Purpose

Applications are invited for project grants to support excellent research within plant science, agriculture* and food biotechnology. Projects must be based at a university or other non-profit research institution in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, or Sweden.

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.

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.

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

Projects with a focus on pharmaceuticals and therapeutics should submit their application to the Novo Nordisk Foundation Committee on Bioscience and Basic Biomedicine, while proposals focusing on industrial biotechnology and environmental biotechnology should be submitted to the Novo Nordisk Foundation Committee Industrial Biotechnology and Environmental Biotechnology.

*Agriculture is here defined as terrestrial farming and cultivation of plants, including forestry.

Eligibility

Nordic Region

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.

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.

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 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.

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).

Application process

Applications must be completed and submitted using the online system following the instructions in the “Information and guidelines for applicants”. Additional essential information regarding eligibility, funding and the application process is found in this PDF.

Click here to read more about the Evaluation Committee.