Conferences, Symposia and Workshops Programme

The Conferences, Symposia and Workshops programme aims at supporting events with a duration of a few consecutive days located within Denmark, Faroe Islands or Greenland. The events should be advertised widely, and registration should be open to all relevant participants.

The primary objective of the programme is to support bottom-up events that gather scientists and students within a novel and exciting field, to establish an emerging community, or to draw focus to a novel branch of an established field and forge new collaborations. It is not an aim to support single instances of recurring events (e.g., an annual meeting of established societies). However, as a secondary objective, when a special and well-argued reason exists, this programme could provide funding for a single event that is a part of a recurring series. Such reasons could be a particular strategic focus, or an extraordinary opportunity for the Danish scientific community.

This programme does not intend to provide a small contribution to a large event but could be a stand-alone part of a large event if deemed of strategic importance. It is not the intention to support broad congress-type events with multiple parallel sessions, nor is it the intention to support PhD schools.

Areas of Support

• Conference topics are welcome within the topic areas supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, i.e.:
  • Biomedical and health science research and applications
  • Sustainability
  • Natural and technical science research and interdisciplinarity
  • Research in art and art history
  • Innovation
  • Education and outreach

Funding Information

• A total of up to DKK 8.2 million per year is available for grants each between DKK 50,000 and DKK 500,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• The following requirements must be demonstrated for an application to be eligible:
  • The event must be within a field of research supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Events where the primary focus is career guidance are not supported.
  • The main applicant must be employed at a university, a non-profit research institution (e.g., a hospital or museum), or a non-profit professional association translating research, based within Denmark, The Faroe Islands, or Greenland. The host institution must administrate the grant.
  • The main applicant must be a specific person and must be the lead organiser with relevant subject-matter competencies (e.g., a researcher at a university). I.e., the applicant cannot be a scientific society or a professional event organiser.
  • Events must take place in either Denmark, The Faroe Islands, or Greenland.
  • The event must be completed within 18 months of grant notification. Events planned later than this are requested to apply at one of the upcoming calls of the programme. The programme call is open biannually.
  • Having an active Conferences, Symposia and Workshops grant does not exclude the applicant from applying for other of the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s grants, and vice versa. However, applicants who have major funding from NNF or other sources (DKK ≥ 10 million) must justify the need for additional funding from the CSW programme.

Selection Criteria

• The applications will be assessed based on the following criteria:
  • Whether the event meets the purpose and aim of the programme
  • The novelty and strategic relevance of the theme
  • The expected impact of the event for the research environment and the expected interest and participation of the research community
  • International standing and impact of confirmed featured presenters as detailed by their names, affiliations, and role as described in the draft conference programme
  • The combination of conference format and participants in order to create an original and high-impact event
  • Engagement of students and early career researchers as presenters, in poster sessions and similar activities, as detailed in the draft conference programme
  • Diversity among presenters and participants
  • Accessibility in terms of wide advertisement of the event and efforts to have an open and inclusive registration
  • Level of registration fees, and whether these are removed or further reduced for students and early career researchers
  • An adequate and balanced budget
  • Distribution of applying institutions and themes covered
  • The applicant’s curriculum vitae and track record.

Language

• The application and all additional materials must be submitted in English.

For more information, visit Novo Nordisk Foundation.