Technology director Gudbrand Rødsrud in Borregaard AS was one of the speakers at a breakfast seminar arranged at NMBU on March 9th by Foods of Norway, Centre for Digital Life Norway (DLN) and ARD Innovation.

The topic of the seminar was cooperation between science and industry. The question up for debate was how to capture the innovative potential in research and make it attractive for the industry to cooperate.

The seminar was held in Norwegian. This article presents a few highlights from the seminar in English.

Pragmatic = useful

Being a Centre for Research-based Innovation (CRI), a close relationship with the industry is indispensable to Foods of Norway.

One of the centre´s partners, Borregaard AS, is a globally leading company in biochemicals. It posesses one of the world´s most advanced and sustainable biorefineries located in Sarpsborg, Norway. 

At the seminar, Rødsrud pointed to the collaboration they have with Foods of Norway and NMBU as a shining example of innovative partnerships. He emphasized several success factors.

- We are very pleased with the research environment at Ås. NMBU is a creative and practically inclined institution with close connections to the agriculture  - a practical industry. They are pragmatic, and that`s useful to us.

Looking for the best

Borregaard and Foods of Norway are working closely together in the development of sustainable feed ingredients for fish and farm animals. Based the centre´s scientific research, Borregaard uses advanced technology to convert biomass from trees into sugars that can in turn be converted into a microbial feed rich in proteins.

The company invests a relatively high share of its annual turnover in innovation. To catch their attention, research institutions need to promote their field of expertise and deliver a good sales pitch, says the technology director.

-  At matchmaking events, the scientists often come to us and proclaim that they "know everything". Instead, they should sharpen their pitch and tell us what they`re best at, we want to collaborate with those at the top of their game.

Here you can watch the other speakers at the seminar:

• Gro Steine, Foods of Norway:

• Alexandra Patriksson, Digital Life Norway (DLN):

• Jorun Pedersen, ARD Innovations: