 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 areardquo comments Michael Givskov

on the challenge of funding the development of

new antibiotics

Yet the war on biofilm is otherwise a very promis-

ing field The methods being developed at CAR

Antibiotic resistance mdash a global health threat

All use of antibiotics contributes to the development of re-sistant 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

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 ndash both the kind that threatens lives and

the kind that threatens our washing bull

Mushroom structure

Under optimum growth conditions in the labora-tory microbiologists at CAR have created a biofilm with a characteristic surface that looks like a mushroom Ajoene a substance in garlic can weaken biofilm

Day 0

Day 1 Day 2

Day 3 Day 4

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 21: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

22 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Strategic research is subject to special quality

criteria The Council assesses the quality of appli-

cations on the basis of three equivalent criteria

the relevance potential impact and quality of the research

This three-fold quality concept is applied in evalu-

ation of applications submitted to the Danish

Council for Strategic Research and in the Coun-

cils follow-up of funded research activities

The quality concept of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Re

leva

nce

Quality of the research

Strategicquality

Potential i

mp

ac

t

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 22: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research23

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 part-nerships 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

mdash 24 per cent of large grants (over DKK 5m)

resulted in spin-outs

mdash 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

mdash 4 per cent achieved licences and 11 per cent

had plans to enter into licensing agreements

mdash 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

Researchers Applicability increases

For researchers in strategic research projects

these partnerships mean that

mdash More than half have obtained better insight into

companiesrsquo research needs

mdash Two thirds have strengthened their partner-

ships with companies and are considering

entering into partnerships in future

mdash 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 medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) in strategic partnerships

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo networks and their ability to

maintain and exploit their networks

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo ability to develop and apply

new technologies and expertise

mdash strengthens SMEsrsquo market positions and their

access to new markets

Impact survey of Danish Council for Strategic Research grants conducted by TNS-Gallup in 2011Survey of SMEsrsquo participation in the Danish Council for Strategic Researchrsquos ordinary grants the special SME scheme and the Danish Council for Technology and Innova-tionrsquos research vouchers conducted by DAMVAD in 2011

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 23: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

24 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Bioeconomics Set the proteins free

From hay and waste to food and medicine

Global climate challenges ex-plosive population growth and a growing shortage of resources call for a smarter way to utilise the worldrsquos 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 substanc-es like proteins and antimicrobial agents can be utilised rather than burnt off

Unutilised

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

Today

Food and feed

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 24: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Smarter utilisation of waste

Today large amounts of plant residue are re-garded 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

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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research25

ldquoToday there is great inte-rest in proteins animal feed and medicine so that is some of what our project will producerdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

In the future

Food and feed

Medicine and antibiotics

Ingredients

BiochemicalsHigh quality feed

Materials

Biofuel

Litter for animals

Heating and electricity

Soil nutrition

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 25: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

26 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danmark and bioeconomics

In 2013 Denmark formed a national expert panel on bio-economics 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

The worldrsquos need for food and medicine is colos-

sal 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 con-

sumption 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 ndash if we can

extract and utilise them separately

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 gardenpark waste which contain

significant amounts of proteins calories and

fibres that can be refined and utilised in high-

value products ndash and the residual product can

still be converted into transport fuel electricity

and heating

Waste as a resource

Birgitte Ahring and her research colleagues at

Aalborg University and the University of Copen-

hagen 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 alterna-

tives to todayrsquos fossil-based chemicals ingredi-

ents materials and biofuel

By utilising biorefining methods biomass can be

fractionally distilled into these many products

via biological (bio)chemical physical andor

thermochemical conversion A biorefinery can

therefore become more than just a link in the

chain that breaks down waste ndash now it can also

produce optimised useable biomass ndash like a

factory that optimises an integrated produc-

tion of many types of products in the most viable

resource-related and economic value stream

ldquoPreviously research in bioeconomics was only

about producing biofuels but in recent years

we have seen much greater focus on high-value

productsrdquo explains Birgitte Ahring ldquoWe 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 producerdquo

Danish crop waste replaces imported

soy-based animal feed

In Birgitte Ahringrsquos 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 bio-

mass 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 ldquoaccessingrdquo 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 alter-

native to the massive soy imports

ldquoThe nutritional composition of the biomass we

use for feed today doesnrsquot match the animalsrsquo

needs ndash it simply does not contain enough bio-

rdquoPreviously research in bio-economics was only about producing biofuels but in recent years we have seen much greater focus on high-value productsrdquo

Birgitte AhringProfessor Aalborg University and

Washington State University

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 26: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research27

available accessible protein But processing

methods such as biorefining can significantly

improve the feed value of say hay and grass

ndash it ldquoopensrdquo the structures of the plantsrdquo says

Birgitte Ahring

The small company Biotest ApS proved to have

the key to the inaccessible proteins of plants

The company worked with the researchers to

develop a method that could fragment grass and

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

ldquoWe have been quick off the mark and created

something that is in great demand ndash a method to

produce high-quality feed protein for animals

The potentials of this new method and the result-

ing protein product are enormous both within

food and feed We have a patent application out

which we are expecting a lot fromrdquo says Birgitte

Ahring

During the project the researchers also de-

veloped a new method of screening for new

enzymes which has already resulted in a patent

that Aalborg University and Novozymes use to-

day 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 pro-

duction and develop medicines and antibiotics

ldquoThe biorefining process revealed that several of

the plant components have antimicrobial effects

We havenrsquot 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 userdquo 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 profit-

able development would make it attractive to

convert waste into resources

ldquoThis 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 resourcerdquo says Morten Broslashg-

ger Kristensen head of technology at the Solum

Group which supplied pre-processed crop waste

for biorefining and contributed inputs on the

profitability of various solutions from a macro-

scopic perspective bull

Biorefining

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

During the course of the project researchers by accident discovered an entirely new and previously unknown As-pergillus 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 ldquopacked awayrdquo and not bio-available

