CHALLENGE PROGRAMME 2026 – Biological systems under non-equilibrium conditions

Purpose

The Challenge Programme aims to contribute substantially to the development of Danish and European research ecosystems within research areas of strategic priority to the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The goal is to develop innovative solutions to major scientific challenges, supporting leading researchers to form a consortium united by a clear vision and mission.

The Programme provides funding to enable scientific depth and focus and facilitate synergy between the research partners.

The grants awarded within the Challenge Programme will broadly fit within the Novo Nordisk Foundation Strategy.

A webinar covering the Challenge Programme and theme will be held on 12 June 2025.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation will hold an interactive hybrid workshop on 28 August 2025 to support networking and knowledge sharing around the theme.

Research Theme 2026

The Challenge theme uncovers the mechanisms driving development, function and self-organisation of biological systems under non-equilibrium conditions.

Supported research will centre around establishing new or improved theoretical frameworks, this in combination with using state-of-the-art experimental techniques and recent advancements in computational methods. The research must be an interdisciplinary collaboration between fields such as biology, physics, chemistry, engineering or computer science.

The results from this Challenge may improve our understanding and prediction of complex systems under physiological conditions from single biomolecules to the organism level, with the potential to accelerate drug development, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, or sustainable biotechnology.

Supported research may include but is not limited to:

• Mechanisms of self-organisation driving order and specialised function under non-equilibrium conditions.
• The drivers of self-assembled biological structures under non-equilibrium conditions.
• Complex biological behaviour driven by active processes involving protein interactions, molecular machines, cellular metabolism and signalling.
• Fundamental physical models for predicting dynamics of non-equilibrium biological systems.
• Novel experimental and AI-based methods to observe and quantify non-equilibrium biological processes in real-time

Eligibility

The Challenge Programme supports collaboration between leading scientific experts to form a consortium of 2-4 research groups (main applicant plus 1-3 co-applicants).

1. The main applicant must be an independent tenured/tenure-track researcher with their own research group, employed at a European (European Union, Schengen Area plus United Kingdom) university, hospital, or non-profit research organisation, which will be the host institution and will be responsible for administration of the grant.
2. The main applicant must be employed at the host institution with at least a 75% commitment and must be guaranteed their own salary for the entire project period.
3. Co-applicant institutions may be located anywhere globally.
4. At least one applicant (either main- or co-applicant) must be at least 75% employed and have their research group at a Danish university, hospital, or non-profit research organisation.

Industry collaboration is allowed, but industrial partners cannot receive funding.

Funding

A total budget of up to DKK  150 million (ca. EUR 20 million) is available for grants up to DKK 40 – 75 million (ca. EUR 5,4 – 10 million) for projects of 6 years duration. Applicants may apply for funding for the types of expenses listed in Section 3.5.

Application process

There are 2 stages to the application process. Stage 1 consists of an expression of interest. After the initial evaluation, shortlisted applicants will be invited to submit a proposal in Stage 2, consisting of a comprehensive application with a detailed project proposal along with a detailed budget.

As part of the Stage 2 evaluation, the applicants will be invited to present and discuss their proposed research projects with the review committee in an online meeting.

Please read “Guidelines for Applicants” carefully before initiating the application process. Additional and essential information is found in these guidelines.

Click here to read more about the Challenge Programme and to see a list of previous Grant recipients.

The Challenge evaluation committee will be announced later.

Contact e-mail: [email protected]. Please include the name of the call “Biological systems under non-equilibrium conditions” in the subject line.