Funding Available

• Total amount available: DKK 56–117 million
• Up to DKK 1.2 million per grant
• Grant duration: Up to 1 year. 

Overview of the Opportunity

The Pioneer Innovator Grant is designed to accelerate the commercialisation of research findings and the development of novel technologies within:

• Health sciences
• Sustainability
• Quantum technologies, where there is a clear application within health and/or sustainability. 

The grant supports novel academic, science-based ideas with commercial potential, specifically by funding experiments and activities that move the idea towards proof-of-concept.

The focus is therefore on research and technology with a credible pathway from an academic or science-based idea toward commercialisation, scalability and practical application.

AREAS OF SUPPORT

Health

The Health track supports innovative research within:

• Pharmaceuticals
• Medical technology (MedTech)
• Industrial biotechnology

Projects may lead to the development of:

• New medical treatments
• Disease prevention solutions
• Diagnostic methods
• Health technologies
• Medical devices
• Technological platforms. 

Particular focus is placed on:

• Cardiometabolic diseases
• Infectious diseases
• Stem cell-based medicine
• Related preventive solutions. 

Cardiometabolic diseases specifically include Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease associated with cardiometabolic disease, and MASH. Infectious disease examples include drug-resistant infections, antimicrobial resistance and human respiratory infections, including solutions supporting epidemic preparedness through medical countermeasures.

Projects within Health that are not directly linked to human health will receive an administrative rejection during initial screening.

Sustainability

The Sustainability track supports innovative research within:

• Agriculture
• Food biotechnology
• Industrial biotechnology
• Environmental biotechnology
• Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS)
• Technologies addressing nitrous oxide and methane emissions. 

The aim is to stimulate ideas that may lead to new:

• Products
• Systems
• Devices
• Technological platforms.

Particular focus is placed on:

• Sustainable and high-yielding agriculture
• Sustainable food for healthy diets
• Climate-change mitigation technologies supporting the green transition. 

Projects concerning livestock and feed, or concerning nutritional uptake and clinical studies, are out of scope.

Quantum Technologies

Quantum technology projects may apply where the proposed technology has a clear and credible application within health and/or sustainability and is aligned with the relevant track's focus and eligibility criteria.

Examples include:

• Quantum sensing
• Quantum imaging
• Quantum communication
• Quantum computation. 

The project must have a clear outlook for:

• Scaling potential in society
• Commercialisation possibilities. 

Projects cannot directly benefit an established company with a CVR number, organisational number or Business Identity Code.

WHO CAN APPLY?

Main Applicant

The Main Applicant must be:

• A faculty member
• A researcher
• Or a student

who is employed at:

• A university
• A hospital
• Another research institution

in one of the following Nordic countries:

• Denmark
• Finland
• Iceland
• Norway
• Sweden. 

There can only be one Main Applicant per application.

Where a project is managed by a group of researchers with the same level of responsibility and legal ownership, one person must be formally appointed as the Main Applicant and the others listed as co-applicants.

Co-Applicants

Co-applicants are allowed but not mandatory.

They can come from:

• The same institution as the Main Applicant;
• Another university, hospital or research institution locally; or
• A university, hospital or research institution abroad. 

Co-applicants are expected to actively participate in organising and implementing the project and should therefore receive an allocation of the grant.

Hosting Institution

The grant must be administered by a non-profit organisation.

Projects from accelerator or incubator programmes can be eligible where:

• The administrating institution is the university.
• The project and findings are anchored in academia.
• The project has not resulted in the establishment of a company with a CVR/organisational number/Business Identity Code. 

GEOGRAPHIC ELIGIBILITY

Main Applicant Countries

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Co-Applicant Geographic Scope

Co-applicants may come from institutions locally or abroad.

The Main Applicant must be based in one of the five Nordic countries. International participation is possible through eligible co-applicants from research institutions abroad.

PROJECT PURPOSE

The grant is intended to move research and novel technologies closer to proof-of-concept, while establishing a credible pathway towards commercialisation or scalability.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate:

• A novel science-based idea.
• A defined problem or unmet need.
• Scientific or technical differentiation.
• Potential impact.
• Commercialisation and/or scalability potential.
• A credible route to future market uptake. 

