Distinguished Innovator Grant
Forecasted
Distinguished Innovator Grant supports senior academic innovators developing health, sustainability and applied quantum ideas toward proof-of-concept, scaling and commercialisation.
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Funder: Novo Nordisk Foundation
Due Dates (Anticipated): September 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: Up to DKK 7.6 million per grant for up to 3 years
Summary: Supports senior academic innovators advancing health, sustainability, and applied quantum technologies toward proof-of-concept and commercialisation.
Key Information: Projects must remain pre-company and cannot directly benefit or be linked to an established company.
Description
The Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Distinguished Innovator Grant supports novel, academic, science-based ideas with commercial potential. It funds experiments and activities advancing research toward proof-of-concept, with a clear outlook for scaling and later commercialisation. The program targets senior faculty members and researchers with established innovation experience, enabling them to act as innovation ambassadors, engage younger researchers, and help change academic culture.
Health priorities include pharma, medtech, industrial biotechnology, cardiometabolic and infectious diseases, stem cell-based medicine, and prevention. Sustainability priorities include agriculture, food, industrial and environmental biotechnology, carbon capture, utilisation and storage, and technologies addressing methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Particular emphasis falls on sustainable, high-yielding agriculture, food for healthy diets, and climate mitigation. Quantum technologies are supported when they have a clear, credible application within health or sustainability.
