Partner Profile: Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

NC State’s partnership with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) is grounded in the complementary academic and research strengths of the two institutions, which include STEM disciplines: biotechnology, life sciences and environmental science.  With funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, research teams are undertaking cutting edge research in the areas of biopharmaceutical manufacturing and improvements in crop production and efficiency. The two grants also support graduate student training as important components of the collaboration.

The AIM-Bio project, being led by NC State’s BTEC (Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center), is a five-year long initiative that focuses on international collaborative research and a training program in biomanufacturing science and technology. The Collaborative Crop Resilience Program (CCRP) brings together investigators from NC State and three Danish institutions (Technical University of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University) to discover ways to help farmers raise yields with less reliance on chemical treatments and irrigation.  Over the course of the six-year initiative, CCRP researchers are seeking to find ways to harness microbes that live on, in or near plants to protect crops from diseases, insects and other stressors.

Institutional Background

The Technical University of Denmark first opened in 1829 to develop and create value using the natural sciences and the technical sciences to benefit society. By the early 1900s, DTU provided advanced higher education in the fields of electrical engineering, construction engineering, production engineering and mechanical engineering. Today, the University spans three campuses around Denmark and one campus in Greenland. DTU offers 37 undergraduate programs, 31 Master of Science Engineering programs and 19 PhD programs to more than 11,500 enrolled students.