The number of jobs created through Novo Nordisk Foundation grants has more than doubled in the past 5 years.
In 2020, a total of 5,500 people had jobs that were wholly or partly funded by grants from the Foundation. This is a significant increase compared to 2016, when the number of jobs was 2,100.
This is evident from a new report which documents the societal impact of the Novo Nordisk Foundation on research, education, the economy and healthcare.
The jobs have mainly been created in Denmark, the Foundation’s primary geographical support area, and in the other Nordic countries. In recent years, the Foundation has also funded research outside the Nordic region and for several humanitarian projects in crisis and disaster areas outside Europe, which has also supported job creation there.
More grants and more jobs
In recent years, the Novo Nordisk Foundation has significantly increased its annual payout, and the growth in jobs reflects the increased funding, explains Thomas Alslev Christensen, Senior Vice President, Impact, who is responsible for the Foundation’s impact assessment, corporate social responsibility and data reporting.
“Creating jobs is a natural result of the Foundation’s work, increased grants and focus on new areas. Several major initiatives have been launched, including more funding for research, healthcare, scientific infrastructure and humanitarian partnerships. One purpose of supporting research, for example, is to increase capacity. We want to add more resources and create more talented researchers to take on important societal challenges. We expect the trend of further growth in jobs to continue next year,” says Thomas Alslev Christensen.
Almost equal numbers of men and women
More than 4,600 of the 5,500 jobs were in science – with almost equal numbers of men and women. About one quarter of the scientific employees were postdoctoral fellows, another quarter were PhD students and just over half were in other positions in science. About 900 jobs are related to administration, the education sector, the humanitarian sector, social activities and others.
One example of how the Foundation’s grants create jobs is the establishment of Steno Diabetes Centers at public hospitals in all five administrative regions in Denmark, in Greenland and expected soon in the Faroe Islands. The Foundation supports research-based treatment and prevention of diabetes and research on other endocrine and metabolic diseases.
The ambition for the Centers includes offering the world’s best diabetes treatment and prevention of long-term complications and being a driving force for developing and conducting research on new treatment and prevention methods to benefit everyone with diabetes, their relatives and healthcare professionals. In addition to Denmark’s healthcare system, the Centers also support the labour market by creating many jobs at hospitals.
Read the whole report
Read more about the societal impact of the Foundation’s grants in 2020 in the Annual Impact Report 2020.
Further information
Christian Mostrup, Senior Programme Lead, +45 3067 4805, [email protected]
