Danish National Research Fundation

The purpose of the Danish National Research Foundation is to create ‘an optimal framework for groundbreaking research, which is created by letting the best researchers try their hand at the problems they are most passionate about’.

Grants are awarded to researchers who have the prospect of making their mark with a ground-breaking idea at the top international level within the grant period.

The foundation's philosophy is that ‘the optimal framework for groundbreaking research is created by letting the best researchers try their hand at the problems they are most passionate about’. The topic is therefore free.

Grant opportunities

The support is primarily expressed through the establishment of Centers of Excellence, but in addition, the foundation has also launched a number of activities specifically aimed at increasing the internationalization of Danish research.

The Danish National Research Foundation provides 44% in overhead grants to Danish universities.

Centers of Excellence

The Danish National Research Foundation's primary instrument is Centers of Excellence. Grants are typically between DKK 50 and 60 million over six years with the possibility of a four-year extension. There will usually be a requirement for significant co-financing. The center manager must be backed by a strong team and have strong international collaborations, preferably across disciplines. Last but not least, you must have a groundbreaking idea that can support such a large and long-term investment.

Niels Bohr professorships

The program has been offered under slightly different headings and has changed slightly over time. The purpose of the grants is to attract top researchers from research institutions abroad to Denmark in order to strengthen academic environments and the internationalization of Danish research. These are 5-year grants of around DKK 25-30 million.

Other grant opportunities

The foundation has very few instruments beyond the Centers of Excellence program and they are not offered regularly like the centers. Examples of other instruments that have been offered in the past are initiatives to support research collaborations with, for example, China, India and France.

Call for applications

The Danish National Research Foundation has applications for Centers of Excellence every 2-3 years. The foundation's other instruments are not advertised regularly and in many cases will only be advertised once and not again.

All calls can be found on the foundation's website.