Henrik Siegumfeldt,director <strong>of</strong> studies <strong>and</strong>associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor at LIFE.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Sc<strong>and</strong>inavian</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Brewing</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>The</strong> Faculty <strong>of</strong> Life Sciences at the University <strong>of</strong> Copenhagen Join Forces on the Master Brewer programmeworld’s third largest dairy company, Arla, is a prominent member.We are confident that the educational cooperation between theDairy Association <strong>and</strong> ourselves has been instrumental in thedevelopment <strong>of</strong> the Danish dairy industry to its current world-classposition <strong>and</strong> reputation in that we have continuously been able tosupply the industry with c<strong>and</strong>idates that possess precisely the skillsthat are in dem<strong>and</strong>. We immediately saw opportunities in applyingthis very successful model also on the master brewer programmein cooperation with the <strong>Sc<strong>and</strong>inavian</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Brewing</strong> <strong>and</strong> theDanish Brewers’ Association’.Where do you see the most important mutual synergiesbetween the brewing industry <strong>and</strong> the brewers in it <strong>and</strong>the academic universe in your faculty <strong>and</strong> beyond at theUniversity <strong>of</strong> Copenhagen? And do you see any futurepossibilities for developing the partnership – PhD projectsfor master brewers or the like?are carried out within a specific company, but with a supervisorfrom KU LIFE, <strong>and</strong> that focus on addressing the technologicalchallenges faced by the host company’.‘KU LIFE is also active at the EU level in acting as catalystfor <strong>and</strong> participating in large research projects that involvecompeting companies within fields where there is consensusthat the industries at large need to achieve improvements. Inthese areas, such partnerships result in a generally higher level<strong>of</strong> technology <strong>and</strong> know-how in the European companieswithin those industries, <strong>and</strong> they are motivated to cooperateby knowing that when an improvement is needed by all playersin the industry, the costs <strong>of</strong> bringing it about may as well beshared,’ finishes Per Holten-Andersen.Our first question to Axel G. Kristiansen, director at the<strong>Sc<strong>and</strong>inavian</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Brewing</strong>, was:Per Holten-Andersen: ‘For all our industry-specificstudy programmes, we have the main objective <strong>of</strong> alwaystrying our utmost to build <strong>and</strong> adjust them to exactly what theindustries want, <strong>and</strong> in respect for the current quality level <strong>of</strong>the master brewer programme, we do not have any plans tosubject it to major changes on the short term. For these types<strong>of</strong> educational programmes, we always establish a ‘CurriculumDevelopment Committee’ chaired by the industry, <strong>and</strong> sucha committee will also be established for the master brewerprogramme with the purpose <strong>of</strong> continuously evaluating theprogramme, the changing conditions in the industry, <strong>and</strong> howthese translate into needs for adjustments <strong>of</strong> the programme.Having said this, we do not, on the other h<strong>and</strong>, have intentions<strong>of</strong> keeping the master brewer programme static. Throughour extensive cooperation with the most outst<strong>and</strong>ing foodscience faculties at international universities, we expect to beable to bring more international cutting-edge elements intothe education, <strong>and</strong>, furthermore, there are significant potentialsynergies between the master brewer programme <strong>and</strong> thenumerous general disciplines that we give high priority at KULIFE, including sensory science, health <strong>and</strong> food safety, foodquality <strong>and</strong> quality management, servicing the between three <strong>and</strong>4,000 large student body from Bachelor through to PhD levels’.Per Holten-Andersen adds that he sees several otherperspectives for developing the master brewer programme <strong>and</strong>building both very advanced practical <strong>and</strong> academic extensionson top <strong>of</strong> it. ‘Among these is our partnership with the DanishNational Advanced Technology Foundation that <strong>of</strong>fers c<strong>of</strong>unding<strong>of</strong> specific, so-called “Industrial PhD” degrees which<strong>The</strong> master brewer programme has traditionally been thecornerstone in the <strong>Sc<strong>and</strong>inavian</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Brewing</strong>. Howdo you see the future consequences for the other activitiesat the school <strong>and</strong> the effects on the future development <strong>of</strong>the school <strong>of</strong> this cooperation with KU LIFE on the masterbrewer programme?“With regard to the master brewer programme,it should be understood thatthe Board <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Sc<strong>and</strong>inavian</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong><strong>Brewing</strong> sees the cooperation with KULIFE as a possibility <strong>of</strong> maintaining thehigh st<strong>and</strong>ard <strong>of</strong> education in connectionwith the traditional courses.Axel G. Kristiansen: ‘<strong>The</strong> SSB will, with usual interest<strong>and</strong> enthusiasm, continue to develop <strong>and</strong> run courses forthe beverage industry from our usual address in Valby.This pertains for example to our ‘<strong>Brewing</strong> Course’, the new‘Executive in Beverage Supply Chains’ course, the educationfor microbrewers, <strong>and</strong> various introduction courses tobrewing, flavour evaluation, cider course <strong>and</strong> various in-16 SCANDINAVIAN BREWERS’ REVIEW . VOL.67 NO.6 2010
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