Furthermore the beta-glycosidase breakdown enzyme of the fungus is very thermostable which is crucial in biorefin-ing processes under high temperatures This makes it possible to exploit a much larger fraction of the plantsrsquo energy content

The discovery of the Aspergillus fungus and its revolution-ary enzyme has led to an important patent Further re-search is now being conducted on the biorefining potential of the fungus

Can a toilet fungus save the world

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 27: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

28 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Recirculation Research is to secure the nitrogen cycle

Smarter use of existing knowledge

The global nitrogen cycle is affected by our food production and systems and this has ad-verse impact on eco systems ground water bio diversity 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 pro-

cess of nutrients in soil being taken up by plants

consumed by humans and animals and returned

to the soil as waste Nitrogen-based soil fertilisa-

tion 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 ndash from farmers to food

producers and government authorities ndash 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 Tom-

my 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 28: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research29

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

water pollution Conversely every year farmers

sustain huge financial losses if nitrogen alloca-

tion is limited on otherwise hardy land where

more crop could be produced and of a higher

grade

The local farmer and the authorities who regu-

late 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 ni-

trogen cycle imbalance When industry processes

foods and consumers prepare food they discharge

high volumes of nitrogen to the air and water

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 con-

sumers 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

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 differ-ence 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 consump-tion of animal products in countries with a growing middle class eg China necessitates holistic solutions USA is likewise seen as a potential user of the new tool

newly produced nitrogen has to be added again

All of which compounds the imbalance in a pretty

complex and confounding system

The solution is more complex than the

problem ndash yet viable

The DNMARK alliance aims to produce a specific

and holistic tool for achieving a smarter and

more sustainable nitrogen cycle in which nitro-

gen is recirculated for the benefit of the economy

environment and climate alike

ldquoWe need to apply the environmental technolo-

gies already available to usrdquo Tommy Dalgaard

explains ldquobut linked to each other That happens

to be a Danish strength ndash 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 chainrdquo

The modelling system and advisory concepts

Tommy Dalgaard and colleagues will be develop-

ing will be designed to spotlight the cost-benefit

of a range of initiatives and to spur coopera-

tion between the stakeholders The alliance is

made up of of Danish and foreign researchers

farmers municipalities advisers ministries and

enterprises

ldquoDenmark spotted the problems before the

others ndash wersquove been working on these problems

since the 1980s We just havenrsquot resolved them

yet The challenge is that we have to both reduce

nitrogen pollution while creating added valuerdquo

Tommy Dalgaard explains ldquoAnd we maintain that

both can be achieved that is producing more

while reducing environmental depletionrdquo bull

ldquoWe maintain that both can be achieved that is producing more while reducing environmental depletionrdquo

Tommy DalgaardAgro ecologist Senior Researcher

Aarhus University

Pho

to A

da

m H

ag

lun

d

Ma

scot

Po

lfoto

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 29: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Positive electrodes

Light absorbing layers

Negative electrodes

Solar cell modul

Glue

Plastic wrap with laser cutting

30 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Through participation in a stra-tegic research project on plastic solar cells Grafisk Maskin fabrik (GM) located in Birkeroslashd has developed new printing technolo-gies which are launching GM into a new market The new solar cells can be produced at low tem-peratures with inexpensive and readily available materials This has the potential to make plastic solar cells profitable ndash financially as well as environmentally

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 ldquoPolymer solar cells

for solar energy conversionrdquo Professor Frederik

C Krebs from DTU is working to secure Denmark

broad and world-leading expertise within plastic

solar cells

ldquoWe have detailed knowledge of how to produce

the necessary materials the stability of plastic so-

lar cells and especially the methods for produc-

ing 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 wouldnrsquot be if it werenrsquot for

this research projectrdquo explains Frederik C Krebs

The solar cell printer

Plastic solar cells From under-performer to competitive technology

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 30: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research31

high-quality Chinese manufacturers Today GM

is one of a very few companies to offer this new

tech nology and that gives the company a huge

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 ldquoIn contrast

to GM EnergiMidt was involved from the very

outset ndash but it was too early they couldnrsquot play an

active role in the project at that timerdquo

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 pro-

ject ldquoNow the technology has evolved to a stage

where an actual power company would be a likely

candidaterdquo explains Frederik C Krebs bull

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 87 million) and four are special SME grants (DKK 2 million) The remain-ing approx DKK 65 million has funded strategic research projects

The focus of one research area is on cheaper more ef-ficient solar cells including research into new materials

Another challenge in the area is how to integrate solar energy production in a bigger supply system ndash from single-family homes to large-scale distribution units

ldquoOriginally the plastic solar cell was an underper-

former but today its effect ndash that is itrsquos electricity

production ndash 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

promisingrdquo

The research matches new companies

A notable characteristic of this research pro-

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 find-

ings and the materials used in the production of

plastic solar cells

The printing firm GM located in Birkeroslashd outside

Copenhagen develops advanced printing ma-

chines and thanks to the partnership with DTU

the companyrsquos CEO has managed to lead GM into

a new and much larger market ldquoOur 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 machinesrdquo

Double the annual sales

Uffe Nielsen expects the companyrsquos sales of the

new products to double in the next financial year

ldquoWe 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 conven-

tional printing machinesrdquo

The traditional market is under a lot of pres-

sure and there is emergent competition from

ldquoWithin a relatively short space of time we have developed a new high-tech product and created brand new market opportunities beyond those of our conven-tional printing machinesrdquo

