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.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation will hold a webinar on Tuesday 9th June at 13:00 (CEST). Click here to join
Research Theme 2027
The challenge is to fundamentally understand electron transfer between synthetic and biological systems and to enable efficient bio-electrocatalysis with high turnover rates, increased current densities, and sustained efficiency. Research outcomes will provide the scientific foundation for developing electro-biotechnology-based solutions, either by advancing new technologies or offering fundamental mechanistic insights to guide future innovations. The programme is aimed at fundamental and applied electro-biotechnology research that combines biology, chemistry, materials science, physics, and/or engineering to address urgent challenges in clean energy generation, resource-efficient manufacturing, and sustainable chemical production including fuels and other energy carriers – with a strong emphasis on pathways that utilise gaseous feedstocks. To reduce reliance on fossil carbon-based energy and resources, the aim is to enable the use of electrons supplied from electric power in bioproduction, by increasing electric current densities and improving process efficiency. A key motivation is to overcome the cost and specificity limitations of existing catalysts for reduction of CO₂ and N₂, which are major barriers to large-scale implementation.
The call defines hybrid bio-electrocatalysis as systems that integrate biological components, such as enzymes or electroactive microbes, with non-biological materials like electrodes, linkers, catalysts, or other functional supports. These hybrid systems combine the selectivity and efficiency of biology with the robustness and scalability of synthetic platforms, enabling new ways to transfer electrons and catalyse reactions with gaseous substrates.
The research must be interdisciplinary and fall within technology readiness levels (TRL) 1 through 3, with a clear focus on fundamental understanding and control of bio-electrocatalysis. Any research methodology or discipline can be included. The Novo Nordisk Foundation encourages high-risk approaches and strongly values the integration of data science with electro-biotechnology, recommending a clear data science component. However, proposals limited to data collection and modelling without mechanistic insights will be considered too narrow. It could be an advantage if the proposed research advances catalyst specificity for CO₂ and N₂ reduction or improves electron transfer efficiency at scale. Projects focused solely on chemical (non-biological) catalysis, hydrogen production, photosynthesis in plants, photovoltaic technologies whose large-scale deployment would require extensive land use, bio-electrocatalysis for medical or diagnostic applications, or environmental remediation and pollutant degradation are not in scope. Techno-economic analysis and environmental sustainability impact assessment cannot be the sole focus but may be integrated if relevant. The programme does not support the development of specific end-products.
Supported research may include but is not limited to:
- Elucidating molecular mechanisms and quantitative rates and efficiencies for electron transfer at biological-synthetic interfaces, such as between electrode-enzyme contacts and electroactive microbes
- Leveraging advanced modelling, AI, and quantum computing to understand system energetics, structure, and dynamics at the molecular level, and to optimise the design of novel bio-electrocatalysts
- Combining efficient, selective biological or molecular systems with synthetic or non-biological materials that are tuneable and scalable
- Developing innovative electrode architecture designs for electrochemically driven enzymes
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 “Unravelling electron transfer mechanisms in hybrid bio-electrocatalysis” in the subject line.
