Purpose
The Data Science Investigator Programme is composed of three calls – ‘Emerging’, ‘Ascending’, and ‘Distinguished’. Each of these calls targets principal investigators at a specific career stage.
The ‘Data Science Ascending Investigator’ grant is intended for excellent and independent Associate Professors (or equivalent) who have the ambition and potential to rise to the highest international level.
The purpose of the ‘Data Science Ascending Investigator’ grant is to support excellent independent Associate Professors (or equivalent) with ambitious projects rooted in data science and computational science, with immediate or potential future applications within areas of relevance to NNF’s Strategy.
The intended impact is to strengthen the quality and size of the Danish academic environment for data science research and education, which in turn will allow for an increased and improved output of new candidates skilled in data science, to meet the strong demand for such competencies from all sectors of society.
Starting group leaders are encouraged to compare the eligibility criteria of this call with that of the ‘Emerging’ profile to select the best fit. Professors cannot apply as ‘Ascending’ Investigators, since they are considered ‘Distinguished’ Investigators under this programme.
Areas of support
Research proposals which are eligible for funding should address:
- Development of new algorithms, methods and technologies within data science or computational science, artificial intelligence (incl. machine learning and deep learning), statistics, bioinformatics, and other computational sciences (incl. mathematical modelling, simulations, cybersecurity, etc.)
and/or
- Applications of data science and computational sciences to areas of relevance to the Foundation’s strategy and grant awarding activities, including life science, biomedical- and health science, public- and global health, infectious disease, sustainability, green transition, agriculture, as well as natural and technical sciences.
For projects mainly concerned with methods development, it is important that the applicants argue convincingly for potential application and impact within NNF’s scientific focus areas (Health, Sustainability, Life Science Ecosystem). Vice versa, projects that have their primary focus on the application side must describe and explain the novelty and impact of their data- and computational science approach, be it development of novel methods or novel applications of existing methods.
It is recognized that data science application and maturity will differ between disciplines and applicants within biotechnology and natural sciences are also encouraged to apply.
In general, projects without potential applications within NNF’s scientific focus areas and/or projects with no novelty in terms of development or application of computational methods will not be funded in this programme. Projects where the primary focus is on financial or insurance, fraud detection, advertisement, commercial analysis, telecommunication, mass surveillance, defense, cyber security, gaming, etc., are considered outside of scope and will generally not be considered for funding.
Eligibility
The ‘Data Science Ascending Investigator’ grant is aimed at supporting excellent and independent research group leaders.
- Applicants should, at the time of application, be associate professors (or equivalent). Applications from established group leaders at the level of assistant professors, senior researchers or similar research positions will be considered if the application meets all other requirements in this call.
- Applicants are expected to have a track record of high-impact scientific contributions to the field of data science (relative to their career stage), which will typically include first authorship of research papers in high-impact journals, contributions to key conferences in the field, etc.
- Ascending Investigator grants are individual grants awarded to excellent established research group leaders with original and ambitious projects, to support them in rising to the highest international level within their research field.
- Applicants must be ‘full-time’ researchers (teaching obligations included) who, during the project, are primarily employed, and have their primary research group, in Denmark. The project applied for must be anchored at a university or other non-profit research institution, which will be considered the administrating institution of the grant. The applicant must be the principal investigator of the proposed project and should perform independent research.
- It is a requirement that the applicant contributes to educational or training activities within data science or computational science at their host institution and/or at other institutions in Denmark.
- Please note, starting group leaders are encouraged to compare the eligibility criteria of this call with that of the ‘Emerging Investigator’ profile to select the best fit. Professors cannot apply for this specific call but are encouraged to apply as ‘Distinguished Investigators’ instead.
Funding
Each grant can be up to DKK 13.3 million over a period of up to five years.
The total annual grant budget for the 2025 Data Science Investigators Programme is up to DKK 99 million, across all three career levels.
Grant funding is available for:
- Salary for research and technical assistance
- PhD tuition fee
- Operating expenses
- Data management
- Equipment required for the project
- Travel expenses related to the project
- Conference participation
- Publication costs
- Bench fee (Not applicable for Danish Universities)
- Direct administrative expenses (Not applicable for Danish Universities)
- Project Supplement (only available for Danish Universities)
Application process
The application must be completed and submitted using the foundation’s application system NORMA that can be accessed via the link “Apply now”.
Please read “Information and Guidelines for Applicants” carefully before initiating the application process. The Guidelines provide essential information on the call and the application content and process. An FAQ section has been added as an appendix to the call guidelines to address common questions.
Click here to see a list of former grant recipients.
