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New national PhD academy is an investment in future research talents

The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) has received a grant of DKK 500 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to establish a national PhD academy focusing on talent development and researcher education. The academy will be located at SDU, and the activities are for PhD students broadly within the Danish university sector.

The Danish Advanced Research Academy (DARA) has been developed by the Faculty of Science at SDU. The Academy aims to strengthen researcher education by offering PhD students a first-class educational environment that combines groundbreaking research with international networks and broad academic coverage. The Academy will educate young researchers across several disciplines and provide them with the necessary tools to solve future societal challenges.

The grant to the Academy will be managed by SDU. The University will ensure that DARA becomes a national platform that promotes research collaboration and talent development across Danish research institutions. Initially supported by a grant of DKK 500 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, DARA is designed so that other foundations and organisations can contribute to further broaden the research scope of the Academy.

DARA continues to build on a solid foundation

Academies in the research community are by no means a new idea, and the Danish ones have proven to be a particularly fecund way to cultivate the next generation of excellent researchers while increasing the quality of research within a selected field.

‘We are incredibly grateful for the generous support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. This grant is a clear recognition of the significant impact that previous academies have had on the development of budding researchers in Denmark,’ says Jens Ringsmose, Rector of SDU.

‘We will now, in close collaboration with the rest of the sector, begin the exciting work of developing and managing a scientifically diverse academy and thus contribute to strengthening research and education of the highest quality across Denmark. This is not just an investment in researcher education. It is an investment in Denmark's future. We need researchers who can help solve the major challenges in health, technology and the green transition.’

Interdisciplinarity and international outlook

The Academy will award PhD scholarships for innovative and ambitious research projects within both strategically prioritised research areas where societal challenges are particularly pressing and projects where the PhD students can largely define the topics themselves.

At the same time, the size of the grant allows DARA to offer educational and networking activities as well as travelling grants for research stays at leading international research environments. The Academy will thus be able to bring together excellent researchers from a wide range of research fields under the same umbrella and help develop and shape them as researchers.

‘One of the great strengths of DARA is the opportunity to work across disciplines. We are seeing a growing interest in creating opportunities for young research talents who work across traditional disciplines. Our goal is for the grant to help provide young researchers with a cohesive nationwide environment that can equip them to create scientific results that can help solve some of our major societal challenges within the health of both people and the planet,’ says Søren Nedergaard, COO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

About DARA

DARA represents a strategic investment in Denmark’s future scientific capacity. With an annual intake of an average of 40 PhD students, the Academy will educate researchers who can contribute to both the private sector and public research with solutions that are crucial for future technological and scientific progress.
Editing was completed: 22.01.2025