Carlsberg Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Centres

The application must be submitted through the CF-Grant application system.

The application must be written in English.

Applications that do not meet the specified formal requirements may be declared inadmissible and they will be rejected.

The submission of documents other than those specified below will also result in rejection.

The selection of the wrong type of grant in CF-Grant will likewise result in rejection.

The documents must be uploaded in PDF format.

Required documents to be attached to the application form:

• Project description
• Budget
• Curricula vitae
• Lists of publications 
• Description of the research group and its organisation and national/international networks
• Description of the centre structure
• Declaration(s) from the research institution(s)
• Suggestions for external reviewers

The project description must be written using Times New Roman, font size 12, margins on the left, right, top and bottom of at least 2 cm and line spacing of 1.5. 

The project description must not exceed ten A4 pages (including figures, tables, etc., but excluding references). Any references or bibliography must be added in direct continuation of the project description.

The project description must clearly state the overarching goal and describe the potential impact of the project as well as the synergy expected from the interdisciplinary collaboration. 

The use of unconventional technical abbreviations must be kept to a minimum.

An itemised budget for the amount applied for must be uploaded using the Carlsberg Foundation’s budget template and must be finalised before upload.

Grants of DKK 50 million or above are not formally covered by the national agreement on indirect project costs. As this call allows applications for up to DKK 50 million, the Carlsberg Foundation has decided to apply the provisions of the agreement in full. Accordingly, the project supplement described above will be granted on the same terms and at the same levels as stipulated in the agreement.

Project supplement (indirect project costs) for applicants from Danish universities:

• Humanities and social sciences: DKK 200,000 per full-time equivalent (FTE) per year for PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and research assistants funded by the grant.
• Natural sciences: DKK 250,000 per full-time equivalent (FTE) per year for PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and research assistants funded by the grant.

The project supplement can only be applied for applicants from Danish universities.

The project supplement will automatically be added in the budget template. 

For more information on what the project supplement covers, and thus what cannot be applied for, see the full agreement on the following website: 

Link to agreement at Danish Universities

The CV of each member of the PI team must not exceed two A4 pages each. Please do not include photo, home address, family information, CPR no., date of birth, or gender.

The lists of publications for each PI team member must first contain a brief summary of the bibliometry of each PI, including links to relevant bibliometric profiles (Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, etc.). 

In addition, each member of the PI team must only include a list of the ten peer-reviewed publications most relevant to the application and representative of their research career, accompanied by a few sentences explaining the relevance of each publication. 

If this is not possible due to space limitations, it will be sufficient to list the first ten authors and the corresponding author(s).

The lists of publications must not exceed two A4 pages in total for each PI team member.

A description of the research centre and its organisation must be uploaded, including its prospective composition, diversity and gender balance. 

The description must include the specific and concrete steps that will be taken during recruiting processes and throughout the grant period to ensure diversity and gender balance. Relevant national and international research networks, and their potential role in the project, should also be described.

The PI team must describe how it will implement shared leadership of the project, emphasizing its vision for excellence in collaborative leadership.

The description must not exceed two A4 pages.

A description of the centre structure must be uploaded.

The description must include a plan for how a shared centre identity and spirit can be fostered. Examples include weekly communal lunches, scheduled seminars, journal clubs, or retreats. However, applicants are encouraged to think creatively and propose novel approaches tailored to the specific context and culture of the centre. These examples are merely illustrative and should not be viewed as prescriptive or exhaustive.

The description must not exceed one A4 page.

A declaration from the administering research institution confirming its willingness to host the project must be uploaded. 

A declaration from each participating research institution confirming a minimum of 80 % employment as an associate professor, senior researcher or professor must be uploaded.

As part of the application, the PI team must include a document of no more than one page containing a minimum of three and a maximum of five suggestions for potential external reviewers. For each suggested reviewer, the PI team must provide a brief justification as well as the following information: name, academic title, affiliated research institution, primary scientific field, and a link to the reviewer’s professional webpage.

Only international reviewers from research institutions outside Denmark may be suggested. The Carlsberg Foundation is not obliged to select any of the proposed reviewers. Suggested reviewers must not be involved in the project (e.g. as members of an Advisory Board) or otherwise be considered to have a conflict of interest in relation to assessing the application. The suggested reviewers must be independent and not individuals with whom the PI team has, or has had, a professional or personal relationship that could compromise impartiality. Such relationships include but are not limited to: co-authoring publications or applications, co-editing anthologies, co-organising conferences, or having been a PhD supervisor or supervised by the person in question. 

Under no circumstances may the suggested reviewers be contacted in advance by any of the members of the PI team.

The PI team is also required to complete a popularised scientific description in the CF-Grant application system.

The description must address What, Why and How (up to 400 characters each). This description is published on the foundation’s website should the application be successful.