Discover Funding Opportunities

Project Grants in Clinical and Translational Medicine

The objective of this call is to broadly promote Danish clinical or translational research of high international level. The research should involve patients/humans and/or clinical practice, diagnostic or therapeutic methods, but can also involve established animal models. The Foundation provides grants to support research activities that must be anchored at a university, hospital or other non-profit research institution in Denmark. A total of up to DKK 76 million is available for projects lasting from 1-3 years, with individual grants of up to DKK 4,400,000 million and a yearly maximum budget of DKK 1,480,000 million. DKK 11 million are specifically earmarked for projects within the strategic focused theme 'Interactions between infectious diseases and cardiometabolic diseases', aimed at improving understanding of the dual-burden and interactions between infectious diseases and cardiometabolic diseases.

Investigator Initiated Clinical Trials

The Novo Nordisk Foundation provides grants to strengthen opportunities for conducting larger clinical trials in Denmark without commercial purpose. The ultimate objective is to improve patient treatment through new medicine and technology and ensure the highest quality in treatment. Grants support both monocentric and multicenter national trials. For multicenter international clinical trials, the coordinating investigator and trial must be anchored at a Danish hospital. Clinical trials must conform to good clinical practice guidelines (GCP), demonstrate clinical relevance and scientific quality, and include detailed protocols with power calculations, data management plans, and statistical analysis plans. Randomized controlled trials are preferred, though nonrandomized trials are also accepted. All funded trials must be registered at ClinicalTrials.gov or the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS), and anonymized data must be made publicly available upon completion.

PREPARE – Grants for educational developments at universities 2026

The PREPARE program aims to enhance and expand methods for training students' creative and critical skills through science or engineering research activities at universities within the Danish Realm. The program focuses on disciplines within natural, technical and health science educations that align with the strategic key themes of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The grants provide science and engineering teachers with resources to implement new educational ideas and better prepare students to solve complex societal problems. The program supports three categories: digital development of educations, research infrastructure development for educations, and upgrade content of educations. The primary target group consists of bachelor and master students within natural, technical and health science educations at universities in the Danish Realm.

Female Heart – Clinical Research Grants

The Female Heart – Clinical Research Grants programme aims to enhance clinical understanding of sex-related differences in cardiovascular disease by fostering global collaborative research projects anchored in the Nordic countries. The programme funds research that seeks to improve early detection, clinical diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women, with particular attention to conditions with relatively higher female prevalence such as spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA), and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The research must involve international collaboration with main applicants anchored at Nordic research institutions and co-applicants from institutions outside the main applicant's country. Projects should address sex-specific or sex-associated risk factors, including pregnancy-related cardiovascular complications, effects of female hormonal transitions, and social determinants of health that impact women's cardiovascular health experiences. Sex-related differences in cardiovascular disease must be the core focus of the proposed research project and directly relate to the research hypothesis.

Inter-SUSTAIN – Part 2 (For researchers)

The Inter-SUSTAIN call aims to advance science by stimulating high-quality international databases to make their data attractive, accessible and usable for the research community, specifically for research within cardiometabolic diseases (CMD), infectious diseases, and regenerative medicine. Part 2 of this dual funding mechanism supports high-quality research projects through an open competition call. Researchers submit proposals that focus on CMD, infectious disease and regenerative medicine while making use of existing data from one of the shortlisted databases. Selected research projects will be evaluated by the Committee on Clinical and Translational Medicine. Both the awarded researchers and the databases selected by those researchers will receive funding. Any new data generated by the research will be added to the database, enhancing its content and attractiveness. As part of the application process, researchers must consult the database custodian to ensure their research proposal is feasible to execute.

Tandem Programme – Translational research collaboration between Basic and Clinical Researchers

With the Tandem Programme, the Novo Nordisk Foundation seeks to strengthen and support Danish translational health research of high international quality. The programme invites collaborative project applications from one basic and one clinical researcher that seek to stimulate the transition of basic research to clinical practice and vice versa. The programme specifically requires that one basic scientist and one clinical scientist apply together for a project which is clinically relevant, cross-disciplinary, and translational in nature, to catalyse improved treatment or diagnosis of patients, or understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. The two applicants are expected to take equal part in the project. Each Tandem Programme grant provides between DKK 11-13 million for four-year collaborative research projects, with the budget required to be equally split (60/40% also accepted) between the main and co-applicants. The clinical researcher must be active in the clinic and have current clinical responsibilities, not employed in a full-time research position. The programme aims to facilitate meaningful cross-disciplinary collaboration that bridges the gap between basic biomedical research and clinical medicine, advancing translational health research in Denmark.

Clinical Emerging Investigator

The Clinical Emerging Investigator grant program is designed to support and strengthen the development of young and promising clinical research leaders and promote Danish clinical and translational research at a high international level. The Novo Nordisk Foundation seeks to support starting clinical research leaders with ambitions of combining their clinical work with clinically relevant research. This 5-year grant program provides substantial funding to medical doctors who are ready to start or are currently under medical specialist training, enabling them to dedicate between 20% to 60% of their time to research while maintaining their clinical practice at a Danish hospital. The overall goal is to support medical research with relevance to patients and human health, covering research fields such as disease mechanisms, treatment methods, disease trajectories, epidemiology, diagnostic methods, public health and family medicine, intervention studies, register-based research, proof-of-concept studies, pilot projects, initial clinical trials, and biomedicine. Up to four grants can be awarded, ranging from DKK 8,000,000 to DKK 12,500,000 depending on the level of commitment from the applicant to the research project.

