Danish research is set to receive a considerable boost as the Danish national research foundation Danmarks Grundforskningsfond has announced it will fund the establishment of 12 new interdisciplinary research centres of excellence.
The 12 centres of excellence will initially be granted a total of 700 million kroner – about 58 million kroner each – but an additional 400 million kroner have been set aside to be given to the most promising centres in five years' time.
“The proposals we have received for this application round are outstanding," Professor Liselotte Højgaard, the chair of the foundation’s board, said in a press release.
"I am convinced the centres we are now establishing will contribute considerably to growth and welfare in Denmark. They will offer original and innovative approaches to a wide range of important research areas.”
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A broad research spectrum
The dozen winners were chosen from 186 applicants. Danmarks Grundforskningsfond wrote that the focus, structure and size of the established centres of excellence will embrace scientific ventures that cannot be funded using conventional funding.
The 12 centres include research within health, communication, climate and urbanisation.
The centres will be located at the University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, Aalborg University, the Technical University of Denmark, the Niels Bohr Institute, the city hospital Rigshospitalet and the Danish cancer society Kræftens Bekæmpelse.
