The Foundation’s oldest prize
The Jacobæus Prize was established in 1939 (awarded for the first time in 1942) in memory of the Swedish professor H.C. Jacobæus and is the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s oldest prize. The prize is awarded annually and aims to strengthen basic biomedical research in Denmark.
The Jacobæus Prize is awarded to a recognized active researcher in life science and basic biomedicine who, at the time of award, is affiliated with a Danish non-profit research institution, and who has contributed to the advancement of the understanding of human physiology and/or mechanisms behind human disease with groundbreaking scientific knowledge.
The prize is DKK 1,500,000 and consists of a research grant of DKK 1,250,000 and a personal award of DKK 250,000. An additional DKK 200,000 is awarded to the recipient’s host institution to host an award symposium within the prize recipient’s research field(s), where she/he is invited to give a presentation about her/his research.
The prize is awarded under the auspices of the Committee for Bioscience and Basic Biomedicine under the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Hans Christian Jacobæus (1879–1937) was a Swedish professor and pioneering clinical researcher who developed a method for exploring the pleural cavity (thoracoscopy) using a cystoscope, which greatly improved the diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases, especially tuberculosis. Hans Christian Jacobæus served on the Board of the Nordisk Insulin Foundation from its inception in 1926 until his death.
The Jacobæus Prize was previously administered by a separate foundation, the H.C Jacobæus Foundation, and known as the H.C. Jacobæus Lecture. From 2025, the focus of the Jacobæus Prize will be on researchers within the basic biomedical research area, anchored at a Danish research institute.
Further information
Marie Kveiborg
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