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Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader
Objective
In order to promote the education of researchers and strengthen internationalisation, DFF offers the funding instrument Sapere Aude (i.e., “dare to know”). The objective of this initiative is to develop the qualifications and competencies of the best research talents, both nationally and internationally.
Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader is aimed at providing excellent younger researchers, i.e., researchers who have carried out top class research in their field, with the opportunity to develop and strengthen their research ideas as well as their competencies as independent research leaders of other researchers. The funding instrument also aims at promoting careers, international as well as national mobility among research environments, and to strengthen networks. Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader are targeted at top researchers who intend to gather a group of researchers and/or research
students to carry out a research project at a high, international level. Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader furthermore strengthens the possibility for excellent younger researchers to return to a Danish research institution after a research stay abroad.
DFF expects that a Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader project prepares the grant recipient to apply for an ERC funding instrument, or a similar international programme.
DFF expects to award approx. 36 grants in 2026.
About the applicant
Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader is aimed at younger, very talented researchers, who have demonstrated the ability to carry out original research at a high, international level. You must have obtained the PhD degree within 3-8 years before the application deadline (after the deduction of relevant leave of absence). If you do not have a PhD degree, you must have obtained equivalent qualifications, e.g., a positive assistant professor assessment (”adjunktbedømmelse”) within 3-8 years before the application deadline. Specific periods of leave must be deducted in the calculations of PhDage,
cf. section 10 in the call.
Previous management experience and mobility will be viewed positively in the assessment of your application.
If DFF finds your application to be among the very best, the final evaluation will consist of an interview with you as the applicant wherein you will be asked to present your project. In addition to DFF’s assessment criteria, you will be assessed based on your ability to present your project in a clear and comprehensible way during the interview, including to researchers who are not experts in your scientific field. You are also expected to be able to reflect upon how you will develop your competencies as a research leader and how you will handle concrete challenges as a leader.
It will be a requirement for funding that the Sapere Aude grant recipient participates in the fund's research management course.
About the application
When writing an application to the fund, you must pay special attention to ensuring that the application fulfils the objective of the funding instrument and that it meets the fund’s assessment criteria.
You need to draw up an ambitious and realistic research plan in which you clearly describe how a Sapere Aude grant will contribute to boosting your research leadership competencies and your research career with an excellent international profile. Thus, it will be included in the assessment of your application how you will work with and develop the various aspects of research leadership.
It is considered very important that you, as the applicant, plan to participate in international research activities, where relevant. You must describe the planned international activities in your application. These may include e.g., research stays abroad, collaboration with foreign research groups, hosting of or participation in international conferences, invitation of foreign visiting researchers, etc.
There must be a sufficiently balanced relationship between the roles of all listed project participants (scientific/academic staff, technical/administrative staff, and whether DFF-funding or not), and the concrete role of the participants must be accounted for and justified.
The application must be written in English.
PhD and postdoctoral scholarships
You can apply for funding for embedded PhD and postdoctoral scholarships, if these are well integrated into the project and fulfil a clear, independent function within the research project.
Embedded postdoctoral candidates must have obtained their PhD within the last 4 years at the time of the application deadline. If an embedded postdoctoral candidate does not have a PhD degree, they must have achieved equivalent qualifications, e.g., a positive assistant professorship evaluation (“adjunktbedømmelse”), within the last 4 years at the time of the DFF application deadline. Specific periods of leave must be deducted in the calculation of PhD age, cf. section 10 in the call. Note that the PhD age requirements does not apply to application for DFF | Medical Sciences.
If you, as the applicant, are not an associate professor and have not been awarded a positive associate professor assessment (“lektorbedømmelse”) and the project involves the education of researchers, you must account for how the relevant supervision will be provided, and how the research student’s scientific association to the project will be ensured.
If the application includes requests for funding for unnamed PhD students and/or unnamed postdoctoral participants, the application must include an account of the proposed recruitment process. If a named postdoctoral candidate is a PhD student at the time of application, the application must include a declaration from the student’s supervisor, stating that the student is expected to submit the PhD thesis within 6 months after the application deadline.
