Call for Proposals – Thematic Research “Health” (Denmark)

Deadline: 28 May 2024

DFF will allocate funds for thematic research within the following themes under the heading of “Health”:

Strengthened clinical and independent research
Better framework for research in psychiatry

Themes

Strengthened Clinical and Independent Research
- DKK 201.9 million has been allocated to Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) with the purpose of supporting strengthened point of care clinical and independent research, including independent and researcher-initiated trials, studies, etc., and in areas where there is limited commercial interest and/or opportunities for external funding (e.g. from research foundations), including health technology.
- To allocate these funds, DFF’s Board of Directors has established an expert committee:
  - The effort can, among other things, contribute to generating new knowledge about the effects of existing standard forms of treatment and care, including whether the form of treatment and care has the expected effect and side effect profile.
  - Moreover, the effort can contribute to illuminating whether the use of existing and time-saving forms of care and treatment can be extended to other patient and citizen groups, and whether existing forms of treatment and care can be implemented in the local healthcare system.
  - In addition, this effort should contribute to research on women’s diseases, inequality in health between men and women, chronic disease and reduction of inequality in health and disease, e.g., on the basis of disability, working environment and socio-economic conditions, disease in a lifelong perspective and across generations.
Better Framework for Research in Psychiatry
- DKK 98.5 million has been allocated to Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) with the purpose of supporting a better framework for research in psychiatry.
- To allocate these funds, DFF’s Board of Directors has established an expert committee:
  - The funds can, among other things, support prevention, causal relationships, early efforts, treatment, quality, connection and involvement of users and next of kin, poor mental well-being, loneliness, methods for reducing coercion, drug-free alternatives such as art, culture and nature, digital forms of treatment, and virtual reality.
  - With this call, it is also possible to initiate clinical research within psychiatry.
  - The prioritised funds must, to the greatest possible extent, support the intentions concerning research in Agreement on a 10-year plan for psychiatry and mental health. The initiative is aimed at creating a better framework for research into the prevention and treatment of mental disorders, including ensuring that people who suffer from mental illnesses benefit from efforts of a high professional quality and strengthening research into the prevention of poor mental well-being and mental illness as well as the treatment of mental illness.

Funding Information

DFF-Research Project 1 (thematic)
- To advance the quality of Danish research, DFF offers funding for research projects within a budgetary framework of up to DKK 2,200,000, excluding overhead/administration expenses. The duration of a DFF Research Project 1 (thematic) is typically 3 years, but it is possible to apply for a project of up to 4 years’ duration if the project includes one or more PhD student(s).
DFF-Research Project 2 (thematic)
- To advance the quality of, and develop collaboration within Danish research, DFF offers funding for research projects carried out by multiple researchers (e.g. postdoctoral candidates and PhD students) of up to 4.5 years in duration within a budgetary framework of between DKK 2,200,000 to DKK 4,300,000, excluding overhead/administration expenses.
Starting Dates for Projects
- The earliest possible starting date is 1 February 2025 and the latest possible starting date is 1 December 2025.
- DFF does not provide retroactive funding. You can therefore not apply for research funding for activities that have already begun by the time the fund makes its decision.

Eligibility Criteria

For applications to Strengthened clinical and independent research, DFF further underlines the requirement that the application form must account for how the research area is of limited commercial interest and/or has limited opportunities for external funding (e.g., from research foundations).
There must be a sufficiently balanced relationship between the roles of all listed project participants (scientific/academic staff, technical/administrative staff, and whether funded or not), and the concrete role of the participants must be accounted for and justified. If the application includes requests for funding for unnamed PhD students and/or unnamed postdocs, the application must include an account of the proposed recruitment process.
DFF-Research Project 1 (thematic)
- You must possess independent research experience typically corresponding to 3 years or more after having obtained a PhD degree (or similar qualifications). Your previous results will be assessed in relation to your career path, and in relation to the scientific challenges of the project applied for. If you, as the applicant, are not an associate professor and have not been awarded a positive associate professor assessment (lektorbedømmelse) and the project involves the education of researchers, you must account for how the relevant supervision will be provided, and how the research student’s scientific association to the project will be ensured.
- DFF underlines that the project description must include an account of the proposed content of any sub-projects, including PhD and postdoctoral projects.
- You can apply for funding for embedded PhD and postdoctoral scholarships, if these are well integrated into the project and fulfil a clear, independent function within the research project.
DFF-Research Project 2 (thematic)
- You must possess considerable, independent research experience at a high, international level. Furthermore, you must have obtained your PhD or achieved equivalent qualifications (e.g., a positive assistant professorship evaluation (adjunktbedømmelse), at least 8 years before the expiration of the application deadline. If you hold both a PhD degree and equivalent qualifications, the PhD age will be calculated based on the PhD degree.
- The exact date on which the PhD degree was awarded, as it appears from the signature on the PhD diploma, must be stated in the application form in e-grant.
- DFF places emphasis on the project description accounting for the synergy between any sub-projects, the project’s management and organisational structure, as well as the plan for publishing of the results. The project description must include an account of the proposed content of all sub-projects, including PhD and postdoctoral projects.
- You can apply for funding for embedded PhD and postdoctoral scholarships, if these are well integrated into the project and fulfil a clear, independent function within the research project. Embedded postdoctoral candidates must have obtained their PhD or achieved equivalent qualifications, e.g., a positive assistant professorship evaluation (adjunktbedømmelse), within the last 4 years at the time of the application deadline.