DNRF Chairs

The grants may cover expenses to implement start-up research activities such as equipment, salaries of young researchers and Ph.D. students, seminars, travel costs, consumables, etc. Salaries of tenured staff, including the DNRF Chair tenured professor, cannot be covered by the grant. Such salaries should be covered by the relevant university.

When submitting an application, applicants are asked to include an estimated budget for the whole grant; see below. Overhead should be included in the budget (44 percent for universities).

The DNRF plans to continue the DNRF Chair instrument through December 2024. The funding of DNRF Chair grants will, on average, be about DKK 40 million per year, equalling a total of DKK 200 million. The foundation foresees awarding about three DNRF Chair grants annually. The average DNRF Chair grant is about DKK 5-10 million. Only in very exceptional cases and upon presentation of precise arguments, the grant may amount up to DKK 20 million.

The grants will be awarded by the board of the DNRF following one public call annually; each call consists of three rounds. Normally, only one or two grants per round will be awarded. In the event that no application submitted fulfills the assessment criteria satisfactorily, the board may decide not to award a grant and to transfer unused funding to a subsequent round.

The Danish National Research Foundation wishes to have a running dialogue with the grant holders funded by the foundation. Hence, the foundation will conduct a follow-up meeting with each DNRF Chair during the grant period.