A new collaboration focusing on knowledge exchange and research projects will give researchers from Health access to advanced molecular data analysis tools, while also helping Qiagen to further develop their products. A real win-win situation according to Vice-dean for Talent Development, Lise Wogensen Bach.

2016.05.12 | Lise Wendel Eriksen

A true win-win, says Lise Wogensen about the collaboration between Health and Qiagen Aarhus. Photo: Jesper Rais

Things are happening in the core area of knowledge exchange. With the Department of Biomedicine and Vice-dean for Talent Development Lise Wogensen taking the lead, Health is currently formalising a collaboration agreement with Qiagen, a company which develops software for the analysis of genetic data.

"One of the university's core tasks is to collaborate with business and industry and to contribute to creating growth in society. This is also the case at Health. In Qiagen we see an obvious match, where Qiagen works with bioinformatics on a high level, which is relevant for Health's research areas and also for the medical doctors of tomorrow in their clinical diagnostics," says Lise Wogensen.

Process and results

The collaboration is still in its infancy and will begin with workshops and seminars to clarify specific collaborative models and opportunities at the Department of Biomedicine. The goal is to generate specific joint research ideas, research projects and research results – and to generally let both parties learn from each other.

"We are interested in the same field, but each of us views it from our own angle. For the researchers, the results are what are important. For us it is the data analysis that forms the basis for the results that are interesting," explains research director at Qiagen Aarhus, Martin Simonsen, and continues:

"The collaboration helps us get an insight into our customers' needs and to learn about how we can best develop our analysis products. This is valuable knowledge sharing, which is why this collaboration with researchers from Health is relevant for us."

Research career via business and industry

In addition to the scientific benefits, the collaboration can also result in internships, guest lectures and the establishment of shared positions, if these are found to be relevant.

"We must cultivate the talented researchers we have at Health, and we must also prepare our students for the jobs they will have in future. With business partnerships such as this one with Qiagen we help to showcase our students, PhDs and postdocs for career opportunities outside the university. I think it is a true win-win situation," says Lise Wogensen, while encouraging interested students and researchers to make use of the opportunity for cooperation.

• International company with offices in both Europe, USA and Asia.
• In Denmark, Qiagen Aarhus has 105 employees – and that number is expected to increase to around 120 during 2016.
• Develops software for data analysis of molecular data with focus on next generation sequencing.
• The tools for the analysis of molecular data are aimed at both researchers within the academic and the commercial sector.
• Read more about Qiagen on the company's website

Vice-dean for Talent Development, Lise Wogensen Bach
Aarhus University, Health
Mobile: (+45) 2548 8522
lwb@au.dk

Research Director, PhD, Martin Simonsen
Qiagen Aarhus
Mobile: (+45) 2227 9557
Martin.Simonsen@qiagen.com