Uffe NielsenDirector Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM)

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 31: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

32 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Welfare technology New options in medical care

Hospitalisation at home on the couch

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 32: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The research and innovation platform Patienthome is de-signed to increase the number of patients nursed in their own homes Domiciliary hospitalisa-tion provides enhanced patient well-being and reduces pressure on the hospitals The aims will be achieved through the devel-opment 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 ndash 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 telemonitor-

ing or directly as video communication between

the parties involved making physical admission

to hospital unnecessary

ldquoDomiciliary hospital care is a huge benefit for

some types of patientsrdquo explains Uffe Kock Wiil

head of Patienthome ldquoBut it is also an advan-

tage for us as researchers and for healthcare

personnel it offers untold opportunities for

adopting new approaches and so allows us to

ldquoDomiciliary hospi-tal care is a huge benefit for some types of patientsrdquo Uffe Kock WiilHead of Patienthome

Pho

to P

atie

nt

ho

me

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 33: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

34 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

do our bit in coming up with new solutions for

patientsrdquo

One of the aims of Patienthome is to achieve

faster rehabilitation more extensive outpatient

care and hospital care for people in their own

homes Through an interdisciplinary public-

private partnership of healthcare personnel

patients private enterprises and research insti-

tutions Patienthome is developing a number

of new welfare-technology-driven products and

services to reduce both the number and dura-

tion of in-patient stays at Danish hospitals This

minimises pressure on the hospitalsrsquo financial

and human resources But equally it empowers

patients to engage actively and take responsibil-

ity for their own health

Letting the elderly stay at home

One of Patienthomersquos projects focuses on the

large number of patients in need of high-intensity

care who undergo recurrent hospitalisation

Sygehus Soslashnderjylland (Hospital of Southern

Jutland) attends to some 9500 citizens aged

65+ annually as emergency admissions This

corresponds to 60 per cent of all of the hospitalrsquos

medical admissions The project will consequent-

ly be trialling the options for monitoring patientsrsquo

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-

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

oximeter to monitor the pulse and blood oxygen

saturation These monitoring devices commu-

nicate 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 ndash and even life-saving

ndash 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 patientrsquos condition deterio-

rates but while the patient is still at home This

prevents needless emergency admissions

Red yellow green

Another way of reducing the number of hospital

admissions is to improve the basis for assessing

the patientsrsquo condition before they are admit-

ted 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 admit-

ted as emergencies are initially triaged in an emer-

gency department Triage assigns the patients

to several categories from red through yellow to

green ndash depending on how critical their condi-

tion is Red-category patients are sent directly to

the hospitalrsquos trauma unit while yellow-category

patients are assigned to emergency rooms where

they are machine-monitored Green-category

patients are retriaged subsequently

ldquoReducing admissions not only spares the hos-

pitals People who are not critically ill are spared

needless admission with all the worries entailed

for them personally and their next of kinrdquo says

medical director at Odense University Hospital

Peder Jest ldquoBut 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 experi-

ence as in-patientsrdquo

In this way the project will give healthcare pro-

fessionals new options for identifying patients

deteriorating clinically by monitoring vital signs

ie blood pressure pulse rate oxygen satura-

tion 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-

Patienthome

mdash 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 190mEUR 255m for the period 2012-18

mdash Is based at the University of Southern Denmark and has a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors

mdash Intends to develop 40 new welfare technology products and services and 100 prototypes

mdash Collaborates with 50 public-sector and private-sector partners in Denmark and internationally

mdash Involves 16 PhD students and postdoctoral students

ldquoReducing admissions not only spa-res the hospi-tals People who are not critically ill are spared need less admissionrdquo

Peder JestMedical director at

Odense University

Hospital

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 34: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

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 communica-tion between the patient and the health care staff

The Danish Council for Strategic Research35

ening complications before they arise and con-

sequently 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

ldquoThere is huge growth potential at stake for busi-

nesses that are ready to catch the ball and run

with itrdquo says Uffe Kock Wiil ldquoIn fact like the Dan-

ish wind turbine industry this could be a major

success story for Denmark if we continue to give it

priority and pool our effortsrdquo

As such Patienthome not only holds growth

potential for the public sector but also to a great

extent for the private sector bull

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 35: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

36 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

A tiny chip turned into three patents and three companies

Nanosensors From research projects to offshoot and startups

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 sen-sors for detecting explosives they also came up with several other new technologies that are poised as game changers in several industries

ldquoIt all started at a conference in Trondheim

Norway with a newly developed chip from DTU

Nanotechrdquo 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 detect-

ing 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 Boisenrsquos research team working under the

XSENSE strategic research project developed

Pho

to Filip

po

Bo

sco

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 36: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research37

four different techniques for detecting explosives

This resulted in a raft of new technologies with ap-

plications within a wide range of sectors

From eight to a thousand samples a second

Analysis of the components of airborne explo-

sives requires many sensitive measurements

and tests It certainly requires more than what

conventional laboratory equipment can muster

But at a chance meeting with researchers from

Taiwan the idea came up of using the technology

from a DVD player In this technique sample par-

ticles are placed on a rotating disc and a laser

head detects the samples optically Using this

technology the researchers can read a thousand

samples per second whereas before conven-

tional laboratory equipment would have let them

read no more than eight

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 Grund-

fos is involved in developing the technique for

detection of hormones in water and the company

Virogates is looking at the technique in connection

with analysis of biomarkers in blood Meanwhile

the company Unisensor is involved in development

of the technology itself

Nanograss

Another technology developed under the XSENSE

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

grass-like structure When this substrate comes

into contact with a fluid or gas the silicon lsquostrawsrsquo

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 pro-

duction 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 prod-

uct will most likely combine two or three of the de-

veloped 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

From explosives to DVD technology strategic research is evolving

Anja Boisenrsquos research is a good example of how a strate-gic research project develops new technology and spins out companies for production and marketing

