What is the DNRF Chair
The DNRF Chair grant
With the overall purpose of strengthening and enriching Danish research communities, the aim of the DNRF Chair grant is to motivate and support Danish universities to attract and recruit particular outstanding researchers from abroad, including Danes wishing to return from an international position.
The objective of the DNRF Chair grant is to support and boost the start-up research activities of potential or newly recruited outstanding tenured professors at Danish universities right from the beginning of their employment.
The foundation welcomes applications within and/or across all research areas: Humanities, Life Sciences, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Technical Sciences.
Deadlines in 2023
Applications may be submitted in three annual rounds. The following deadlines must be respected:
- March 1, at noon
- August 1, at noon
- November 1, at noon
Each Danish university can submit two applications for each of the three annual application rounds. This means that each university can submit a total of six applications by 2023.
2023 Call
More information can be found here: DNRF Latest Call*
* Please note that in the 2023 call it is a prerequisite that significant start-up funding has not been obtained from other sources.
General funding and call procedure
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.
Eligible applicants
All Danish universities may apply for a DNRF Chair grant to support the start-up activities of faculty in the process of being recruited from abroad (or newly recruited, i.e., employed within the last six months preceding the relevant deadline for application) as tenured professors at their respective institutions.
Eligible expenses
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).