Denmark and India expand collaboration on biotechnological research

– It is very important that the applications are considered jointly by both sides. That will ensure that we bring the best and most appropriate research environments together, explained the group's chairman, Professor Mogens Hørder of the University of Southern Denmark.

Two new application rounds

It was agreed at the meeting that new application rounds for setting up joint Indo-Danish research projects would be arranged for the end of 2006 and for 2007.

Memorandum of Understanding

The close collaboration between the two countries is a result of the visit to India by a delegation led by Danish science minister Helge Sander in the autumn of 2004, during which the minister and his Indian counterpart signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on biotechnological research.

In the beginning of 2005, the two Ministers appointed the Danish and Indian members respectively of the Indo-Danish steering group.

The Research Councils are involved

Both the Danish Council for Strategic Research and the Danish Councils for Independent Research are represented in the steering group.

Professor Mogens Hørder, Dean at the University of Southern Denmark, and Lene Lange, Science Director at Novozymes, are member and vice-chair of the board of the Danish Council for Strategic Research, and Egon Bech Hansen, Director of Research at Danisco, is on the board of the Danish Councils for Independent Research.

– When the agreement was signed, it was the wish of both sides to focus on specific activities that would bring research teams into contact and collaboration. Personal contact between the research teams is essential for the establishment of long-term cooperation. So I am particularly glad that we can already look back at having initiated three contact-forming activities – Scout-India, workshops, and joint research projects, said Professor Hørder.

– The business community is informed about or directly involved in all the activities we initiate. That leads to the potential for the creation of public-private partnerships in biotechnology with both Danish and Indian participants, stated Lene Lange. We are also working on a research training initiative, she added.

Scout-India

The first two activities chosen by the steering group for implementation were joint workshops and the 'scouting' scheme – both activities that gave researchers an opportunity to make direct contacts.

The Scout-India scheme, which was launched in 2005, allows Danish researchers to travel to India to seek out research environments with which collaboration might be established – and vice versa.

– It was important for us to get concrete collaborative actions started. And Scout-India has borne fruit. So we on the Danish side will be continuing with that initiative in 2006, observed Lange.

It was decided at the meeting in India last week that a similar scheme would be put in place on the Indian side, which will allow up to ten Indian researchers to visit Danish research environments in 2006 as a preparation for the design of joint projects.

Workshops – now and in the future

– When the agreement was signed, one of the areas that both sides wished to focus on was stem cell research. Therefore the steering group made that the subject of the first joint workshop.

And so a group of top Danish researchers in that field, led by Professor Jens Zimmer Rasmussen, took part in a joint workshop in Bangalore in the last week of February, said Professor Hørder.

A workshop on nutrigenomics is planned to take place in India in September 2006. The Danish coordinator for that is Egon Bech Hansen, Director of Research at Danisco. In addition, a joint workshop on bioinformatics and system biology will be held in Denmark in March 2007.

Strategic funding?

– The Danish Council for Strategic Research is working to have funds allocated in the 2007 Budget for a targeted global research collaboration with the new growth economies, said Lange, who is vice-chair of that Council.

– Denmark must commit to research collaboration with growth countries such as India, which can already offer collaboration with top-class environments in several fields. That is globalisation in practice. And it is a clear win/win situation for both countries, she added.

At the request of M. K. Bhan, Director, Indian Ministry of Science, the steering group has undertaken to produce a draft for a joint targeted development plan to address the 'grand challenge' of tackling the areas of developing biotechnology for environmentally sustainable industrial processes and developing integrated epidemiology and biotechnology to improve public health.

Members of the Danish Steering Group:

• Professor Mogens Hørder, Dean, University of Southern Denmark (Chairman).
• Egon Bech Hansen, Director of Research, Danisco.
• Lene Lange, Science Director, Novozymes.
• Professor Jesper Wengel, University of Southern Denmark.
• Professor Torben Greve, the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University of Denmark.
• Jens Peter Jacobsen, Director, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

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For further information:

Chairman of the Steering Group for Indo-Danish Biotech Collaboration, Professor Mogens Hørder, Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark. Tel. +45 6550 2932, mobile, +45 6011 3015, e-mail

Gunvor Nielsen, Consultant, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. Tel. +45 3395 4019, e-mail