Call for Proposals: Pioneer Innovator Grant Program 2025

Purpose

• The purpose of the Pioneer Innovator Grant Health is to accelerate the commercialization of research findings and the development of novel technologies within the health sciences.

Scope

• The Pioneer Innovator project idea and focus must be directly linked to improving the lives of patients and health of people (health), or sustainable and high yielding agriculture, sustainable food for healthy diets, and climate change mitigation technologies tosupport the green transition (sustainability).

Funding Information

• Amount of Up to DKK 1.1 million per grant.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Main Applicant:
  • The main applicant must be a senior faculty member or researcher employed at a research institution or hospital/clinic in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, or Sweden).
  • It is required that the main applicant has a personal proven track record within innovation, i.e., previous experience of academic innovation projects and experience of establishing patents and spinouts from the academia.
  • It is required that the main applicant will act as an ambassador for innovation within academia and engage younger researchers and the surrounding innovation ecosystem.
• Co-Applicants:
  • Co-applicants can be included in the project, but notrequired.
  • Co-applicants may come from the same hosting institution as the main applicant or from a different university, hospitals or research institutions locally and abroad.
• Hosting Institution:
  • A Pioneer Innovator Grant must be administered by a non-profit organization.
  • A Pioneer Innovator Grant cannot be given to a company.
  • Projects from incubator development programs and projects where IPR is owned by a university’s holding institution are eligible to apply if:
    • The administrating institution is the university
    • The project and its findings are anchored in academia
    • The project has not resulted in the establishment of a company (given company has not established a CVR/company number)

Assessment Criteria

• NNF’s Committee on Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Innovator Grants will primarily assess the applications based on the following criteria:
  • Novelty of the project idea and potential impact
  • Competencies and management qualifications of the Main applicant and research team
  • Commercial potential of the research idea/project – AND/OR – scalability and impact potential

Application Requirements

• The Applicant tab pertains to information about all those involved in an application, meaning the main applicant or contact person applying on behalf of an organisation/institution as well as any co-applicants:
  • Applicant Details
  • Personal Details
  • Current Institution
  • Experience
  • Publications List
  • Summary Of Own Research
  • Supplementary Information
  • Previous And Current Grants From NNF

For more information, visit Novo Nordisk Foundation.