 The new vitamin received the letter K because the initial discoveries were reported in a German journal, in which it was designated as "Koagulationsvitamin".He received an undergraduate degree in chemistry from the "Copenhagen Polytechnic Institute" (now the Technical University of Denmark) in 1920, and was appointed as assistant instructor in chemistry at the School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine.By 1923 he had attained the post of instructor in biochemistry at Copenhagen University's Physiological Laboratory.