RECRUIT is a mobility grant aiming to strengthen Danish universities in the international competition for top researchers and talents and to build strong ecosystems within the areas of support.

Candidates for RECRUIT must be considered excellent at their career level. The grants support the recruitment of researchers at the assistant-, associate-, or full-professor level. 

All candidates for the RECRUIT programme must be nominated by AAU. A nomination quota for RECRUIT is allocated to each Danish university.

It is essential that the project proposal fits into one of the two areas of support, and describes in the brief project description how it fits into a key theme:

Research within natural and technical sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and technical sciences), particularly in fields with potential interdisciplinary application to health and sustainability. 

• Interdisciplinary research rooted in the natural and technical sciences
• Quantum-based technologies with future potential to solve complex and important problems in biology, chemistry, or medicine
• Data and computer science research with a focus on fundamental algorithms and interdisciplinary applications
• Technology for tomorrow’s medical science, biotechnology, or sustainability

Biotechnology and Sustainability Strategic research aiming at advancing knowledge and solutions to support the green transition in society within the following key themes:

• Sustainable plant-based agriculture 
• Sustainable food for healthy diets 
• Biomanufacturing for sustainability, including high-impact climate change mitigation technologies.

The RECRUIT programme offers several types of grants through open competition:

• RECRUIT grants: Up to DKK 22 – 55 million over up to 7 years
• RECRUIT Sabbatical grants: Up to DKK 1 million over up to 1 year. This grant is both available for researchers in Denmark going abroad and international researchers coming to Denmark (the RECRUIT Sabbatical call can be found separately on the Foundation’s website)
• RECRUIT Extension grants: Up to DKK 10 million over up to 5 years (the call and guidelines for RECRUIT Extension grants will be made available in due time) 

For further information, please visit the call website.

The RECRUIT programme has two application rounds per year.

Please let us know if you need support with your proposal no later than: 

round 1: October 1st 

round 2: May 15th 

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

Each round consists of two phases, where phase I is conducted by AAU before the submission deadline, and Phase II is carried out by NNF after the deadline. 

The application process consists of a one-stage submission using NNF’s online application and grant management system, NORMA.

• 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.

RECRUIT candidates must be ambitious and excellent relative to their career level. The grants support the recruitment of researchers at the assistant-, associate-, or full-professor level. 

The candidate’s research should bring substantial value and/or novelty to a research field that has strategic relevance to AAU (the recruiting university) - see AAU strategy.

Only applications submitted by candidates nominated by AAU will be considered for funding. Other applications will be administratively rejected. 

The Applicant tab relates to information about the candidate: 

• CV: Maximum 4,000 characters, including spaces. Please include in your CV a short bibliographic overview summarising total number of peer-reviewed publications, number of first authorships, number of corresponding authorships, number of citations, and h-index. 
• Publications: Maximum 5,000 characters, including spaces. Please include only the 10 most relevant publications for evaluating your merits. Include a list of all authors for each publication. Please provide a link to an updated profile with your full publication list in ORCID, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus or similar. 
• Summary of own research and motivation: Maximum 2,000 characters, including spaces. Please include a short summary of your research leading up to this proposal and a substantiated motivation for relocation to a new institution. 
• Supplementary information: Maximum 2,000 characters, including spaces. May be used to describe special circumstances regarding your application that evaluators should be aware of.

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 the Recruit Programmes are the right fit for you and your candidate 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 the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Recruit Programme.
• 360 degree inspection meeting – At the meeting the applicant pitches the candidate and project idea based on a 360 degree template (see Funding Toolbox)
• Bi-weekly status meetings until submission

Tools

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

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

Tools for NNF Recruit 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.

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