Talent Prize

The LF Talent Prize is awarded to five scientists under the age of 30 (rules for leave of absence apply*) who have made or contributed to original discoveries leading to the advancement of science, resulting in a better understanding, or improvement, of health and biomedical sciences in the broadest sense.

Talent can manifest itself in many ways and a Talent Prize winner may also have contributed to the dissemination of science and/or bringing discoveries to lives.

The Lundbeck Foundation believes that diversity strengthens science, and it is therefore important that we receive nominations for as many qualified nominees as possible, from all backgrounds. Talent is diverse and we want to celebrate different pathways towards establishing a scientific career. 

The Prize

The prize is DKK 300.000. The amount is split between a personal prize of DKK 100.00 and DKK 200.000 for research activities.

Who can nominate?

Nominations are accepted from leading scientists (group leaders) at Danish universities, hospitals or other research institutions. A candidate cannot self-nominate.

How do we find all talents?

Diversity is important to The Lundbeck Foundation. Therefore, we encourage the nominators to be aware of all talents. Individual research institutions and units are encouraged to nominate more than one candidate; we strongly encourage and expect diversity among the nominees.

Who can be nominated?

Scientists under 30 (the nomination deadline is the cut-off date). Note that rules for leave of absence apply*.

The nominee must be working with scientific research that contributes to a better understanding or improvement of health and biomedical sciences in the broadest sense.

Recipients of the Talent Prize must be conducting research at a Danish research institution at the time of the award. Previous nominees may be re-nominated if they still meet the eligibility criteria.

The nomination should include:

• A statement (max 5000 characters) describing the nominee’s talent and examples of the nominee’s role in and contribution to original scientific achievements. Scientific and/or societal impact of the scientific achievements should also be described.
  We also strongly encourage including the nominee’s contributions to dissemination of current or recent advances in science to students or the public and/ or how the nominee has brought discoveries to lives.
  Examples of what to include in the different categories:

1. Original scientific achievement(s). E.g. developing a method or model, creating a novel tool that helps patients, publishing a particular paper, etc.
2. Dissemination of current or recent advances in science to students or the public. E.g. teaching, public engagement, science communication and outreach activities, involvement in diversity/ innovation/ entrepreneurship/ leadership organizations, etc.
3. Bringing discoveries to lives. Having used new scientific insight to address or improve societal or patients’ treatments, conditions, etc.

• Short CV for the nominee (max 5.000 characters)
• Publication list for the nominee (no H-index or citation analysis)  

How to nominate?

You must submit the nomination, written in English, via the Lundbeck Foundation’s nomination and application system. Please note that the Foundation will not consider or assess any nomination material not submitted via this system.

Further details can be found in the nomination form.

You are welcome to contact Senior Grant Manager Ulla Jakobsen (uj@lundbeckfonden.com), Scientific Project Manager Anette Høye (ah@lundbeckfonden.com), or Scientfic Programme Director Peter Thostrup (pth@lundbeckfonden.com) if you have any questions regarding the nomination process.

Evaluation process

All nominations are scanned for eligibility by the Foundation’s Grants & Prizes Department.

The Grants & Prizes Committee will review and score the nominations and make a recommendation to the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Prior to involvement of the panel, the panel members are initially presented with a list of the nominees allowing them to declare conflicts of interest, if any. Each nomination is reviewed by the entire panel.

Each panel member submits scores and comments for each of the nominations to the Foundation without seeing other panel members’ scores and comments. Next, the panel will have access to all scores and comments to prepare for discussions at a joint panel meeting. Here, nominations with the lowest average scores will be discussed. Lastly, the panel will recommend five nominees to the Foundation’s Board of Directors, who takes the final decision.

Previous recipients of the LF Talent Prize.

Key dates

Call for nominations opens: March 27, 2024

Deadline for nomination: June 25, 2024 - 13:00 CET
​​​​​
Expected announcement of winners: September 2024

*The age of nominees who have taken maternity or paternity leave will be reduced by the actual number of weeks of leave multiplied by 1.5. In the case of illness or family care leave, the exact period will be deducted from the age. The start and end dates of the maternity or paternity leave, or other periods of leave, must be stated in the nominee’s CV