The project has given rise tomdash Three patentsmdash A new company startup ndash and two more in the offingmdash A new strategic research project called MUSE on the

application of DVD technology for reading laboratory samples

Nanograss

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 lsquostrawsrsquo trap the molecules by lean-ing towards each other in clusters

Drive and nerve

Anja Boisen explains that the project has taught

the research team to think out of the box and to

ally themselves with experts they might not other-

wise have collaborated with ldquoThis entire journey

which started with explosives is probably not

over yet The sensors we have developed have not

yet been combined in the package we originally

envisaged That said the individual sensors

have major potential in their own right within a

wide range of areas such as in the food industry

Research discoveries and technological break-

throughs are often chance eventsrdquo

One essential component in strategic research

partnerships is to involve businesses in the pro-

jects ldquoItrsquos vital to involve companies closely in the

research activities as early as possible and try to

catch their interestrdquo stresses Anja Boisen ldquoYou

have to keep asking them which research results

they are interested inrdquo

From the scientistrsquos perspective gearing re-

search to product enhancement and manufactur-

ing in partnership with industry is never going

to be plain sailing It is a major step to take and

there are many pitfalls ldquoSome of what yoursquore re-

searching may not turn out as expected or might

even come to nothing As a researcher you need

huge drive nerve and unfailing curiosityrdquo says

Anja Boisen

So far Anja Boisenrsquos research has been im-

mensely successful resulting in three patents

a spinout while another two startups are in the

offing Added to this is the support for numerous

new research and proof of concept projects But

the research is continuing ndash because there is no

knowing what the least discovery might lead to bull

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 37: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

38 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

The unruliness of research

User-oriented follow-up Flexibility promotes progress

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 38: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research39

Whenever new concepts are re-fined 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

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-

cated on interdisciplinarity and partnerships and

alliances with the private sector and public-sector

institutions So how to strike the right balance

between risk-taking and investment supervision

when the funded research projects often stretch

over four to five years

ldquoA research project tends to evolve a great deal

while ongoingrdquo says Jacob Buur professor at the

University of Southern Denmark and head of SPIRE

Soslashnderborg Participatory Innovation Research

Centre The centre was launched in 2008 with fund-

ing from the Danish Council for Strategic Research

and Jacob Buur greatly appreciated that follow-up

on the grant was flexible and farsighted

Innovation happens along the way

ldquoResearch like innovation happens between peo-

ple We noticed that personally when a researcher

left the project and we had to replace himrdquo Jacob

Buur recounts ldquoIt is rarely possible to find new

people who are a perfect match for the original po-

sition but in that situation we were encouraged by

the Council to see it as an opportunity to realign the

project to match the new researcherrsquos expertiserdquo

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

enterprises but along the way the project was

enlarged to include innovation among employees

within enterprises

ldquoIt was surprising to discover that the more dif-

ferent stakeholders are involved the better the

resultrdquo says Jacob Buur ldquoThis made the process

more difficult but yielded better results Inno-

vation is socially shaped This is a rethinking of

innovation based on people rather than objectsrdquo

This is why Jacob Buur also appreciates that the

Councilrsquos 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

The Danish Council for Strategic Research oper-

ates a policy of conducting follow-up on the re-

search projectrsquos own terms As Jacob Buur puts it

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot de-

fine 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 researchrdquo

The fact that SPIRE found this approach success-

ful for research is borne out by an evaluation

conducted by an international panel of experts in

2013 The evaluation highlights that the research-

ers were proactive and seized the opportunities

that presented themselves along the way This pro-

duces better results ndash for the benefit of companies

and society alike bull

The Danish Council for Strategic Researchs 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 com-mission and the grant-holder

During the grant period the grant-holder is free to contact the programme commission

ldquoIt is inherently true of research that you canrsquot define the route to a specific end-product in advancerdquo

Jacob BuurProfessor at University of Southern Denmark

and head of the research centre SPIRE

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 39: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

DKK millions Number of PhDs

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Per cent DKK millions

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20132012

40 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Key figures2004ndash2013

Total grants

Grants awarded by the Danish Council for Strate-

gic Research do not entirely follow the National

Budget allocations as some applications are con-

sidered in the year preceding allocation of funds

under the National Budget In 2013 the Council

awarded grants to 33 strategic research centres

alliances and projects totalling DKK 619 million

Success rate

The success rate meaning the percentage of

total amounts applied for that were granted by

the Council ranged from 13 to 28 per cent

Average grant size

The average size of grant in 2013 was

DKK 188 million

Research training

The Danish Council for Strategic Research co-

funds a large number of PhD programmes The

number of PhDs is the total number of PhD fellow-

ships within the funded research activity

Including SPIR but ex cluding international grants Please refer to the separate breakdown for international grants

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 40: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

41 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

What has beenfunded 2004ndash2013

Over the decade of its existence the Danish

Council for Strategic Research has granted in the

region of DKK 65 billion to strategic research

The figure shows how the funding breaks down

across strategic themes ndash determined on the

basis of annual grant figures

Energy 25

Environm

ent 6

Climate

and clim

ate a

daption 1

Health and

disease 15

Food 26

Ed

uca

tio

n 2

Cul

ture

and

soc

iety

4

Transport and infrastructure 3

Strategic growth

technologies

18

Peace a

nd confl

ict 0

2

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

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This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

