Carlsberg Foundation grants awarded to 65 AU researchers

This coverage is based on a press release from the Carlsberg Foundation.

65 researchers at Aarhus University are among the 292 applicants who will receive a research grant from the Carlsberg Foundation on Tuesday 7 December. This year, the foundation is awarding a total of DKK 456 million to Danish research environments. Aarhus University will receive DKK 97,700,440 of this total amount.

The Carlsberg Foundation’s chair of the board, Flemming Besenbacher, notes that it has been possible to bestow grants upon research within the humanities and social sciences in particular.

“We are awarding a total of DKK 200 million to the humanities and social sciences. That’s half our money that will go to researchers who don’t have as many funds and programmes to apply to as researchers within the natural sciences. I’m happy about that,” says Flemming Besenbacher.

All grants are awarded on the basis of a thorough academic assessment of each of the 589 applications the foundation received by the application deadline in October. The applications stem from the researchers’ own scientific ideas and project proposals that range from research on agricultural developments in the 1600s to the impact of climate change on Arctic ecosystems.

As the chair of the board puts it, it is in line with the Carlsberg Foundation’s values and strategy that the foundation prioritises money for both younger research talents at postdoc level and the more established researchers who need support to consolidate themselves as independent research directors.

“I’m pleased that we can channel a large multi-million sum into Danish research and that, by doing so, we can help instigate important scientific activities on the initiative of several of the country’s most competent and inventive researchers,” says Flemming Besenbacher.

According to the Carlsberg Foundation, newly appointed associate professors will be particularly recognised in this year’s awards. At AU, 11 young, newly employed associate professors will each receive a Young Researcher scholarship. The purpose of this type of grant is to promote the researcher’s ability to stand on their own by establishing an independent research group around them.

Figures for the awards

The Carlsberg Foundation received 589 applications for approximately DKK 1.1 billion of funding. This year, there was more money available, which means that almost half (49.6 per cent) of the applicants have been honoured with a grant compared with 39 per cent of last year’s applicants. Male applicants have received DKK 291 million and female applicants 165 million. This corresponds to the female applicants receiving 36 per cent of the total amount awarded. At AU, 16 female researchers have received grants.

See the Carlsberg Foundation’s press release.