With its university teaching prizes, established in 2025, the Novo Nordisk Foundation seeks to promote engaging university level teaching within natural, technical, health and interdisciplinary sciences.

Four teams of educators from the University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Southern Denmark have been awarded the Foundation’s prizes for university teaching in 2026. The prizes are given annually to educators at Danish universities, with the purpose of highlighting and recognising university teaching of excellence.

“As a society, we need to educate strong university candidates who can contribute to innovative solutions within science, technology and health. That is why we are proud to celebrate talented educators who deliver high-quality teaching at the universities that can inspire and stimulate students to think and work creatively,” says Berith Bjørnholm, Vice President for Education & Outreach at the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Three of the prizes are given within the areas of natural, technical and health science, while the fourth prize recognises interdisciplinary teaching that combines disciplines from the above‑mentioned areas.

All four prizes are awarded to teams of two to three educators to highlight the importance of collaboration in creating innovative and engaging learning environments.

2026 prize recipients

• Prize for Natural Science Teachers at Universities: Birthe Brandt Kragelund, Karen Skriver, Kresten Lindorff‑Larsen, University of Copenhagen.
• Prize for Health Science Teachers at Universities: Frank Vincenzo de Paoli, Thomas Holm Pedersen, Jean Farup, Aarhus University.
• Prize for Technical Science Teachers at Universities: Pernille Rose Jensen, Marie Sofie Møller, Saria Otani, Technical University of Denmark.
• Prize for Interdisciplinary Science Teachers at Universities: Stefan Jänicke, Tariq Yousef, Kim Rose Olsen, University of Southern Denmark.

The prize-winning teams have all distinguished themselves by creating engaging learning experiences and innovative teaching methods, as well as by promoting collaboration aimed at strengthening overall academic standards.

“This year’s prize recipients are being honoured as educators who engage students and foster creative thinking through dedicated teaching. Their efforts make a difference for the students and educational institutions and serve as inspiration, also internationally,” says Berith Bjørnholm.

Support for Further Development of Teaching Activities
Each prize amounts to DKK 1,500,000, of which each individual educator receives DKK 25,000 as a personal honorary award. The remaining amount goes to the team as an educational funding grant, to be used for further development of the teaching in the given area, for example through the purchase of equipment, upgrading of teaching facilities, or other related activities.

It is the universities that nominate educators for the four prizes. The prize winners are selected by the Committee for the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Teaching Prizes.

You can read more about the four teaching teams and their teaching activities here.

To read more about the Foundation’s teaching prizes, click here.