25 bold projects receive LF Experiment research grants at a total of DKK 49 million
With the New Year coming, there is new energy for innovative and experimental brain research across the country. 25 research daredevils from Danish universities and hospitals receive LF Experiment grants worth at a total of 48.9 million to implement high-risk projects.
It's not simple rocket science – it's neuroscience.
For the fourth year in a row, the Lundbeck Foundation is kicking off the New Year with millions in grants for audacious projects. These are particularly daring projects with sufficient innovation altitude, short fuse and fast launch, where some will end up as duds, but all of which have the potential to break with prevailing truths in science.
The 25 researchers who receive this year's experimental research grants from the Lundbeck Foundation are at different points in their careers – ranging from postdoc to professor level. Now the next two years will be fired up in the pursuit of succeeding with the wild ideas in the laboratories and clinics.
"The LF Experiment research grants are given to researchers who have the courage and the idea to challenge the established truths of a given problem, especially within neuroscience. When we support projects, it is first and foremost researchers who really walk the plank with their bold approaches and wild ideas who get the opportunity. Often the researchers miss the mark and land in a completely different place than was originally intended," says Anette Høye, scientific project manager at the Lundbeck Foundation.
’Who dares wins’
All projects are within neuroscience or related research areas that can enrich the field of brain research. They have the potential to create ground-breaking new knowledge, even if the goal may change along the way. And the researchers themselves will undoubtedly have a difficult task that may prove to pay off on the career path as well:
"We see that several of the grant recipients not only show the courage to test their wildest research ideas, but also build on their research careers going forward. It seems that there is a pattern – especially for the younger researchers amongst the grant recipients: Once you have initiated or completed an LF Experiments project, there is a high chance that it will lead to new research projects and grants. One is tempted to say, ‘who dares wins,' says Peter Thostrup, scientific programme director, spearheading Lundbeck Foundation's talent programmes.
The Lundbeck Foundation received a total of 187 applications for LF Experiment 2022, with 25 applicants receiving a grant – including 9 women (success rate 15.5%) and 16 men (success rate 15%).
On average, the individual grant is close to DKK 2,000,000. The amount is paid out over two years and gives the recipient the opportunity to immerse themselves in the hypothesis that he or she wants to investigate further.
