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 Novo Nordisk Foundation has opened its largest research funding initiative, the Challenge Program, to applicants based outside Denmark for the first time, allowing researchers from the European Schengen area, which of course includes the Swedish part of the Medicon Valley cluster, Ireland and the UK to lead new collaborations.
Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO, Novo Nordisk Foundation, says: “The Novo Nordisk Foundation wants to contribute to finding innovative solutions to major global challenges within health and sustainability. The increased grants and expansion of the Challenge Programme to include researchers outside of Denmark is part of our increased international focus. Through the Programme, we wish to support projects that have the potential to create new valuable knowledge and results that can make a difference for public health and for our planet both now and in the long term.”
In 2026, the Foundation’s Challenge Programme will award an all-time high of up to DKK 600 million (EUR 80 million) for researchers who want to engage in the following four themes:
- Theme 1: Harnessing Biology for climate-resilient and healthy soils
- Theme 2: Unravelling the pathways of human invasive fungal diseases
- Theme 3: Modelling human cardiometabolic disease
- Theme 4: Biological systems under non-equilibrium conditionsEach grant will receive up to DKK 75 million (EUR 10 million) for a period of up to 6 years.
Read full press release and learn more about the 2026 themes on the Novo Nordisk Foundation´s webpage.