DKK 67.6 million for the start-up of new research projects with a focus on the brain
Meet the 13 experienced research talents who make up the Lundbeck Foundation's Ascending Investigators 2023
- The total grant in 2023 is DKK 67.6 million.
- The individual grants are between DKK 4 and DKK 6 million, which are paid out over four years.
- The 13 grant recipients count five women and eight men.
The projects are all within the area of neuroscience, neurology or psychiatry, and in the selection process they have been assessed as being able to make significant contributions in research related to the brain and nervous system and potentially in the treatment of brain diseases.
With a grant from the Ascending Investigator programme, the 13 researchers can now start new, exciting projects within neuroscience.
For several of the recipients, the grant will fall in a particularly dry place: the program is aimed at mid-career researchers, who are typically associate professors or professors who want to move in a new research direction related to neuroscience, or who have a small research group in the building phase.
"With the grants, we focus on talented and established researchers who lead smaller research groups, and who, in the fight for research funds, are excluded from grants earmarked for younger talents and challenged by the large and well-established research groups in the fight for the large, competitive grants. This is an inappropriate consequence, which we would like to counteract by supporting exciting projects that can strengthen the recipients' research careers", says Jan Egebjerg, Director of Research at the Lundbeck Foundation.
A new aspect this year is the possibility of applying for extra funds for international cooperation.
A new aspect this year is the possibility of applying for extra funds for international cooperation. This reflects the Lundbeck Foundation's emphasis on internationalizing Danish research, according to Peter Thostrup, who is the Scientific Program Director at the Lundbeck Foundation:
"Our focus on internationalization is based on evidence that international collaborations contribute significantly to raising the quality and impact of research. An important element is the exchange of researchers who can learn from the best international groups, establish lasting ties and bring knowledge back home," says Peter Thostrup.
Therefore, Peter Thostrup is more than pleased to see that the majority of this year's granted projects precisely involve international cooperation in the form of exchanges of PhD students and postdocs between the two collaborating research groups. Often, the grant holder will also go on a long-term stay with his collaboration partner.
The Lundbeck Foundation receives a high number of applications for the Ascending Investigator program every year. All applications are assessed according to international standards by the Lundbeck Foundation's Talent Panel which consists of leading foreign researchers.
