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.
Join us for an informational webinar 16 June 2026 at 13:00 CEST where you can learn more about the scientific scope and eligibility criteria for the Challenge Programme 2027 –“Harnessing novel Earth-abundant materials for sustainable technologies”.
We also encourage you to pre-submit questions which we will answer at the end of the webinar. Send your questions to [email protected]. Please include in the subject line the name of the call “Harnessing novel Earth-abundant materials for sustainable technologies.
Research Theme 2027
Earth-abundant materials are elements and compounds that occur widely in the Earth’s crust and may provide sustainable alternatives to scarce or hard-to-source resources. Enhanced utilisation of earth-abundant materials in modern technologies is important for reducing environmental footprint and for driving responsible and economical technological progress.
The challenge is to develop novel materials for sustainable technologies that exploit the properties of Earth-abundant elements, aiming to match or exceed the performance of those that rely on rare or critical resources.
The Challenge calls for interdisciplinary collaboration between materials science, chemistry, engineering, data-science, and physics. The research should target fundamental material discovery and synthesis of Earth-abundant materials with unique properties for sustainable technologies or development of novel applications based on scalable and abundant materials. The research must be interdisciplinary and fall within technology readiness levels (TRL) 1-3, with a clear focus on fundamental material discovery, synthesis, and characterisation of Earth-abundant materials. The Novo Nordisk Foundation encourages high-risk approaches and strongly values the integration of experimental methods with modelling and a machine learning or data science component. However, proposals limited to theoretical approaches and modelling will not be prioritised. Also, projects that focus primarily on materials recovery are considered out of scope. Techno-economic analysis and environmental sustainability impact assessment cannot be the primary focus of a proposal, but it may be integrated if relevant, in particular as it pertains to evaluating the perspectives for societal applicability and commercial potential. The programme does not support prototype development or commercialisation. Projects focused primarily on hydrogen production, building materials, perovskites, and biomaterials are considered out of scope for the call.
Supported research may include but is not limited to:
- Study novel earth-abundant materials for quantum technologies
- Utilise earth-abundant materials for in novel energy storage systems across relevant timescales.
- Discover and test cost-effective and sustainable materials for catalytic processes.
- Explore the use of Earth-abundant materials in semiconductors and other electronic components, promoting sustainable processes and alternatives to traditional materials.
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).
- 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.
- 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.
- Co-applicant institutions may be located anywhere globally.
- 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 at the time of submission.
Industry collaboration is allowed, but industrial partners cannot receive funding.
General rules for applications:
Applicants are only permitted to submit one proposal as main applicant across all four Challenge Programme 2027 calls. If a proposal is submitted as main applicant, the applicant cannot at the same time be a co-applicant on a different proposal.
Funding
A total budget of up to DKK 150 million (ca. EUR 20 million) is available for grants up to DKK 30 – 75 million (ca. EUR 4 – 10 million) for projects of 6 years duration.
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 panel 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.
Access FAQ through link: here
Contact e-mail: [email protected]. Please include the name of the call “Harnessing novel Earth-abundant materials for sustainable technologies” in the subject line.
