10-month programme runs annually, with a new cohort starting each September.
BSD is not an accelerator for start-up teams and preformed ideas. BSD is a career and innovation programme. The projects developed during the fellowship programme may, however, turn out to be a terrific launchpad for a new start-up.
Only in your private spare time. Your focus during the fellowship programme is to learn the needs-driven BioSustainability Design process from start to finish.
The teaching faculty is a dynamic blend of internal experts from Danish Technological Institute and hand-picked external educators with deep industry experience. In addition, each team is supported by dedicated mentors and the BSD staff team.
The BSD is hosted at Danish Technological Institute’s facilities in Aarhus and Copenhagen (Taastrup). This is where our fellows will be situated and be working most of the time. In the field immersion phase, fellows will be sent out to companies that may be located up to 2 hours commute from the BSD offices.
The number of available fellowships increases over the first few years of the programme. For the first cohort starting in 2026, we have recruited 12 fellows. This will increase to 16 fellows in 2027 and 2028, and 20 fellows for 2029.
The application window will be open during the first quarter (Q1) of each year for the class starting in September. Specific dates and deadlines will be announced on the front page and in the ‘For applicants’ section of this website.
The assessment process, including assessment workshops and personal interviews, takes place during the second quarter (Q2). All successful candidates will be notified with an offer before the end of Q2. Specific dates will be communicated to the candidates who are invited to take part in the assessment activities.
Industry experience is assessed broadly and on an individual basis. In addition to regular employment in industry, a PhD also count as relevant industry experience, as we highly value the research perspective and aim to have at least one PhD-level profile in each team.
Relevant student jobs may also count if they have provided substantial experience connected to the agri-food sector, innovation, business development, design, technology, or other relevant fields. Ultimately, all experience is evaluated case by case based on its relevance to the programme.
Yes. You must apply as an individual. We do not accept pre-formed teams. The cross-disciplinary teams are carefully composed by the programme management during the initial Bootcamp phase to ensure a diverse and effective mix of skills and backgrounds.
Yes, absolutely. We strongly encourage applications from international candidates. All programme activities and teaching will be conducted in English.
For international applicants however, we require a valid Danish residence permit upon application. We cannot assist you in obtaining a residence permit, which means that you need to have it in place before you apply. For more information, go to the government website “New to Denmark“.
The selection of candidates for a cohort depends heavily on the mix of applicants that we have in the pool that year as we aim for the optimal mix of disciplines in each team. As a consequence, an applicant that would not have been accepted this year might be the perfect puzzle piece to complete the multidisciplinary cohort next year. It is impossible to predict how many profiles from each of the relevant fields that apply.
Our general advice to candidates who have not been selected in spite of having a very relevant profile is to gain more experience in a relevant field and let time work for them and then try to apply again one of the coming years.
No. The fellows will not be employed by Danish Technological Institute but hold the status of Fellowship student.
Yes. You will receive a monthly, non-salaried fellowship grant (stipend) of DKK 40,000 with counter-performance obligations throughout the 10-month programme. The stipend is payable at the beginning of each month. You will not pay labour market contribution (dansk: arbejdsmarkedsbidrag / AM-bidrag), because the stipend is not a salary.
The fellowship is defined as A-income (income taxed at source), and no holiday allowance is paid of the amount.
No Supplementary Pension Fund means or other pension contributions are included.
If you are a foreign citizen: In order for us to be able to make your stipend payment, it is important that generate a digital tax card (dansk: skattekort) with the Danish Tax Agency (dansk: Skattestyrelsen) as soon as you get your Danish CPR-number. You can generate your tax card via the Danish Tax Agency’s E-tax service.
Our experience is that some unemployment insurance funds (dansk: A-kasser) recognise the BSD fellowship as work that can count towards unemployment benefit eligibility, while others do not. When contacting them, please make sure they understand that BSD is a fellowship with counter-performance obligations (Danish: legat med modydelse). This is important because, unlike many stipends, the BSD grant is paid in return for your full-time participation and work in the programme.
If your current A-kasse does not recognise the fellowship as work, you may wish to explore whether another A-kasse assesses it differently. Please note, that if you decide to switch A-kasse, you typically need to have been a member for one year before you are eligible to receive unemployment benefits. Please make sure to confirm the specific rules and requirements directly with the relevant A-kasse.
