This means that we increasingly need to develop the basic technologies that enable the circular use of resources if new environmental initiatives are to really make a difference.
This is the focus of Recycling for a Sustainable Society – one of the three themes the Novo Nordisk Foundation has chosen for the 2022 Challenge Programme.
This theme will challenge ambitious researchers to find solutions to some of the most pressing global issues related to recycling materials or nutrients. The Foundation will award grants to the best projects of up to DKK 60 million over 6 years.
The challenge for applicants is to enable the individual constituents or components present in waste or side streams to be recycled to promote the circular use of resources. The focus is not on developing specific end-products but on developing new basic methods and technologies. The projects for this theme should include biotechnology research but will typically be interdisciplinary in nature.
“Waste and side streams typically originate from agriculture, the food industry, the water sector, the hospital sector and the use of plastic in general. The goal for the 2022 Challenge Programme candidates is to incorporate the enormous global need for new knowledge about recycling and circularity based on the large quantities of resources discarded each year without their potential being fully utilized,” says Claus Felby, Senior Vice President, Biotech, Novo Nordisk Foundation.
The 2022 Challenge Programme themes are:
Theme 1: Recycling for a Sustainable Society
Theme 2: Energy Materials with Biological Applications
Theme 3: Immunity at Mucosal Surfaces
About the Challenge Programme
The Novo Nordisk Foundation established the Challenge Programme in 2014. Since then, the Foundation has awarded more than DKK 100 million every year for ambitious research projects based on a thematic approach addressing some of the major societal challenges.
In 2022, the Foundation’s Challenge Programme will award up to DKK 360 million for grants of up to DKK 60 million per project based on the themes for 2022. Read more about the Challenge Programme here.
How to apply
Read more about the application process here.
Further information
Marie-Louise Jersin, Senior Communications Partner, +45 3049 4957, [email protected]
