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Postdoctoral Fellowships for research within Plant Science, Agriculture and Food Biotechnology

Call opens
25 June 2020
Call closes
27 August 2020 2:00pm (CET)
Announcement of results
December 2020
Recurring calls
Expected June 2021
Application guidelines

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.

About the grant

Amount

Up to DKK 2.5 million per grant

Location

Denmark, Nordic Countries (excl. Denmark)

Career stage

PhD students, Postdoctoral fellowships

Research area focus

Biotechnology-based Synthesis and Production

Committee

Committee on Plant Science, Agriculture and Food Biotechnology

Contact

For grant inquiries
Sisse Marquina-Jongberg
Senior Scientific Lead, PhD
[email protected]
Thomas de Bang
Senior Scientific Lead, PhD
[email protected]

Nordic Region

Eligibility

An applicant must either:

  •  have a PhD or equivalent degree obtained within 6 years of the application deadline date.

or

  • be a PhD student who will defend her/his thesis before April 1, 2021.

The applicant must consult with the planned supervisor at the Nordic host institution before submitting the application. To utilize the fellowship, a recipient must be accepted as a postdoctoral employee at the host institution.

Funding

The postdoctoral fellowship period can be from 1 to 3 years. The duration of the fellowship should reflect the time frame of the research activities.

At least 1 year of a fellowship must be used at the Nordic host institution. For applicants currently based at a Nordic host institution who have not conducted research in another country, a research period with a minimum of 6 and maximum of 12 months in total at a laboratory in another country will be considered as a positive element for the postdoctoral training, but is not a requirement.

Funding up to DKK 800.000 per year is available for expenses including the fellowship recipient’s own salary and direct project costs. An additional amount up to DKK 100.000 in total is available for costs related to a 6-12 month stay at a collaborating laboratory in another country.

Application process

Applications must be completed and submitted using the NNF’s application system following the instructions in the “Information and guidelines for applicants” pdf, found at the link below when the system opens. Additional essential information regarding eligibility, funding and submission requirements is found in this pdf.

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