Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation is supporting a film project where the focal point is a Christmas calendar for the whole family, illuminating the exciting world of science.
2022 will be the National Year of Science commemorating the 100th anniversary of Niels Bohr receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics. The celebration of the anniversary kicks off in December with the TV 2 Christmas Calendar. The project is supported by several large Danish foundations, including Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation, which has donated 7.5 million DKK to the Niels Bohr Institute.
The project is also supported by the Villum Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Poul Due Jensen Foundation (the Grundfos Foundation). Common to the four major foundations is a desire to promote the interest and curiosity for science in children and young people.
The project fits within the ethos of Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation ‘to act for the benefit of Danfoss’. Peter M. Clausen, Chairman of the Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation, explained:
”Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation is associated with Danfoss, the success of which is linked to the fields of science and of engineering. It is within these fields that future solutions to technological challenges will be found. So, we need children and young people to be curious about science. They will be the engineers of the future, coming up with sustainable green solutions”.
Peter M. Clausen, Chairman Bitten & Mads Clausen's Foundation
The Christmas calendar, to be broadcast on TV2 in December 2021, has a total budget for production of 55 million DKK.
Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation is experienced at initiating projects that will instill curiosity and fun with science. This is the basic idea behind the Universe Science Park at Nordal and in the Catafond's LEAPS learning process. However, this is the first time that the Foundation is involved in a national film project of this nature.
Head of Department at the Niels Bohr Institute, Professor Jan W. Thomsen talked about the project:
It will be a new way of communicating science. The Niels Bohr Institute, together with TV 2 and Nordisk Film Production, will use the idea of the Christmas Calendar to bring science to life. We want to make people aware and stimulate their interest in the Natural Sciences. Despite the fact that science is a natural part of our everyday lives, most children, young people and adults still need to discover just how much influence science actually has on our daily lives.
Professor Jan W. Thomsen
A Universe of Activities
The TV 2 Christmas Calendar will be supplemented by many other learning activities, projects, exhibitions and meetings for children and adults, which will continue well into 2022.
The producer, Trin Hjortkjær Thomsen, at Nordisk Film Production, which will produce the Christmas Calendar for TV 2, explained:
This historic collaboration has enabled the development and production of a highly ambitious Christmas fairy tale, told in 24 episodes. We, in Nordisk Film Production, are already in the process of preparing for the filming, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute and working with TV 2, we look forward to presenting an enthralling story set in the wonderful world of science.
Trin Hjortkær Thomsen
To read more about the Niels Bohr Institute, you can visit the website through this link:
