Gnosis by Lesaffre has announced it will be sponsoring an Industrial PhD programme at Maastricht University focusing on the role of vitamin K2 in cardiovascular health.
The four-year PhD-programme was awarded to Rudolf Bittner, who will be under the supervision of leading vitamin K2 researcher Professor Leon Schurgers, as well as Olav Gåserød, PhD, Product Development and Research and Development Manager with Gnosis, who will supervise him through plant and production activities.
Industry-funded PhDs provide the student with an opportunity to pursue their research in a more vocational environment to develop relevant transferable skills, allowing for a more seamless transition to the student’s first professional post-doctorate position, according to Dr Gåserød, who has worked for 25 years in industrial research and product development within biomaterials, formulation, and actives, oftentimes in collaboration with academia and CROs, and previously co-supervised master and PhD students in industrial projects.
Gnosis by Lesaffre is expanding its relationship with Maastricht and Dr Schurgers, cultivating future compelling and groundbreaking research
- Sophie Legrain-Raspaud, Gnosis Research & Application Director
“This programme is different from the standard ‘academic’ PhD, which mostly focuses on academic skills and less on industrial skills. This latter is now recognised as an important asset for young scientists as it increases chances on the job market,” added Dr Schurgers, Vice-Chair of Biochemistry at the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM).
Schurgers continued: “This programme allows the candidate to explore research in a pragmatic and applicable way, working in proximity with those offering expertise in research as well as industry. It requires dedicated organisation and open communication that, in the end, should yield a more robust perspective of the project’s future applications.”
Dr Schurgers is also the scientific advisor of the steering scientific board on the worldwide quality assurance plan for vitamin K detection, a member of the scientific advisory board of the Dutch Thrombosis Society, and the author of more than 250 research papers in the international scientific press.
“As the global need for K2 as menaquinone-7 continues to be validated by new research, the field is expanding and requires new researchers in-tune with how findings can be turned into future applications,” said Sophie Legrain-Raspaud, Gnosis Research & Application Director.
Legrain-Raspaud continued: “By sponsoring this esteemed Industrial PhD programme, Gnosis by Lesaffre is expanding its relationship with Maastricht and Dr Schurgers, cultivating future compelling and groundbreaking research into vitamin K2’s roles in human health.”