Yes, and we expect you to be working full-time. You should expect a relatively intense year with a fair amount of travel activity. During the 8-10 weeks of field immersion in autumn, fellows will be sent out to companies that may be located up to 2 hours commute from the BSD offices.
All training sessions and teamwork sessions are placed within standard business hours, Monday to Friday.
During “field immersion” at host organizations, both very early morning or evening observation will likely occur on a regular basis.
Furthermore, we will plan a few seminars where both the Taastrup and Aarhus fellows can be together. These seminars might include an overnight stay somewhere in Denmark.
Other activities like relevant conferences or company visits might require your presence outside of the standard business hours.
We will also plan social activities for you that take place after 04:00 p.m. during the fellowship period.
While the programme is primarily anchored in Aarhus and Taastrup, the field immersion and host organization activities will take us to different locations. Host organisations could be as much as 2 hours away from Aarhus/Taastrup. The field immersion phase is eight weeks long during which you will be on location with your host organization on average 3 days a week. After this, the travel activities beyond Aarhus/Taastrup will be more sporadic. If you are selected, you will be notified of specific dates for extended travel in our pre-boarding material before you start.
The main form of transportation on the programme is carpooling, due to our destinations sometimes being far away from a major city and the hours being outside the standard business hours. Owning a car is not a requirement to join the programme but having more than one team member with a car available to drive to and from e.g. field immersion sites makes the day-to-day transportation situation a lot easier for your team. The designated driver will be compensated by the programme for the extra commuting time.
The host organisations for any given cohort will not be revealed before the bootcamp starts in September. Nor will you be able to choose which organization you are assigned to. This is a conscious choice for us as we would like to avoid the host organization becoming the primary motivation for joining the programme and that you develop host favorites in advance. The real benefit of BSD is the innovation skill set that you will get during the fellowship – regardless of where you do your field immersion.
DTI does not offer employee housing, and the programme, unfortunately, does not have the resources to assist you in finding housing.
We refer to the website Life in Denmark for more information on how best to find the appropriate housing for you.
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Graduates are awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in BioSustainability Design, issued by the Danish Technological Institute in partnership with the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The credential recognizes advanced capabilities in need-driven innovation, design thinking, and systemic sustainability within the agri-food sector. You are not credited with ECTS-points for completing the programme.
Both pathways are equally valued. Teams can transition their validated concept into an independent, high-growth startup, or partner with existing industry players to license and implement the solution directly into the supply chain. In addition, solutions can serve as the foundation for larger collaborative R&D consortia.
Host partners gain valuable external operational insights at no cost:
All results, inventions, and intellectual property developed during the programme belong to the fellows. The programme does not take equity or ownership in resulting ventures. To ensure maximum real-world impact, team members collaborate under a shared agreement, while general background insights and unpursued industry needs remain accessible to benefit the broader food ecosystem.
The programme’s mission is to see sustainable solutions deployed in the real world. If certain team members choose to return to industry or pursue other career paths, they are expected to amicably release their project rights so that the remaining founders can advance the venture and secure investment without intellectual property friction.
The programme serves as an active springboard into the agri-food ecosystem. Because fellows work directly with industry hosts, mentors, and investors, graduates are well-positioned to:
Completing the fellowship provides direct entry into a focused, highly relevant network across the agri-food sector:
The number of available fellowships increases over the first few years of the programme. For the first class starting in 2026, we will recruit 8 fellows. This will increase to 16 fellows in 2027, and 20 fellows for the classes starting in 2028 and 2029.
The BSD is hosted at Danish Technological Institute’s facilities in Aarhus.
Yes, absolutely. We strongly encourage applications from international candidates. All programme activities and teaching will be conducted in English.
Yes. You must apply as an individual. We do not accept pre-formed teams. The cross-disciplinary teams are carefully composed by the programme management during the initial Bootcamp phase to ensure a diverse and effective mix of skills and backgrounds.
The application period will be open during the first quarter (Q1) of each year for the class starting in September. Specific dates and deadlines will be announced on this website.
The assessment process, including interviews and workshops, takes place during the second quarter (Q2). All successful candidates will be notified with an offer before the end of Q2.
If we were not able to answer your questions in the above FAQ section, or elsewhere on the website, please feel free to write to our secretariat at info@biosustainabilitydesign.dk.
