The Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF) has awarded eleven new grants through its Research Infrastructure Programme.

Scientific progress relies heavily on access to high-quality research infrastructure. The NNF is therefore awarding the new grants for the establishment of world-class research infrastructure supporting innovative research at Danish research institutions. The grants will fund both advanced equipment and the highly skilled technical personnel to ensure that the infrastructure can provide high-quality results, states the NNF.

Read more: Column: Nordic Research Infrastructures is key to our innovation performance

Platforms for new knowledge and collaboration

This year’s awarded projects are highly interdisciplinary and include a hybrid preclinical PET/MRI imaging facility, a seed genebank for plant genetic resources and a crystallography service that will facilitate the efficient development of new drugs and sustainable materials.

All 11 facilities will provide open access for academia and industry, thereby benefitting larger research communities. Thus, the facilities will be platforms for new knowledge and collaboration.

“By awarding these grants, we aim to enable the creation of state-of-the-art technology hubs. These hubs will provide new knowledge to advance our understanding of important basic research questions and help to develop innovative technical solutions,” says Lene Oddershede, Senior Vice President, Natural and Technical Sciences, Novo Nordisk Foundation.

The 11 grant recipients

David Gloriam, University of Copenhagen, Online Research Infrastructure for Receptor Function and Drug Design, DKK 12,000,000

Sine Hadrup, Technical University of Denmark, Infrastructure for a Flow Cytometry and Imaging Core (FLIC) Facility at DTU Health Tech, DKK 24,220,123

Knud Jørgen Jensen, University of Copenhagen, Peptide Foundry, DKK 8,539,618

Lennard Krause, Aarhus University, Kick-start the Scandinavian Crystallography Service, DKK 9,325,732

Jeppe Vang Lauritsen, Aarhus University, Research Infrastructure for X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy in Near-ambient Pressure Conditions, DKK 17,768,237

Michael Lisby, University of Copenhagen, Analytical Live Cell Imaging at the Center for Advanced Bioimaging (ALI-CAB), DKK 15,502,210

Michael Lyngkjær, Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen), Next Generation Genebanking – Unlocking the Potential of Plant Genetic Resources in the Sequencing Era, DKK 14,980,446

Sisse Ostrowski, Rigshospitalet, An Open Core Facility and Multi-omics Data Science Platform Promoting Disease-wide Precision Medicine, DKK 13,716,546

Michael Palner, University of Southern Denmark, Simultaneous PET and High-field MRI Preclinical Imaging, DKK 16,527,000

Erik Richter, University of Copenhagen, Rodent Phenotyping Infrastructure, DKK 14,808,097

Francesca Serra, University of Southern Denmark, BioFab: Bioprinting and Microfabrication in Odense, DKK 10,806,015

Photo: iStock