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Page 41: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

42 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Board and organisation

The Danish Council for Strategic Research is com-

posed of a Board of Directors and a variable num-

ber 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

Vice-Dean professor Birthe Hoslashgh

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Professor Ole Lehrmann Madsen

Department of Computer Sciences

Aarhus University and Director

Alexandra Institute Ltd

Dean professor Per Michael

Johansen Faculty of Engineering

University of Southern Denmark

The Board

ChairProfessor Peter Olesen

Director ActiFoods ApS

Vice-chairDean Mette Thunoslash

Faculty of Arts

Aarhus University

Professor Frede Blaabjerg

Department of Energy

Technology Aalborg University

Vice President

Anne Skriver

Chr Hansen AS

Senior Advisor

Svend Erik Soslashrensen

Danish Crown AmbA

Head of Department

Helle Westphal

DHI Denmark

Bo

ard

Programme Commission on Sustainable Energy and Environment

Programme Commission on Individuals Disease and Society

Programme Commission on Health Food and Welfare

Programme Commission on Strategic Growth Technologies

Programme Commission on Transport and Infrastructure

Programme Commission on Peace and Conflict

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 42: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Re-search 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

Funding recipients 2013

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 43: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

44 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Energy and environment mdash energy systems of the future

CTEC ndash Center for thermoelectric energy conversionProfessor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 248m

(total budget DKK 360m)

SEMPEL ndash Semiconductor materials for power electronicsProfessor Kjeld Pedersen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 236m

(total budget DKK 293m)

H2CAP ndash Hydrogen assisted catalytic biomass pyrolysis for green fuelsProfessor Anker Degn Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 144m

(total budget DKK 179m)

NomiGas ndash Novel microbiological platform for optimization of biogas productionProfessor Per Halkjaeligr Nielsen

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 232m

(total budget DKK 305m)

ABYSS ndash Advancing BeYond Shallow waterS ndash Optimal design of offshore wind turbine support structuresSenior researcher Jesper Mathias Stolpe

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 216m

(total budget DKK 275m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Sus-

tainable Energy and Environment awarded

approx DKK 300m to 14 grants for strategic

research under the themes of ldquoEnergy and

environment ndash energy systems of the futurerdquo

and ldquoEnvironmental technologyrdquo

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 reliabil-

ity 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 Re-

search 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

Programme Commision onSustainable Energyand Enviroment

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 44: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research45

Environmental technology

GEOCON ndash Advancing GEOlogical geophysi-cal and CONtaminant monitoring technolo-gies for contaminated site investigationProfessor Poul Loslashgstrup Bjerg

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 151m

(total budget DKK 244m)

BUFFERTECH ndash Optimization of ecosystem services provided by buffer strips using novel technological methodsProfessor Knud Brian Kronvang

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 149m

(total budget DKK 213m)

Wind2050 ndash Multidisciplinary study on local acceptance and development of wind power projects Senior researcher Kristian Borch

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 199m

(total budget DKK 236m)

UniTTe ndash Unified testing procedures for wind turbines through inflow characterisation using nacelle lidarsResearcher Rozenn Wagner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 138m

(total budget DKK 194m)

CITIES ndash Centre for IT-intelligent energy systems in citiesProfessor Henrik Madsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 440m

(total budget DKK 706m)

C3BO ndash Center for BioOilProfessor Lasse Aistrup Rosendahl

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 218m

(total budget DKK 300m)

CINEMA ndash Alliance for imaging and modelling of energy applications Professor Henning Friis Poulsen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 228m

(total budget DKK 450m)

THERMCYC ndash Advanced thermodynamic cycles utilising low-temperature heat sources Associate professor Brian Elmegaard

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 215m

(total budget DKK 309m)

HyDrive ndash Hydrostatic drive train transmis-sion for renewable energy applicationsProfessor Torben Ole Andersen

Aalborg University

Grant 192 mio kr

(total budget DKK 248m)

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 45: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

46 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Connection between food health and lifestyle

HAPFAM ndash Healthy and affordable protein rich foods for African marketsProfessor Jacob Holm Nielsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 255m)

StrucSat ndash How structure affects satietyProfessor Richard Ipsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 238m)

OliGram ndash Design and gramscale enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharidesAssociate professor Peter Stougaard

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 118m

(total budget DKK 155m)

LIFE-DNP ndash hyperpolarized magnetic resonance for in vivo quantification of lipid sugar and amino acid metabolism in lifestyle-related diseasesProfessor Hans Stoslashdkilde-Joslashrgensen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 174m

(total budget DKK 339m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on

Health Food and Welfare awarded approx

DKK 147m to 9 grants for strategic research

under the themes of ldquoConnection between

food health and lifestylerdquo and ldquoFoodrdquo

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 protec-

tion 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-

cant driver for growth and development

Programme Commision onHealth Food andWelfare

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 46: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research47

Food

PIGVAC ndash A plant-produced immuno- enhanced pig vaccine against PRRSProfessor Finn Skou Pedersen

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 195m)

(MiCroP) ndash Microbial biofertilizers for enhanced crop availability of phosphorus pools in soil and waste ndash novel strategies for sustainable bio-based food productionAssociate professor Ole Nybroe

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 193m

(total budget DKK 251m)

BRCC ndash Restricting the pathogenic effect on barley of the endophytic fungus Ramularia collo-cygniAssociate professor Elena Simona Radutoiu

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 152m

(total budget DKK 198m)

Keratin2Protein ndash Novel approach to protein recovery from unutilized slaughterhouse waste through microbial conversionProfessor Soslashren Johannes Soslashrensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 133m

