Carlsberg Foundation awards postdoctoral fellowships for DKK 29 million

All 31 grants have been awarded in open competition and will support research stays at international universities and research institutions lasting a minimum of one year and a maximum of two years. 27 researchers are receiving an Internationalisation Fellowship and four a Visiting Fellowship at the University of Oxford.

With these grants, the Carlsberg Foundation aims to give talented Danish researchers the best opportunities to gain important international experience at international universities – for the benefit of both their own career prospects and the future of Danish research.

From protein-based biosensors to solar energy in the period 1878-1915

The postdoctoral grants comprise 11 within the natural sciences, 11 within the humanities and nine within the social sciences.

The new postdoctoral fellows will devote their time to research topics including protein-based biosensors, environmental analysis using evolutionary methods, and British engineers’, authors’ and media’s concept of solar energy as imperialist infrastructure in the period 1878-1915.

Research will also be carried out into the ability of microorganisms to “steel” electrons from cyanobacteria and use them for their own growth, and into the socioeconomic implications of climate-adapted agriculture with a focus on production of resistant maize varieties in Thailand.

Significant increase in number of grants awarded

All 31 grants have been awarded on the basis of the spring call 2024, which generated 88 applications – 40 within the natural sciences, 26 within the humanities and 22 within the social sciences. Compared with last year’s application round, which resulted in 49 applications and 18 grants, this represents a significant increase both in the number of applications received and the number of grants awarded.

Of this year’s applications, 28 were submitted by female applicants and 57 by male applicants, while three applicants did not disclose their gender. The grants comprise nine for female researchers, 21 for male researchers and one for a researcher of non-disclosed gender.

This is the last time that the Carlsberg Foundation is awarding Visiting Fellowships at the University of Oxford, as this specific funding instrument will no longer be available from the 2024 autumn call onwards.