Budget
You may apply for up to DKK 4,400,000 excl. overhead. The budget must be completed in the mandatory budget template, which can be downloaded from e-grant.
Project description and appendices
There are a number of mandatory appendices that must always be attached, as well as additional appendices that must be included if relevant. You can read more about the general requirements for the contents of the project description and appendices in section 8 in the call and the budget in section 9 in the call.
Please pay special attention to the fact that there are character and page limits for both the project description and the applicant's CV. Exceeding these limits will result in an administrative rejection. It is always the character count generated by e-grant that applies.
Based on DFF’s descriptions and what appears in the announcements of successful grants, these are features / “success predictors” (observed in recent funded projects) that seem to increase the chances of being awarded.
AI Based Application Success Predictor
| Success Predictor | What It Looks Like / How to Demonstrate It |
|---|---|
| High Scientific Quality & Prior Output | Even for early career grants, having published, having shown capacity for rigorous work (good experimental design / strong methods), evidence of excellence in your field. The Starting Grants (“Sapere Aude”) require that the researcher has already “delivered work at the forefront of their field.” |
| Originality / Novel Ideas | The projects chosen are often those that are not just incremental, but have some novelty, possibly interdisciplinary, or addressing new/emerging questions. The announcements often mention “ground-breaking research ideas” and “innovative research projects”. |
| Leadership Potential & Research Independence | For Starting Grants: DFF expects applicants to demonstrate that they will establish / strengthen their own research group; show potential for leading others (students/postdocs). Also interview stage in some calls to assess that. |
| Feasibility & Realistic Plan | Good timelines, clear plan, resources available, good budget matching the scale of the project; ability to deliver in the time allowed. For Research Project1 and Project2, showing how you will manage project over years with several collaborators (if needed) and risks mitigated. |
| International / National Mobility and Networks | Moves between research environments, collaborations, national/international exposure are valued. E.g. Starting Grants promote mobility between research environments to strengthen careers. |
| Clear & Communicative Proposal | Ability to present the research problem clearly, convey its significance, describe methods well; likely to undergo peer review and in some schemes an interview. Proposals that can “communicate the best idea” well get highlighted. |
| Strategic Fit & Thematic Relevance (if applicable) | For themed / thematic calls (e.g. “Strengthened clinical and independent research”) DFF gives higher success rates (~25% in that thematic call) when project is well aligned with the thematic priorities. |
| Gender / Equal Opportunities Awareness | While gender alone is not an assessment criterion, DFF has explicit policies to ensure equal opportunities, including accounting for maternity/paternity leave (“PhD age” adjustments), gender composition awareness. Ensuring that the researcher group is reasonably balanced / that absences are documented helps. |
| Strong Review Process Readiness | Be prepared for external/international peer review; being strong across all evaluation criteria (not just novelty, but also methodology, track record, infrastructure). Some calls include interview phases (for example in Starting Grant). Demonstrate clarity in all parts: aims, deliverables, feasibility, risk, budget. |
Specialties
Eligibility Requirements
You must have obtained the PhD degree within 3-8 years before the application deadline (after the deduction of relevant leave of absence). If you do not have a PhD degree, you must have obtained equivalent qualifications, e.g., a positive assistant professor assessment (”adjunktbedømmelse”) within 3-8 years before the application deadline.
Eligible Countries:
Sponsor Details
Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF)
Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit
Address: Asylgade 7 5000 Odense C
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Grant
Letter Of Intent Deadline:
Oct 07, 2025
Final Deadline:
Oct 07, 2025
Funding Amount:
$695,024
DKK 4,400,000
Host Details
Affiliation: Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF)
Address: Asylgade 7 5000 Odense C
Disclaimer:It is mandatory that all applicants carry workplace liability insurance, e.g., https://www.protrip-world-liability.com (Erasmus students use this package and typically costs around 5 € per month - please check) in addition to health insurance when you join any of the onsite Trialect partnered fellowships.
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