Five months of hands-on internship at Lundbeck

A deep dive into chemical production

Daria first encountered Lundbeck during the Biotech Championships in Kalundborg, where she visited their booth and got curious. With a particular interest in chemical production – as opposed to biological processes – she was drawn to the kind of synthetic chemistry Lundbeck works with. The internship in Lumsås was an opportunity to get close to exactly that.

From documentation to lab analysis

During her internship, Daria was given responsibility for a project with real potential: to analyse and help solve a quality issue that currently requires an extra purification step. The task involved reviewing documentation from 160 batches, structuring data in Excel, and identifying patterns that might explain the presence of an impurity in the process.

“The data collection was demanding – I worked with physical documentation that had to be organised and systematised. But because it was a real project with actual impact, it was also incredibly educational,” Daria explains.

Her analysis led to lab testing, where she began validating her hypotheses. If her findings hold up, they may lead to a more efficient production process using fewer resources – both economically and environmentally.

A hands-on internship combining operations and deep learning

Beyond the specific project, Daria was also involved in operations, documentation, and collaboration with colleagues – both in Denmark and at Lundbeck’s site in Italy. She highlights the friendly, inclusive atmosphere in Lumsås:

“People greet each other, know each other’s names and create a warm work environment. I was welcomed with a breakfast and ended my internship with a summer party for all employees in Denmark.”

The internship also pushed her professionally and linguistically:

Company perspective: A meaningful project with real impact

Tommy Skovby, Daria’s internship supervisor and Project Director at Lundbeck, sees great value in collaborating with students:

“The project Daria worked on is something we’ve long wanted to analyse, but we didn’t have the resources. It’s the perfect internship project – a student can really dig into the data and maybe spot patterns we hadn’t noticed.”

Daria worked with five years of documentation, analysing two process steps and connecting data to yield and purity. She presented her findings continuously to her supervisors at Lundbeck.

“She got to see the entire process – and that’s important. Here at Lundbeck, you really get to use everything in your academic toolbox.”

Finding direction through practice

The internship gave Daria both insight and clarity for her future:

“I have a clearer sense of what I want to work with – and what knowledge I still need to develop. It confirmed how exciting chemical production is.”

Her experience now continues into a bachelor’s project in collaboration with Lundbeck – this time with a focus on environmental and resource challenges, specifically heavy metal recovery.