Although a gruelling experience, Eva says the journey served an important purpose:

“ When you push this hard every day, you really learn something about your body and your mind.”

The trip taught Eva about her ability to problem solve and her propensity to organize. Through road cycling she’s also learned about her mental resolve and the importance of having goals and never giving up.

It’s these characteristics that she applies every day to her other passion as a pilot scientist at Novo Nordisk.

Over the last three years with Novo Nordisk, Eva has overseen the upscale production of medicine from the laboratory to a pilot plant.

It’s a career which has been decades in the making after her mother, who also worked for Novo Nordisk, first brought Eva to the company’s headquarters when she was just two months old.

As the years progressed, a young Eva would develop a love for nature and animals, interests that would eventually lead her to biotechnology – and Novo Nordisk.

“ What I like most about working in Novo Nordisk is the scientific challenges that I get,” says Eva.

“ When you upscale production, you don’t know how the product or the filtration will react. It’s a really interesting process because you always have to come up with a different solution.”

Since discovering her love for road cycling more than five years ago, Eva has seen the similarities between both passions.

“ To become a really good cyclist,” she says,

“ it takes a lot of dedication and a lot of hard work on the road; to be a good scientist, it also takes a lot of dedication and hard work, but on the computer and at the facility.”

Both science and cycling are an adventure for Eva. And like a bike ride which can lead anywhere, Novo Nordisk can open the door to a wide range of career opportunities.

It is this future of exciting unknowns that keeps Eva interested both personally and professionally.

Thinking back to her West Coast trek, Eva remembers that every time she reached the peak of a mountain, the feeling was magical.

“ You push and push to reach the top, and when you finally get there, and the bike starts to roll down the other side, you experience true freedom.”

These moments that reminded Eva of her work.

“ Whenever we are planning a production, we plan, and plan, and plan, and then when we are actually there producing, and everything is going well, you get that same magic feeling. The balance between these two is really great for me.”