Science Communication

The Carlsberg Foundation wants to: 

Science Communication is open to applications from independent communicators, public institutions, private companies and non-profit organisations in Denmark, Greenland and the Faroes.

Applicants must have documented professional experience with communication, e.g. journalism or media production. The applicant must be the project leader and/or the head of the institution administering the project.

Private companies may apply for funding for non-commercial projects with a non-profit aim.

Public institutions, including universities, may apply for funding for projects that include a collaboration with external professional communicators. The institution’s own communication department is not regarded as an external communicator.

What can be applied for

Communication projects for a period of maximum three years with an application amount of DKK 200,000-3,000,000.

The project may be independently defined or form part of a larger project, and the project may be co-financed with funds from another party.

The project must involve the communication of basic research or science. Basic research is understood as curiosity-driven experimental or theoretical work undertaken to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts.

The Carlsberg Foundation does not support communication of clinical health-scientific research.

The project must involve collaboration with researchers who either directly contribute to the communication or quality-assure the finished production prior to distribution. Responsibility for ensuring this lies with the project leader. The researchers involved must as a minimum have a PhD and at the time of the application be affiliated to a Danish or foreign research institution.

The budget may include

• Salary expenses and costs associated with the production of communication content
• Researcher fees
• Costs associated with the development of communication platforms
• Costs associated with the communication and distribution of the project, including making the project accessible free of charge on payment platforms
• Costs associated with auditor’s certification of accounts

What cannot be applied for

• Projects with an applied scientific focus
• Projects with focus on educational recruitment
• Projects with focus on media training of as well as coaching and teaching communication to researchers
• Purely commercial purposes
• Teaching materials
• Information and recruitment campaigns
• Holding of, or participation in, conferences and courses
• Citizen Science projects
• Salary to researchers/project leaders

Audiences and accessibility

The project must be aimed at non-scientific audiences primarily in Denmark: the wider population, from young people who have completed lower-secondary education and upwards.

The project’s principal communication must be accessible to all interested parties free of charge such as subscriptions, paywalls or entrance fees. Distribution via libraries, including book loans, eReolen (digital books) and Filmstriben (digital films), is regarded as a supplement to the requirement for free access.

The communication must be freely accessible from the time it is published.

The communication may be in Danish or a foreign language, but it must be linguistically accessible to a broad audience in Denmark.

Communication formats

The project may be based on any type of communication format (or multiple types), including TV and radio productions, podcasts, new science journalism initiatives, festivals, lectures and debates, animations, publications and SoMe productions.

Start date for projects

Spring call with application deadline 1 March:

• The earliest start date is 1 August and the latest start date is 1 January of the following year

Autumn call with application deadline 1 September:

• The earliest start date is 1 January and the latest start date is 1 August of the following year