Purpose

PLEASE NOTE THAT SUPPORT LETTERS FROM CO-APPLICANT(S), IF ANY, SHOULD BE UPLOADED UNDER “OTHER UPLOADS” IN NORMA (see guidelines updated on 8/8-24).

Applications are invited for project grants to support excellent research within plant science, agriculture* and food biotechnology. Projects must be based at a university or other non-profit research institution in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, or Sweden.

The proposed research should address major challenges within plant, agricultural, and food science associated with developing sustainable agriculture and food production. The research should be fundamental in character with a clear and strategic outlook to improve sustainability and potential solutions. The proposed research should significantly extent existing knowledge beyond state-of-the-art and may have a high-risk profile. The research should be based on life science research disciplines.

Non-exclusive list of prioritized areas:

• Development of plants with high productivity, resiliency, and resource-use-efficiency for food, fibre, materials, fuel and energy, chemicals, or climate change mitigation
• Utilization of microorganisms to improve sustainability across the value chain from primary agricultural production to end-product
• Development of agricultural-, food-, and forestry systems with higher productivity, circularity, and biodiversity, and with minimum impact on environment and climate
• Development of sustainable plant-, microorganism-, and fungi-based ingredients and foods with high functionality, and organoleptic quality. The proposed research should primarily focus on the technological aspects of food science and biotechnology, while nutrition and health related aspects may be considered only to a limited extent
• Utilization of ingredients derived from precision fermentation, fungi, algae, insects, and cellular agriculture for food production
• Development of methods and technologies, including those driven by data science, that enable and support sustainable agriculture and food production. A significant proportion of the proposed research should explore the use of the new method or technology for its intended application

The program will not support:

• Research primarily focusing on livestock, livestock commodities, and feed
• Research focusing on aquaculture, or its derived commodities
• Research with their main research component on nutritional uptake and clinical studies

Projects with a focus on pharmaceuticals and therapeutics should submit their application to the Novo Nordisk Foundation Committee on Bioscience and Basic Biomedicine, while proposals focusing on industrial biotechnology and environmental biotechnology should be submitted to the Novo Nordisk Foundation Committee Industrial Biotechnology and Environmental Biotechnology.

*Agriculture is here defined as terrestrial farming and cultivation of plants, including forestry.

Eligibility

Nordic Region

Faculty members and researchers with an independent research program at academic research institution in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, or Sweden are eligible to apply for the project grants.

In addition to the main applicant, applications may include one or more co-applicants who contribute scientifically to the project and will receive a financial share of the grant.