Kalundborg is known as Denmark’s ‘Biotech City’ and is home to Scandinavia’s largest biotech cluster, including companies such as Novo Nordisk, Novonesis, and NNE. It is also a central educational hub that supports the need for engineers who can contribute to efficient production in the region’s bio and pharma based industries.
As companies expand, production increases, attracting new companies seeking to establish themselves in Denmark. This creates a growing demand for highly qualified engineers capable of managing the complex processes involved in biobased production.
Today, 23 DTU students are enrolled in the Specialization Biomanufacturing – Industry MSc in Engineering, which was established three years ago. The programme combines paid part time work in industry with intensive teaching blocks. This structure ensures that students work on real-life industrial cases from some of the world’s leading biotech companies developing medicines, enzymes, and other biological products.
Short distance between the classroom and production
Among the students is Leonardo Di Terlizzi, who started the programme in 2024. He believes that being based in Kalundborg is a key part of the programme’s quality:
“Living, working, and studying in a biotech hotspot like Kalundborg is definitely an amazing opportunity for networking. My peers aren't just students, but colleagues from various companies in Kalundborg. This diversity provides a 360-degree view of how biomanufacturing operates across different branches.
I recognize how rare it is to find such an ecosystem where the distance between the classroom and production is so short. Socially, this creates a unique bond among my classmates; we are all navigating the same professional and academic challenges together, which creates a sense of community and support."
Leonardo Di Terlizzi initially applied for the standard MSc in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at DTU with the aim of building a chemical and biochemical engineering profile with a focus on the bio-sector. He then discovered the Biomanufacturing specialization in Kalundborg, which fit perfectly his objective.
The industrial MSc format offered him a unique opportunity to apply theoretical chemical engineering principles while working as a process engineer in the bio-sector, thereby gaining professional experience in the field.