Clinical Distinguished Investigator

The Clinical Distinguished Investigator grant supports medical doctors and clinical professors conducting patient-relevant medical research over a 5-year period. The program aims to support medical research with relevance to patients and human health, including translational and clinical research, disease mechanisms, treatment methods, epidemiology, diagnostic methods, public health, intervention studies, register-based research, and clinical trials. Applicants must maintain clinical responsibilities throughout the grant period, spending 20-50% of their time in clinical work while dedicating 50-80% to research. The grant provides up to DKK 11 million total over 5 years (approximately DKK 2.2 million per year) for project-related expenses. The project must be anchored at a Danish university, hospital, or other non-profit research institution. Up to two Clinical Distinguished Investigator Grants will be awarded in each cycle. This is an individual grant at the disposal of the applicant, requiring institutional support from both clinical and research department heads.

Borregaard Clinical Ascending Investigator

The Borregaard Clinical Ascending Investigator grant aims to promote and strengthen Danish clinical and translational research at a high international level and to stimulate the continued development of excellent clinical research leaders. The Novo Nordisk Foundation seeks to support the consolidation of accomplished clinically active doctors with ambitious and clinically relevant 5-year research projects. The overall goal is to support medical research with relevance to patients and human health. The research fields could be within, but are not limited to: patients and disease related research, translational and clinical research, research in disease mechanisms, treatment methods, disease trajectories, epidemiology, diagnostic methods, public health and family medicine, intervention studies, register-based research, proof-of-concept studies, pilot projects, initial clinical trials and clinical testing, biomedicine. The 5-year grant amounts up to DKK 11,000,000 million, with up to DKK 1.6 million per budget year allocated to direct project related expenses. Up to four Borregaard Clinical Ascending Investigator Grants will be awarded.

Excellence Emerging Investigator Grant within Endocrinology and Metabolism – Nordic Region

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Excellence Emerging Investigator Grant within Endocrinology and Metabolism aims to support and strengthen the development of young and promising research leaders, and to promote Nordic research at a high international level. The call is targeted at starting group leaders with ambitious projects within endocrinology and metabolism that aim to understand the human organism and the mechanisms underlying health and disease at both basic and clinical levels. The overall goal is to obtain new knowledge and better treatment or prevention of disease relevant to the human organism within the areas of endocrinology and metabolism, relating to cellular energy homeostasis, and hormonal disorders of the endocrine system. Areas supported include research involving patients and clinical practice but could also include animal models, model organisms, cellular or sub-cellular systems with clear whole body relevance, as well as in silico analysis. Research projects within all subfields of endocrinology, including thyroid, reproduction, or bone and calcium metabolism can be supported. Up to four grants are available with at least one grant aimed at active clinician researchers.

Distinguished Investigator Grant within Endocrinology and Metabolism – Nordic Region

The Novo Nordisk Foundation seeks to support outstanding professors with ambitious projects within endocrinology and metabolism to understand the human organism and the mechanisms underlying health and disease at a basic and clinical level. The grant aims to promote Nordic research at the highest international level. The overall goal is to obtain new knowledge and better treatment or prevention of disease relevant to the human organism within the areas of endocrinology and metabolism, relating to cellular energy homeostasis, and hormonal disorders of the endocrine system. Areas supported include research involving patients and/or clinical practice but could also include animal models, model organisms, cellular- or sub-cellular systems (with clear whole body relevance) as well as in silico analysis, with the overall purpose of solving challenges related to endocrinology and metabolism in health and disease. Research projects within all subfields of endocrinology, e.g. thyroid, reproduction, or bone and calcium metabolism can be supported. The NNF will award up to two grants.

Ascending Investigator Grant within Endocrinology and Metabolism – Nordic Region

The Novo Nordisk Foundation seeks to support the consolidation of accomplished associate professors with ambitious projects within endocrinology and metabolism to understand the human organism and the mechanisms underlying health and disease at a basic and clinical level. The purpose of this call is to stimulate the continued development of excellent research leaders and promote Nordic research at a high international level. The grant is for principal investigators at associate professor level to consolidate their research groups and reach their full potential as research leaders. The overall goal is to obtain new knowledge and better treatment or prevention of disease relevant to the human organism within the areas of endocrinology and metabolism, relating to cellular energy homeostasis, and hormonal disorders of the endocrine system. Areas supported include research involving patients and/or clinical practice but could also include animal models, model organisms, cellular- or sub-cellular systems with clear whole body relevance, as well as in silico analysis, with the overall purpose of solving challenges related to endocrinology and metabolism in health and disease.

Neuroförbundet Research Grant

Neuroförbundet offers research grants for studies focusing on neurological disorders through the Neurofonden foundation. The grants support scientific research into causes and treatments of organic neurological diseases, with priority given to clinical research and practical applications addressing functional disability needs. The foundation primarily supports younger researchers conducting clinically adapted, patient-centered research that directly benefits members. Both small and large projects receive funding, with millions distributed annually. Basic research may be supported when aligned with the foundation's field of operation. The application period opens August 15 and closes September 30 each year, with decisions made in early December by Neurofonden's board based on recommendations from Neuroförbundet's advisory research committee.

LF Early-Career Clinician Scientist

The LF Early-Career Clinician Scientist grant from the Lundbeck Foundation provides support for MDs to remain actively involved in research alongside clinical specialization after completing their PhD. This program aims to foster continuous research activity for physicians who have completed their clinical internship (KBU) and PhD, enabling them to develop as scientists at the forefront of their research field while pursuing clinical specialization. The grant supports projects within health research that may be conducted at Danish hospitals and research institutions or abroad, with the requirement that the entire grant must be managed by a Danish institution. Applicants must dedicate 100% of their time to the project during the first year, and at least 20% to the project and 20% to clinical duties in subsequent years. The Foundation seeks to contribute significantly to advances in biomedical, clinical and health sciences research in Denmark while ensuring the country maintains the best graduates and scientists at all career levels.