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.
Areas of support
The challenge is to prevent further soil degradation and enable the regeneration of healthy soils as a vital natural resource by deepening our fundamental understanding of how biological factors influence and interact with physiochemical and other properties of soil. Research outcomes will provide the scientific foundation for developing biotechnology- or nature-based solutions. The research is not expected to develop new technologies directly, but it should generate fundamental mechanistic insights that can inform solution development and guide future innovations. These insights are crucial for innovative soil management practices and decision support tools for farmers. The programme is aimed at fundamental research merging technical and/or ecological sciences with agronomy and/or soil science to understand how biological processes can improve soil health.
The call defines soil health as the ability of soil to function as a living ecosystem, supporting the productivity, diversity, and environmental services of terrestrial ecosystems. Advancing soil health solutions requires understanding how biological drivers like soil organic matter and nutrient cycling promote soil health functions, including carbon storage, water holding capacity, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, and resilience to abiotic stressors, such as resistance to physical degradation. Understanding these drivers could lead to sustainable bio-based solutions, improved soil management practices, and an accelerated green transition.
The research must be interdisciplinary and within technology readiness levels (TRL) 1 through 3, with a clear focus on soil health. Field experimentation and model development to understand and predict mechanistic processes are encouraged. Novel biotechnologies or other emerging technologies for improving, assessing, or predicting soil health can be included. The Novo Nordisk Foundation supports a high-risk approach and collaboration with public sector initiatives like the EU Mission for ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’. The Foundation is particularly keen to support data science research interfacing soil science but considers studies limited to data collection and modelling without mechanistic insights too narrow. Research focusing solely on a single organism, model organisms, or select groups of organisms will be deemed too narrow. Socio- or techno-economics, behavioural change, communications, law, or livestock commodities cannot be the focus but can be touched upon. The programme does not include implementation science or translational activities such as practical management solutions, decision support tools, or specific end-products such as biofertilizers.
Supported research may include but is not limited to:
- Exploring how biological processes enhance soil health and resilience against climate fluctuations, including patterns and principles defining healthy soil biogeochemistry
- Examining the impact of soil functional biodiversity on overall soil health
- Investigating soil-microbe-plant interactions to enhance soil carbon content and water-holding capacity
- Investigating the role of soil biotic components, such as microbiomes, foodwebs, fauna, and viruses, and their interactions with minerals, water, and greenhouse gases
- Developing modelling and data-driven approaches to predict soil ecosystem resilience for agricultural management based on interactions between soil biota, physiochemical properties, and climate factors