(total budget DKK 211m)

REWARD ndash Reuse of water in the food and bioprocessing industriesProfessor Soslashren Balling Engelsen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 178m

(total budget DKK 262m)

The Board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation

Future production systems

MADE ndash Platform for Future ProductionAssociation MADE (Manufacturing Academy of

Denmark) represented by Chair of the Board

Innovation Director Lars R Enevoldsen

Grant DKK 640m hereof

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

DKK 390m

The Danish Council for Technology and

Innovation DKK 250m

(Total budget DKK 1840m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search and the Danish Council for Technology

and Innovation awarded a grant of DKK 640m

for a SPIR under the theme ldquoFuture production

systemsrdquo

SPIR (Strategic Platforms for Innovation and

Research) is an initiative to make it more attrac-

tive for business and industry to participate in

research and development activities with the

Danish universities approved technological

service institutes and other enterprises and in-

novation stakeholders

SPIR

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 47: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

48 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Health research

NOCRC ndash Novel CRC screening tools improve survival and cost-effectivenessProfessor Torben Falck Oslashrntoft

Aarhus University Hospital

Grant DKK 200m

(total budget DKK 351m)

FOETALforNCD ndash Foetal exposure and epidemiological transition the role of anaemia in early life for non-communicable diseases in later lifeProfessor Ib Christian Bygbjerg

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 179m

(total budget DKK 222m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Indi-

viduals Disease and Society awarded a total

of approx DKK 38m to 2 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoHealth researchrdquo

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 guaran-

tee patients maximum efficacy of treatment

The challenge consists both of preventing

disease and of individualising the treatment

of patients Only through individualised treat-

ment 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

Programme Commision on Individuals Disease and Society

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 48: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research49

Energy efficient transport

ACEMU ndash Advanced components for electro-mobility usageProfessor Remus Teodorescu

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 73m

(total budget DKK 82m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 44m has been

awarded to LithiumBalance AS from EUDP En-

ergy Technology Development and Demonstra-

tion Program Contact Project coordinator and

CEO Lars Barkler

GREENSHIP ndash Green Liner ShippingProfessor David Pisinger

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 75m

(total budget DKK 102m)

In connection to this grant a development and

demonstration grant of DKK 11m 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

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 ldquoEnergy efficient

transportrdquo

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 chal-

lenge consists of reducing the transport sectorrsquos

negative climate and environmental impacts bal-

anced with the commitment to ensuring economic

growth and increasing mobility

There are a number of challenges eg 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

Programme Commision onTransport and Infrastructure

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 49: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

50 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

Nano- and biotechnology and information and communication technology

CIBIS ndash Creativity in blended interaction spacesProfessor Kim Halskov

Aarhus University

Grant DKK 160m

(total budget DKK 253m)

GPCR-Nanoscreen ndash Nanoscale high content analysis assays for G protein coupled receptorsProfessor Dimitrios Stamou

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 229m

(total budget DKK 336m)

EXMAD ndash Extreme sensitive magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamondProfessor Ulrik Lund Andersen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 139m

(total budget DKK 190m)

Neuro247 ndash Neurotechnology for 247 mental state monitoringProfessor Lars Kai Hansen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 68m

(total budget DKK 76m)

MorphoMap ndash Genome-scale mapping of signaling networks underlying cell migrationProfessor Rune Linding

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 201m

(total budget DKK 263m)

In 2013 the Programme Commission on Stra-

tegic Growth Technologies awarded a total

of approx DKK 80m to 5 grants for strategic

research under the theme ldquoNanotechnology

biotechnology and information and communi-

cation technologyrdquo

Significant societal challenges in this

research area

The development and application of new tech-

nologies 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 innova-

tive 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 eg the devel-

opment of the bio-based economy

Programme Commision onStrategic Growth Technologies

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 50: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research51

Cooperation with India within health science biotechnology

DISC-B ndash Denmark-India in vivo screen for cancer biomarkersProfessor Stephen Michael Cohen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 123m)

VICYDIP ndash The role of epigenetics in the vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy Professor Allan Vaag

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 46m

(total budget DKK 76m)

Cooperation with South Korea within environmental friendly bioenergy production and energy carries and conversion

BioCap ndash Bioenergy production from residual biomass through a novel integrated carbon chain pathway Associate professor Birgir Norddahl

University of Southern Denmark

Grant DKK 50m

(total budget DKK 56m)

KDFuelCell ndash Components and materials for electrochemical energy conversionAssociate professor Jens Oluf Jensen

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 65m

(total budget DKK 87m)

Cooperation with Brazil within food science

BioSyn ndash Bioactive components from by-products of food processing used in a syn-biotic approach for improving human health and well-beingProfessor Lene Jespersen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 33m

(total budget DKK 43m)

IMPCON ndash IMProved quality of cultured fish for human CONsumptionAssociate professor Niels Ole Gerslev Joslashrgensen

University of Copenhagen

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 57m)

Cooperation with China within sustainable and renewable energy

iDClab ndash Intelligent DC micro-grid living labProfessor Josep M Guerrero

Aalborg University

Grant DKK 49m

(total budget DKK 54m)

PROAIN ndash PROActive INtegration of sustain-able energy resources enabling active distribution networksSenior researcher Henrik William Bindner

Technical University of Denmark

Grant DKK 51m

(total budget DKK 66m)

In 2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search granted approx DKK 40m for bilat-

eral cooperation with the growth economies

China South Korea Brazil and India The

funding was awarded by the programme

commissions within the respective areas

Bilateral grants

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 51: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

