Purpose
The Novo Nordisk Foundation wishes to make significant contributions to the sustainability of society and the environment, including research in sustainable food and biomass. Grants within Plant Science, Agriculture and Food Biotechnology support excellent fundamental research with a strategic perspective addressing the major questions and challenges within these fields. The proposed research must involve a clear element of biotechnology, have an outlook to scaling potential(s) while contributing to productivity and sustainability. The research projects should preferably include one or more of the following topics:
- Plants with increased productivity, resiliency and/or nutritional content
- Development of plants for food, materials, chemicals and fuels
- Biological approaches to reduce greenhouse gases from agriculture
- Biological approaches supporting productivity and resiliency of agricultural production
- Fundamental research within sustainable foods and food processing
- Functionality and the associated structures of food components
- Data science promoting research within plant science, agriculture and food biotechnology
The program does not support:
Research with main component within livestock and livestock commodities.
Research with main component within nutritional uptake and metabolic effects of specific foods.
For the biotechnology requirement, the OECD short definition of biotechnology will be used as a reference for assessments. The OECD single definition of biotechnology is: the application of science and technology to living organisms, as well as parts, products and models thereof, to alter living or non-living materials for the production of knowledge, goods and services.
Eligibility
Faculty members and 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 these project grants.
Funding
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:
- Direct project costs and operating expenses.
- Smaller scientific equipment.
- Salary for scientific researchers, technical assistants and PhD students, although not for the main applicant or co-applicants.
- Costs to publish the results of the project and to present them at an international conference.
- Administrative support for administration of the grant (up to 5% of, and included in, the funding applied for from the NNF). Funding from the grant may not be used for general overhead costs.
Grants may fund an entire project or a clearly defined part of a major project (in the latter case, a summary of the major project must be included).
