Novo Nordisk Foundation is currently accepting applications for its Distinguished Innovator Grant 2026. Interested applicants are encouraged to click here to learn more about this opportunity and apply for it.
About Novo Nordisk Foundation - Distinguished Innovator Grant
The purpose of the Distinguished Innovator Grant is to accelerate commercialisation of research findings and the development of novel technologies within the health sciences, sustainability, and quantum technologies (with a clear application within health and/or sustainability).
The Distinguished Innovator Grant is aimed at supporting senior faculty members and researchers with a proven track record in innovation, including experience with academic innovation projects and with establishing patents and spin-outs from academia. The Grant is intended to enable the main applicant to act as an ambassador for innovation in academia by driving cultural change and serving as a role model for translating research into innovations.
Benefits of Novo Nordisk Foundation - Distinguished Innovator Grant
- The total granting budget for the Pioneer and Distinguished Innovator Grants is DKK 190 million per year, to cover both the Health and the Sustainability areas.
- Each Distinguished Innovator Grant can be of maximum DKK 7.6 million for a period of 3 years.
Novo Nordisk Foundation - Distinguished Innovator Grant Requirements
The research project must comprise a main applicant and has the option of including co-applicant(s) when deemed relevant. Rules of eligibility are outlined in more detail below but always refer to the call guidelines linked on this page for the full set of 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 is willing to act as an ambassador for innovation within academia and engage younger researchers and the surrounding innovation ecosystem.
Co-applicant(s):
- Co-applicants can be included in the project but are not required.
- 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 Distinguished Innovator Grant must be administered by a non-profit organisation.
- A Distinguished Innovator Grant cannot be given to a company, or be directly linked to an established company (CVR number).
- 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)
Application Date and Process
- Click on the link to the application website to apply.
Application Deadline
15 September, 2026
Opportunity Application
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Novo Nordisk Foundation - Distinguished Innovator Grant
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