Applications are now invited for the project grants to support excellent research within plant science, agriculture and food biotechnology.
The proposed research should address major challenges within plant, agricultural, and food science associated with developing sustainable agriculture and food production. The research should be fundamental in character with a clear and strategic outlook to improve sustainability and potential solutions. The proposed research should significantly extent existing knowledge beyond state-of-the-art and may have a high-risk profile. The research should be based on life science research disciplines.
Priority Areas
Non-exclusive list of prioritized areas:
Development of plants with high productivity, resiliency, and resource-use-efficiency for food, fiber, materials, fuel and energy, chemicals, or climate change mitigation
Utilization of microorganisms to improve sustainability across the value chain from primary agricultural production to end-product
Development of agricultural-, food-, and forestry systems with higher productivity, circularity, and biodiversity, and with minimum impact on environment and climate
Development of plant-, microorganism-, and fungi-based foods with low resource-use-technologies and high functionality, organoleptic, and nutritional quality
Utilization of precision fermentation, fungi, algae, and cellular agriculture for novel food production
Development of methods and technologies, including those driven by data science, that enable and support sustainable agriculture and food production.
Funding Information
Grants can support research activities at a level of DKK 300.000 – 1 million per year for 1 to 3 years. For projects having a main applicant and a co-applicant located in different Nordic countries, the maximum amount that may be applied for is DKK 1.35 million per year.
Grant funding is available for expenses including direct project costs as well as salary for scientific researchers, technical assistants, and PhD students. Funding from the grant cannot cover salary for the main applicant or co-applicants as well as general overhead costs. Up to 5 % administrative costs can be included.
The program will not support
Research primarily focusing on livestock, livestock commodities, and feed.
Research with their main research component on nutritional uptake and clinical studies.
Eligibility Criteria
Researchers with an independent research program at a university or other non-profit research institution in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, or Sweden are eligible to apply for the project grants.
Eligible candidates may be at the level of senior postdoc under the condition that they can document to have established themselves as independent researchers. As the grant cannot cover salary of the grantee, the applicant must be guaranteed his/her own salary for the entire project period.
In addition to the main applicant, applications may include one or more co-applicants who contribute scientifically to the project and will receive a financial share of the grant. A coapplicant must have an independent research program at a university or other non-profit research institution.
The project may also include research partners who do not receive funding from the grant. Those research partners may be located at a for-profit organization.
Proposals focusing on industrial biotechnology and environmental biotechnology should be submitted to the Novo Nordisk Foundation Committee Industrial Biotechnology and Environmental Biotechnology, while proposals with a focus on pharmaceuticals and therapeutics should be submitted to the Novo Nordisk Foundation Committee on Bioscience and Basic Biomedicine.