52 The Danish Council for Strategic Research

ERA-net Human Infectious Diseases (ERA-Infect)

HCV-ASSEMBLY ndash Identification of host fac-tors involved in Hepatitis C virus assembly and characterization of their potential role in vivo Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 29m

(total European budget DKK 228m)

Joint Programming Initiative Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPI-JPND)

RiMod-FTD ndash Risk and modifying factors in frontotemporal dementiaProfessor Albin Gustav Sandelin

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 13m

(total European budget DKK 248m)

APGeM ndash Pre-clinical genotype-phenotype predictors of Alzheimerrsquos disease and other dementiaProfessor Leif Oslashstergaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 129m)

ERA-net Industrial Biotechnology 2 (ERA-IB2)

DeYeastLibrary ndash Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applicationsProfessor Jochen Foumlrster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 115m)

IPCRES ndash Integrated process and cell re-factoring systems for enhanced industrial biotechnologyAssociate professor Mhairi Workman

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 34m

(total European budget DKK 16m)

ProSeCa ndash Recovery of high value proteins from serum by innovative direct capture techniquesAssociate professor Timothy John Hobley

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 3m

(total European budget DKK 178m)

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

participates in a number of joint European

research collaborations ndash BONUS ERA-nets

and Joint Programming Initiatives In 2013

the Council awarded approx DKK 59m to Dan-

ish participants in joint European projects

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the

BONUS programme

JointEuropean grants

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 52: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The Danish Council for Strategic Research53

BONUS ndash Viable Ecosystems

INSPIRE ndash Integrating spatial processes into ecosystem models for sustainable utilization of fish resources Head of section Stefan Neuenfeldt

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 49m

(total European budget DKK 308m)

BIO-C3 ndash Biodiversity changes ndash causes consequences and management implicationsHead of innovation ecology and aquaculture

Anne Lise Middelboe DHI

Director general Friedrich Wilhelm Koumlster

Technical University of Denmark

Danish grant DKK 61m

(total European budget DKK 487m)

COCOA ndash 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 70m

(total European budget DKK 331m)

Soils2Sea ndash Reducing nutrient loadings from agricultural soils to the Baltic Sea via groundwater and streams Professor Jens Christian Refsgaard GEUS

Professor Joslashrgen Eivind Olesen

Aarhus University

CEO Hubert de Jonge SORBISENSE AS

Danish grant DKK 112m

(total European budget DKK 246m)

CHANGE ndash Changing antifouling practices for leisure boats in the Baltic SeaProfessor Helle Tegner Anker

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 294m)

BLUEPRINT ndash Biological lenses using gene printsAssociate professor Lasse Riemann

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 87m

(total European budget DKK 334m)

ERA-net European Phytosani-tary Research Coordination 2 (EUPHRESCO 2)

EPITRIX ndash Epitrix species life cycle studies and diagnostics Senior researcher Annie Enkegaard

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 20m)

Q-WOODCHIP ndash Diagnostics and risk management of plant health threats in wood chips for bio-energySenior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Mogens Nicolaisen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 19m

(total European budget DKK 32m)

MONOCHAMUS ndash Focusing on Monochamus spp insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilusAssociate professor Lise Stengaringrd Hansen

Aarhus University

Senior researcher Hans Peter Ravn

University of Copenhagen

Danish grant DKK 09m

(total European budget DKK 14m)

ERA-net Animal Health and Welfare (ANIHWA)

FareWellDockSenior researcher Lene Juul Pedersen

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 11m

(total European budget DKK 212m)

SporeBiotic ndash Control of Clostridium difficile an emerging threat to the European livestock industrySenior researcher Ole Hoslashjberg

Aarhus University

Danish grant DKK 18m

(total European budget DKK 122m)

EU funds half of the Danish grant within the BONUS programme Funded by The Danish Council for Independant Research | Natural Sciences

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 53: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

A decade of strategic research

In the period 2004ndash2013 the Danish Council for Strategic Research granted DKK 65 billion for research geared to solving challenges in society Recipients of funding included

The use of sensor technologies such as laser altim-

etry 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 rdquoEfficient Handling of Massive Hetero-

geneous Terrain Datardquo has consequently devel-

oped 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

The project rdquoThe educational potential of com-

mercial computer gaming technologyrdquo researched

computer gaming technology as an educational

resource Gaming scenarios were found not only

to enhance acquisition of facts but also identifi-

cation of consequences and correlations during

gameplay The projectrsquos prototype was a computer

game on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the

aim was for school pupils to identify with the par-

ties 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 ldquoserious gamesrdquo in learning

contexts and the participants have subsequently

participated in several EU-funded research pro-

jects in this field

Handling of large data sets (2006ndash2010) Better algorithms

Serious games (2005ndash2006) Computer games in teaching

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 54: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC) re-

ceived one of the first grants made to a research

centre by the Danish Council for Strategic Re-

search DanORC started out by researching how

specific dietary components regardless of their

calorific value increase the propensity for obe-

sity and complications such as type 2 diabetes

and cardiovascular disease Following the end of

the original grant period DanORC has continued

as a de-institutionalised national research centre

in the field of obesity research

The interdisciplinary research centre is the set-

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

Intercultural communication and collabora-

tion within multinational groups is increasingly

daily fare for businesses and national education

systems In this arena the project ldquoCultural Intel-

ligence as a Strategic Resourcerdquo has researched

how businesses and educational institutions may

gain cultural intelligence that is assimilate cul-

tural diversity among different employee groups

One branch of the project interviewed 300 Danish

and Asian senior and middle managers from

Danish companies with divisions in Asia (includ-

ing Carlsberg and Ecco) A typical challenge in

Danish-Asian collaboration is presented by dif-

ferences in perceptions of authority which is why

the project offers different recommendations for

organisational approaches to making the most of

cultural diversity

Danish Obesity Research Centre (2007ndash2011) Why are we becoming overweight

Global partnerships (2008ndash2011) Cultural intelligence

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

CRES researchers have made a powerful contri-

bution 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

Each year millions of lives worldwide are

threatened by sepsis Yet there is next to no sci-

ence behind the medical interventions routinely

undertaken to treat weak acutely ill patients in

intensive care

The research project ldquoNew strategies for life-sav-

ing interventions in patients with severe sepsisrdquo

investigated the two types of resuscitation fluids

traditionally given to patients with sepsis starch-

based 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 ndash and it saves lives