WHAT FUNDING CAN COVER

Eligible expenses include:

• Research assistant salaries, including technicians, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students.
• PhD tuition fees of up to DKK 80,000 per year, where applicable.
• Salaries for employees and project consultants, including project management.
• Consumables and materials.
• Animals and human test subjects.
• Clinical trial expenses.
• Laboratory facilities and databases.
• Equipment required for the project, up to DKK 200,000 per budget year.
• Project-related communications and dissemination.
• Conference participation.
• Project-related travel, up to DKK 25,000 per budget year.
• Publication costs, up to DKK 25,000 per budget year.
• Direct commercialisation costs related to the project.
• Direct administrative expenses of up to 5% of the total funding requested.
• Relevant IP advisory services, including freedom-to-operate assessments, IP strategy and licensing advice. 

The grant does not cover patent filing costs.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

The proposal should clearly address:

Background & Purpose

The scientific or technical idea, the problem or unmet need, the purpose of the project and why the problem matters.

State of the Art & Differentiation

Applicants should describe the existing state of the art, relevant research, solutions and known patents, explain the gap being addressed and demonstrate how their approach differs technically or scientifically from existing alternatives.

Methods & Design

Applicants need to describe what they intend to do, how the work will be carried out and how the activities fit into an overall project plan.

Assessment & Project Outcome

The proposal should define expected outcomes, milestones, success criteria and/or deliverables during the grant period, together with the intended longer-term impact.

Commercialisation Potential

Applicants must describe the future commercialisation plan, intended route to market, primary users/customers, patent position and IP strategy. Examples of routes to market include:

• Licensing
• Spin-out
• Partnerships. 

Team & Partners

Applicants must explain the roles, responsibilities and resource allocation of the main applicant, project team and key partners and demonstrate that the team has the scientific, technical and translational competencies required.

PROJECT ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

The application is assessed on three equally weighted criteria:

• Novelty of the project idea and potential impact
• Commercial potential of the research idea/project and/or scalability
• Competencies and management qualifications of the Main Applicant and research team. 

The Committee also places considerable emphasis on the budget, including whether the allocation is justified and clearly aligned with the proposed activities.

IMPORTANT EXCLUSIONS

The Foundation will not award funding for:

• Commercial activities
• Salary for the Main Applicant or co-applicants.
• General overhead/indirect costs such as rent, electricity, water and maintenance.
• Double funding or overlapping project budgets.
• Projects where the same or overlapping proposal has been submitted elsewhere without this being disclosed.
• Certain projects involving products where Novo Group companies have a commercial interest unless they comply with the applicable Foundation collaboration and conflict-of-interest requirements. 

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications must be completed and submitted through the Novo Nordisk Foundation's NORMA online application and grant-management system.

The Main Applicant should create a NORMA profile using a work email address.

A new administrating institution can take up to five working days to register in NORMA, and the application cannot be submitted until the institution has been registered.

Co-applicants must be invited through NORMA. Since inviting co-applicants can be time-consuming, applicants are strongly encouraged to invite them well before the submission deadline.

APPLICATION LANGUAGE

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

REQUIRED APPLICATION CONTENT

The application includes sections covering:

• Applicant details
• Personal details
• Current institution
• Experience
• Publications
• Research summary
• Previous and current Novo Nordisk Foundation grants
• Co-applicants
• Institution
• Project proposal
• Budget
• Hosting Letter. 

For the proposal, applicants should prepare:

• Project title — maximum 150 characters
• Brief project description — maximum 2,000 characters
• Full project description — maximum 20,000 characters
• Literature references — maximum 8,000 characters
• Lay project description — maximum 1,000 characters. 

A Hosting Letter is mandatory, signed by the appropriate institutional management.

LIMITATIONS / IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS

Applicants should pay particular attention to the following:

• The Main Applicant must be employed at a university, hospital or research institution in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway or Sweden. 
• Co-applicants may be based abroad, but the Main Applicant must meet the Nordic-country requirement.
• The grant can be up to DKK 1.2 million for up to one year. 
• Projects must have a clear pathway toward proof-of-concept and commercialisation and/or scalability.
• The project must be administered by a non-profit organisation. 
• Commercial activities are not funded.
• Salaries for the Main Applicant and co-applicants are not eligible.
• General overhead and indirect costs are not eligible.
• Patent filing expenses are not covered.
• Double funding and overlapping funding are prohibited. 
• The Foundation does not provide feedback if an application is declined. 

KEY DATES

Call opens: 1 August 2026
Application deadline: 15 September 2026
Applicant notification: December 2026
Earliest project start: 1 January 2027
Latest project start: 31 December 2027.

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