Eligibility

• A research institution in Denmark must employ the applicant for the entire fellowship period and this institution must administrate the fellowship grant.
• The start date of the applied project should be after April 1 2025 and no later than April 1 2026.
• An applicant can submit one application to one of the two Novo Nordisk Foundation Postdoc Fellowship calls and cannot submit a new application for a Novo Nordisk Foundation funded postdoctoral fellowship while the application is under review.

Please note that if your foreign research institution is located outside the EU, you may not be entitled to the same employment conditions during your stay abroad as those at your home institution. Specifically, privileges in connection with parental leave may differ significantly. You are therefore encouraged to familiarize yourself with relevant rules and regulations (at your home institution, at the institution abroad, at the relevant municipality of residence in your home country etc.).

The successful candidate:

• will carry out research for at least 3 years abroad, followed by up to 1 year in Denmark
• has obtained a PhD degree within 5 years of the fellowship start date
• has at least one first author paper accepted for publication or published
• can apply as a PhD-student if the supervisor signs a declaration stating that the applicant is expected to graduate before the start date of the fellowship
• can apply if a postdoctoral stay abroad has already started. However, the time spent as postdoc abroad must not exceed 1 year at the time of application
• has established contact with the laboratory abroad and has support from the principal investigator/lab head at the foreign research institution
• has considerable prior association to the Danish education or research community, e.g., by having a Danish master’s degree or PhD or several years of research experience at a Danish institution and has a clear intention of returning to Denmark after the stay abroad.

Funding

A total of up to DKK 13.5 million is available for grants. The total duration of the fellowship is 4 years. The Novo Nordisk Foundation awards up to DKK 1.125 million per year, for a total of up to DKK 4.5 million per grant.

Payout of the fourth and final grant year is conditional on the grantee returning to Denmark.

Up to three fellowship grants will be awarded in 2025.

Please read the guidelines.

Application process

Submit your application via the foundation’s application system (the green ‘Apply’ button at the top of the screen) from the indicated ‘Application opens’ date.

When all applications have been assessed, applicants will be notified about whether they have been awarded a grant. The notification e-mail will be sent from [email protected] to the e-mail address used when creating a profile in NORMA.

PLEASE NOTE: The Foundation does not provide feedback in case an application is declined