Centre for Regional Change in the Earth System (2009-2014) Connecting climate knowledge

Clinical research saves lives (2010ndash2015) Starch or saline

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 55: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Cycling benefits both the environment and hu-

man health ndash 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 bicycle-

parking facilities all serve to promote cycling

The projectrsquos results were presented at a major

conference on ldquoTaking Cycling Seriouslyrdquo in the

Danish Parliament building in January 2014 at-

tended by the Danish Minister for Transport

and are otherwise publicised by sources such

as the Danish Cyclist Federationrsquos website at

wwwcykelvidendk

Our farmland is failing to keep up with demand

for food feed and other products sustainably and

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 ldquomarine

farmingrdquo involving the cultivation of seaweed

Bikeability (2010ndash2013) Taking cycling seriously

MAB3 (2012ndash2016) A seaweed biorefinery

Keen to read more research stories

Visit wwwstrategiskforskningdken and search

among the 450 research projects alliances and

centres that have received funding from the

Council since 2004

wwwstrategiskforskningdken

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 56: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Foto

Trine

Bu

kh

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 wwwfivudkdcsr provides

contact details for individual members of staff

by specialist area

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 57: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

Lund University

Norwegian University of Science

and Technology

University of California

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ETH Zuumlrich

University of Satildeo Paulo

Chalmers University of Technology

Stanford University

Delft University of Technology

Harvard University

Karolinska HospitalInstitute

128

866655444

The count includes the Councilrsquos ordinary grants Strategic Platforms for Innovation and Research (SPIR) and bilateral grants Grants awarded to multilateral European cooperation programmes are not included

USA

Brazil

Norway

UK

Switzerland

The Netherlands

Most popular partner institutions mdash number of projects participated in

66

44

24

20

14

13

International collaboration strengthens Danish research The projects granted funding between 2010 and 2013 involve more than 300 different partners from 36 different countries en-gaged in binding collaboration The partners comprise prestig-ious universities international companies and specialised re-search institutions

The numbers on the map indi-cate the number of cooperation agreements with partners in the ten most popular countries for co operation in grants awarded 2010ndash2013

International collaboration

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 58: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

The BONUS programme aims to strengthen

strategic research partnerships and in-

novation between the Baltic Sea countries

targeting the protection of Baltic Sea

ecosystems Danish applicants have been

very successful in the programmersquos first

call and funding has been granted to pro-

jects concerning biodiversity sustainable

fisheries the adverse impacts of nutrient

discharges from agriculture and yacht hull

antifouling treatments

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 ndash and apples in both countries By com-

bining the expertise and methods of different

countries the researchers are able to achieve

more than they could working isolated

India

China

Germany

Sweden

Children with clinical obesity tend to suffer

poor quality of life and a number of compli-

cations such as elevated blood pressure

enlargement of the liver and type 2 diabetes

The BIOCHILD project is studying 4600 Indian

and 1500 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

The project rdquoActivating the Building Construc-

tion for Building Environmental Controlrdquo was

among the first three projects granted fund-

ing under the Sino-Danish bilateral research

cooperation programme launched in 2009

The project ndash which has seen a very close

collaboration between Danish and Chinese

partners ndash has developed a promising proto-

type for a brand new type of heat pump which

combines heating airconditioning and heat

recovery with ventilation and air purifica-

tion Given the ongoing large-scale replace-

ment of the Chinese housing stock and major

problems with air quality in Chinese cities the

heat pump holds great commercial potential

The Danish-South Korean research project

KDFuelCells aims to develop better and lower-

cost components for high-temperature (HT)

PEM fuel cells The HT-PEM fuel cells have

applications in cars standby generators and

concurrent power production in and heating

of homes The HT-PEM fuel cell technology is

one of Denmarkrsquos cutting-edge leads while

South Korea also has strong research environ-

ments in the field Alongside research in the

field commercial companies are now working

to bring the fuel cells to market

Alliance for improved Baltic Sea ecosystems

Danish strawberries and Brazilian citrus fruit

Childhood obesity in Denmark and India

2 in 1 Sino-Danish heat recovery pump and clean-air unit

South Korea-project promises better lower-cost fuel cells

51

47

32

14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk

Page 59: The Danish Council for Strategic Research, Annual Report 2013/14

ContactSecretariat of the Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

Bredgade 40

DK-1260 Copenhagen K

Telephone +45 3544 6200

Fax +45 3544 6201

dsffidk

wwwfivudkdcsr

PublisherThe Danish Council for Strategic Research

Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation

March 2014

Design e-Types Daily

Printed by CoolGray

Circulation 1000

ISSN 2245-3172

ISSN (online) 2245-3245

This publication is available on the website of

the Danish Council for Strategic Research at

wwwfivudkdcsr

The print version of this publication is supplied

free of charge while stocks last on application to

Rosendahls-Schultz Grafisk

wwwrosendahls-schultzgrafiskdk