The Data Science Collaborative Research Programme aims to support synergistic research collaborations rooted in data science and computational science with immediate or potential future applications within areas of relevance to NNF’s strategy.

The goals of the Data Science Collaborative Research Programme are:

• To foster research collaborations between data scientists.
• To support research collaborations between data scientists and experts in other fields, including but not limited to medicine, biology, biotechnology, physics, chemistry, etc.
• To support an excellent academic research and education ecosystem within data science in Denmark.
• To advance education and training courses in data science-related topics in Denmark.
   
  Applications should address either one of the following two options:
• Development of new algorithms, methods and technologies within data science or computational science, artificial intelligence (incl. machine learning and deep learning), statistics, bioinformatics, and other computational sciences (incl. mathematical modelling, simulations, cybersecurity etc.)

and/or

• Applications of data science and computational sciences to areas of relevance to NNF’s strategy, including life science, biomedical- and health science, public- and global health, infectious disease, sustainability, green transition, agriculture, as well as natural and technical sciences.

The total annual grant budget for the 2026 Data Science Collaborative Research Programme is up to DKK 99 million. Each grant can be up to DKK 40 million over up to 5 years. 

The maximal size of the grant scales with the size of the collaborative consortia (maximally DKK 14 million for 2 partners, DKK 20 million for 3 partners, DKK 28 million for 4 partners, and DKK 40 million for 5 partners).

For further detail, see Data Science Collaborative Research Programme

Please let us know if you need support with your Phase 1 proposal no later than: January 15th 

Applications that do not meet this deadline will not be guaranteed support from Fundraising & Project Management.

The application process consists of 2 Phases.

• Stage 1: consists of a comprehensive application with a detailed project proposal (up to 30,000 characters) along with a detailed budget.
• Stage 2 : The applicants will be invited to present and discuss their proposed research projects with the review committee in an online meeting.

Your local funding advisor is your first point of contact for support.

Find more information on which instruments and what type of support F&P offers here

Find our annual wheel of funding here

AAU Seed Money can be used to support the preparation of an application, including activities such as proposal writing, meetings with potential consortium partners, and involvement of an external consultant.

AAU Seed Money is available both at faculty level and through AAU’s missions. For details on available funding amounts, application deadlines, and specific faculty requirements, please contact your local funding advisor.

The Data Science Collaborative Research Programme supports collaboration between datascience researchers and possibly other researchers to form a consortium of up to 5 partners (main applicant plus 4 co-applicants).

• The main applicant or at least one of the co-applicants must be a data science or computational science researcher, who is actively engaged in research and teaching activities at an academic institution in Denmark during the project period.
• The main applicant can be either a computational researcher (data scientist) or a researcher from a relevant application domain (medicine, agriculture, physics, etc.), who is associated to/employed at a university or institution in Denmark during the project period.
• A project solely with applicants from the same institutional department or within the same scientific research domain is generally not within the scope of this call.
• Co-applicant(s) institutions may be located anywhere globally. However, consortia where all, or the vast majority of, the computational work is planned to be undertaken abroad are not eligible to apply for this programme.
• Industry collaboration is allowed, but industrial partners cannot receive funding.
• The main applicant must be at least 70% employed at a Danish university, hospital, or non-profit research organisation.

The profile of a potential main applicant/coordinator should be based on the following criteria:

• Has a project idea that demonstrate synergistic collaboration between different research groups, typically from different institutions/departments and different scientific disciplines.
• Preferably Research Leaders (Established/Prof.), Research Leaders (Mid-career/Associate Prof.), Research Leaders (junior/non-tenured).
• Is up to date with international state-of-the-art in his/her field of research.
• Is nationally and internationally recognized within the field.
• Has experience in writing applications in English (not necessarily NNF Data Science projects).
• Has time, as well as the desire and willingness, to be responsible for a NNF Data Science project.
• Has aligned his/her resources with the head of department.
• Has a network at national and international level and the ability to collaborate with research groups from other disciplines.
• Agrees to be the primary penholder in the application.

There are not regular information meetings for each NNF call, but NNF visits AAU once a year (usually in November) to present all their calls at once. However, questions regarding the call should be addressed directly with the relevant contact persons at NNF.

There are no courses available at the moment.

Fundraising & Project Management offers:

• Assistance in assessing whether NNF Data Science Collaborative Research Programme is the right fit for you and the research idea.
• Preparation of a timeline to ensure a smooth application process. 
• Two reviews of the application, including concrete suggestions for changes/additions/considerations.
• Review of the application budget. 
• Assistance with submission of proposal in Norma
• Annexes: Gather annexes from all partners and help with AAU's annexes.
• Set up of Teams group for all partners with AAU internal and external channels.

Meetings

Fundraising & Project Management offers:

• Get Started meeting - At the meeting an agreement is made on support/expectations and the involvement of both Fundraising & Project Management and the local funding support team at department level. In addition, the applicant will be advised on the time schedule and the application process. If necessary, a brief introduction to Novo Nordic Foundation and the Data Science Collaborative Research Programme can be provided.
• 360 degree inspection meeting – At the meeting the applicant pitches the project idea based on a 360 degree template, and the consortium, value creation, and implementation are discussed
• Bi-weekly status meetings until submission

Tools

Fundraising & Project Management offers a range of tools that are helpful when applying for NNF Challenge, such as:

• Annotated application template, which includes recommendations, clarifications, and examples embedded in the template text.
• Budget template
• Interview training

Tools for NNF Data Science Collaborative Research Programme are available in the Funding Toolbox.

Review of application 

Fundraising & Project Management offers structured proposal feedback at least twice during the application process, supplemented by continuous advice throughout the writing phase. This includes:

• Two in‑depth reviews of the application, each providing concrete suggestions for changes, additions, clarifications, or strategic considerations.
• Feedback aimed at strengthening coherence, alignment with call expectations, clarity of narrative, and overall competitiveness.

These reviews support the applicant in refining the proposal and ensuring a high quality final submission.

Submission

Fundraising & Project Management offers administrative support regarding questions about submission in Norma.

Budget

The budget is managed at the department level, with Fundraising & Project Management providing guidance, recommendations, and alignment support as needed. For further information, please contact your local funding advisor.

Interview support

Fundraising & Project Management offers interview training, such as review and rehearsal of presentation. 

The application support process is evaluated twice a year by means of an online survey to coordinators.

No project management is offered from F&P