Network creates greater awareness of Life Science in Funen
Life Science Fyn is a new network that aims to strengthen Funen’s position in the Life Science field.
Life Science Fyn is based on a common goal of cooperation across local private companies, the public institutions Odense University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark, as well as municipalities in Funen and the Region of Southern Denmark.
That aim is set in stone in the draft statutes decided at the founding general meeting on 22 April 2022. The Faculty of Science is one of the driving forces behind Life Science Fyn, and there are high expectations of what the network could mean to the Faculty’s students and staff.
SDU has wished for a more strategic collaboration with Life Science companies on Funen for a long time. In fact, attempts to set up a network were made more than 20 years ago, but the time was not ripe.
However, the time seems ripe now. Many Life Science companies have gained momentum after COVID-19, and they therefore have the energy to establish themselves in a network like Life Science Fyn. In addition, the future physical merger of the university and the hospital will provide a unique research environment where basic and applied clinical research will be carried out under the same roof. It has the potential to yield a lot of innovation and feed collaboration across knowledge institutions and industry.
Several purposes with the network
Jakob Møller-Jensen, head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is one of the initiators of the network, and he says that the desire for Life Science Fyn originally stemmed from an ambition for students to land their first job more quickly.
– At the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, we found that many graduates were often faced with the choice of repositioning, either professionally or geographically, to find work quickly. Many students simply did not have the necessary knowledge about the Life Science companies Funen has to offer, and that is a major challenge, says Jakob Møller-Jensen.
In Life Science Fyn, they therefore want to tell the students at the Faculry of Scuience about the opportunities in Funen, but since then the network has become a lot more ambitious than that. According to Jakob Møller-Jensen, the network has several purposes:
– Life Science Fyn is a strategic network that will help position Life Science on Funen nationally. It may sound pretty ambitious, but I believe that the more people from Funen who support this cause, the bigger our voice will be when we need to get through to national Life Science networks and politicians.
In addition to being a strategic network, it is also a professional and social network where participants provide each other with sparring and inspiration.
– In the long term, I think the network can also have a creative purpose. This means that the network can become a place where new companies on Funen get help to establish themselves in the Life Science landscape, says Jakob Møller-Jensen.
Great support for the network
The initial thoughts about Life Science Fyn started before COVID-19 in 2019, when the initiators approached companies on Funen and asked for expressions of interest, and the feedback was very positive. Unfortunately, the network was delayed because of COVID-19, but now the establishment is back on track and, as mentioned, the founding general meeting was held at the end of April.
–We recently held both a debate meeting and a networking event, and there was a lot of interest in both. I see Life Science Fyn very much as a movement and an exchange with our surroundings. I guess you could call it a kind of growth engine.
Jakob Møller-Jensen also says that it is encouraging to see and feel the great support and the good atmosphere that everyone contributes to the network.
– I must also say that when you hear time and again from different sources that something is a really good idea, you gradually start to believe in it, says Jakob Møller-Jensen with a smile.
Lead Bioinformatician Thøger Jensen Krogh from Amplexa Genetics agrees:
– After more than 40 interviews with Life Science Fyn’s stakeholders, I have yet to meet someone who thinks it’s a bad idea and doesn’t support it. Everyone, from experienced investors and business leaders to officials, young entrepreneurs, students and politicians – believe in the potential and benefits in creating Life Science Fyn. That includes people who have no direct connection to Funen.
Jakob Møller-Jensen emphasises that the work with Life Science has been driven forward by excellent and dynamic forces in the form of a working group consisting of Lead Bioinformatician Thøger Jensen Krogh from Amplexa Genetics, Specialist Consultant Philip Hallenborg from the Science Faculty Administration, and Specialist Consultant Lise Junker Nielsen from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, along with Project Manager Susan Henriksen and Strategic Advisor Steen Vestervang from the SDU Research & Innovation Organisation.
Read more about Life Science Fyn on www.lifesciencefyn.dk (website under construction)