Science Communication

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Grants for professional communication of topics within the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to non-scientific target groups.

Deadline

01.03.2025 - 16:00

Frequency

Half-yearly

Opens

01.12.2024

Amount

Maximum DKK 3 million

Purpose

Support for projects within science communication to promote popular education and general interest in basic research and science. The Carlsberg Foundation wants to promote collaborations between professional communicators and researchers in order to strengthen research and the position of science in society and in public conversation and debate.

The Carlsberg Foundation wants to: 

  • Support the communication of basic research and science to non-scientific audiences
  • Support the communication of science in relation to current, socially relevant issues
  • Contribute to public, fact-based debate that includes research and science
  • Promote relationships and collaboration between professional communicators and researchers
  • Increase public interest in, and curiosity about, science, scientific themes and current research
  • Strengthen awareness of, and confidence in, reliable scientific sources, partly with a view to countering misinformation with fact-based knowledge

Who?

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?

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
CALL CLOSED Call opens: 1 December 2024 Deadline: 1 March 2025, 16:00
The guidelines have been updated May 2024

Application requirements

Failure to comply with the following requirements will result in an administrative rejection of the application:

The application must be written in either Danish or English.

The following documents, and only these, must be uploaded with the application in PDF format (please note that other formats are not accepted)

Required documents:

  • Project description
  • Production and distribution plan
  • Budget
  • Curriculum vitae / description of the organisation

If relevant for the application:

  • Curriculum vitae of collaboration partners
  • Declarations of commitment

Project description

The project description must not exceed two A4 pages including photos, figures, tables, etc., 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 include the following in the given order:

  • Summary of the project’s purpose, theme and format
  • Description of the project, including collaboration partners, audiences and accessibility (platform, media or similar)

Production and distribution plan

The production and distribution plan must include an estimated schedule for the project phases up to project launch as well as a description of the planned distribution, communication and, if relevant, marketing of the project to reach the desired audiences.

The production and distribution plan must not exceed one A4 page.

Budget

An itemised budget for the amount applied for must be uploaded using the Carlsberg Foundation’s budget template, including a description of the budget items.

The budget should include an estimate of any revenues connected with the project set off against the amount applied for.

Any costs associated with auditor’s certification of accounts must be included in the budget.

Curriculum vitae/description of the organisation

The CV can be either the CV of the applicant/project leader or a description of the organisation applying.

The CV/description of the organisation must not exceed one A4 page.

Curriculum vitae for collaboration partners

The CVs of collaboration partners must not exceed one A4 page per collaboration partner.

Declarations of commitment

Any declarations of commitment from external collaboration partners and distributors should be attached to the application as additional appendices.

Popularised scientific description

In addition to the above uploaded documents, the applicant is required to complete a popularised scientific description of the project in CF-Grant (up to 400 characters).

In the event that funding is awarded, the popularised scientific description will be published on the Carlsberg Foundation’s website in the “Grant overview”.

Budget

Download budget template for Science Communication


Budget - Science Communication

0.02mb

FAQ

Please note: The foundation reserves the right to make adjustments to the guidelines.

The Carlsberg Foundation cannot offer individual guidance on projects or elements of projects before the application deadline.

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