Information

Scientific Area

Neuroscience

Career Stage

Research leaders

Level of Funding

Either up to DKK 20 million or up to 40 million for a period of five years

Important Dates

Opens
2025

Contact

Peter Thostrup

Scientific Programme Director - Talent Programmes

Mobil

+45 3059 4943

LF Collaborative Projects

Upcoming Calls

The purpose of Lundbeck Foundation Collaborative Projects is to develop and support the Danish research environment within neuroscience. We encourage you to submit project proposals whose aims can only be met through integrated, interdisciplinary, and collaborative efforts. With this programme we aim to create synergy between neuroscience and other research fields or between different disciplines of neuroscience.

About the grant 

TO BE REVISED

Background

The Lundbeck Foundation has a strategic goal to make Denmark a frontrunner in the field of neuroscience by funding Danish-based research that promotes a better understanding of the brain and better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of brain disorders. Our grants must also help ensure that Denmark always has the best graduates and scientists at all career levels in the fields of biomedical, clinical and health sciences in Denmark.  

The purpose of Lundbeck Foundation Collaborative Projects is to develop and support the Danish research environment within neuroscience. We encourage you to submit project proposals whose aims can only be met through integrated, interdisciplinary, and collaborative efforts. With this programme we aim to create synergy between neuroscience and other research fields or between different disciplines of neuroscience. The ambition is to foster collaborations that will significantly impact neuroscience and have potential implications for human health. The grants are intended to add significant value to the existing research environments.

The Lundbeck Foundation believes that diversity strengthens science and for this reason diversity, including, but not limited to, gender and ethnic origin, is encouraged. It is therefore important that we receive applications from as many qualified scientists as possible, from all backgrounds.

Research theme

The interdisciplinary research should be related to:

  • Basic neuroscience
  • Translational neuroscience
  • Clinical neuroscience or,
  • Science with clear relevance to neuroscience

Approaches bridging basic science and clinical research will be given priority.

Who can apply?

We invite researchers from different disciplines e.g., a basic researcher and a clinical researcher to take equal part and contribute significantly to the scientific advancement of the project. You and your co-applicant(s) should be internationally recognised researchers with a track record of significant research achievements during the last 10 years. The collaboration may be between Danish research groups or Danish and international research groups. You should have demonstrated impactful research leadership and have proven experience with collaborative research. To ensure that the project adds significant value to existing research environments, the applicant and co-applicant(s) must hold tenure. The main applicant must be affiliated to a Danish host institution. We prefer proposals with one applicant and one co-applicant but accept up to three co-applicants. You can only submit one application as either main applicant or co-applicant.

Which proposals are eligible?

Your project should be hypothesis driven and propose cutting edge research to answer questions that can only be answered by combining different disciplines. The proposed project may for example seek to understand an underlying disease mechanism or to improve diagnosis or treatment of patients. Proposals from applicants within the same discipline will not be considered eligible. The research must be based at either 1) one or more non-commercial Danish research institutions or 2) one or more non-commercial Danish research institutions and one or more non-commercial international research institutions.

At the time of the submission deadline, the main applicant must not have an active grant portfolio for the calendar year 2025 exceeding an annual total of DKK 6.0 million for which the main applicant is principal investigator (PI). Only grants for which you are lead PI should be included in this total.

How much?

You can apply for either up to DKK 20 million or up to 40 million for a period of five years. We expect to award 3-6 grants in total. The budget may include all staff and non-staff costs related to the project, including project-specific research equipment and infrastructure. You cannot apply for salary for the applicant or co-applicant(s). Up to 10% of the budget may be reserved for project-related, indirect costs if appropriately justified and based on a negotiation with the Foundation. When funding for a collaborative research partner outside Denmark is requested, payment must take place through the Danish host institution of the main applicant.


Application

How to apply?

You must submit the expression of interest, written in English, via the Lundbeck Foundation’s application system at https://lanas.lundbeckfonden.com/.

Your expression of interest must include the following:

  • Outline of the research plan
  • Governance structure
  • CV of applicant and co-applicant(s)
  • Publication list
  • Tentative budget

Further guidance is provided in the application form.

You are welcome to contact Senior Grant Manager Ulla Jakobsen, uj@lundbeckfonden.com, or Scientific Programme Director Peter Thostrup pth@lundbeckfonden.com, if you have any questions regarding your application.

Evaluation process

The two groups of applications, i.e. applications up to DKK 20 million and applications up to DKK 40 million, will be evaluated separately. The evaluation will be based on scientific excellence characterised by the criteria below:

The assessment will be divided into two steps:

Step 1.

Expressions of interest are evaluated by the Lundbeck Foundation’s Grants & Prizes Panel (https://www.lundbeckfonden.com/en/grants/review-panels/) who select the applicants to be invited to submit a full application.

Step 2.

The full applications are peer reviewed by three external, international experts, who then provide the Foundation with a written report. Applicants will be invited to comment on the written reports. Selected applicants will be invited to an interview by the Grants & Prizes Panel. Based on the application, three independent peer reviews, the applicants’ written reply to the peer review and interviews with applicants, the Grants & Prizes Panel will make recommendations for funding or rejection to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, who will make the final decision.

Important dates

  • Deadline for Expression of Interest: 13:00, January 10, 2024
  • Decision on step 2: March 2024
  • Deadline for full application: June 2024
  • Interviews of selected applicants: October 2024
  • Final decision: December 2024
...

What are the grant conditions?

If your proposal is successful, a contract will be drafted. As part of this process, you and your host institution will be required to accept the Lundbeck Foundation’s general grant conditions  Lundbeck Foundation’s General Terms and Conditions for Research Grants  as well as individual, project-specific amendments, including requests for indirect costs, which will be subject to negotiation.

The purpose of the Lundbeck Foundation is to create powerful ripple effects that bring discoveries to lives through investing actively in business and science at the frontiers of their fields.