Villum Infrastructure

Villum Foundation is pleased to announce the 2026 call for Villum Infrastructure. A total amount of DKK 50 million is allocated to this call.

Villum Foundation wishes to strengthen access for the best Danish research environments to cutting-edge research equipment that will enable world leading research within the technical and natural sciences.

Projects can target new equipment, custom-built equipment, or upgrades to existing equipment or facilities.

The 2026 Villum Infrastructure call has a total budget of DKK 50 million. Individual project applications can be DKK 6-35 million. The grant period is up to 6 years for projects over 15 MDKK and 4 years for projects up to 15 MDKK.

Applicants are eligible to apply if they belong to a qualified Danish university department with a current Villum Investigator or current permanently employed Villum Young Investigator.

The ideal applicants are researchers at the forefront of their field. We expect that a current Villum Investigator or current permanently employed Villum Young Investigator will be involved as applicant or co-applicant.

Only one application per qualified department may be submitted per year.

Synergy with other research groups and departments is encouraged.

Villum Foundation is committed to diversity and has a focus on equal opportunities throughout the assessment process and grant period (you may find our Gender Policy here).

Status

Closed

Application amount range

DKK 6.0m - DKK 35m

Application

- Open for submissions

27 January 2026

Application

- Deadline for submissions

23 April 2026 14:00

Aarhus University (AAU)
    Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies
    Department of Biology
    Department of Agroecology
    Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering
    Department of Computer Science
    Department of Ecoscience
    Department of Food Science
    Department of Physics and Astronomy
    Department of Chemistry
    Department of Mathematics
    Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering
    Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)
    Glaciology and Climate

ITU - IT University of Copenhagen
    Theoretical Computer Science

Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
    DTU Aqua
    DTU Bioengineering
    DTU Compute
    DTU Electro
    DTU Energy
    DTU Physics
    DTU Chemistry
    DTU Chemical Engineering
    DTU Construct
    DTU Nanolab
    DTU Space

The assessment of applications for the Villum Infrastructure programme is carried out in two steps.

Step 1: The foundation’s Working group for technical and natural science evaluates the applications based on the Terms of reference and decides which applications should proceed to step 2.

Step 2: The selected applications are sent for external peer review. Applicants will have the opportunity to reply to the peer reviews. Based on the application, the external peer reviews and the reply to the peer reviews, the working group recommends a number of applications for funding to the board of Villum Foundation.

Important dates:

27 January 2026: Call opens
23 April 2026: Deadline for applications at 14.00 PM
June 2026: Decision to proceed to Step 2 (external peer review)
September 2026: Peer reviews are forwarded for commenting to the selected applicants
September 2026: Deadline for applicants to comment on peer reviews
December 2026: Rejection or approval of grant

See the members of the Working Group for Technical and Natural Science here

The equipment or facility applied for must be hosted by the Danish research institution where the main applicant is employed.

Eligible costs are listed below.

Health or veterinary research, i.e. research focused on the health of humans and animals, including nutrition, medicine, biomedicine, pharmacology and research within diagnostics and methods for examination and treatment.

Applicants affiliated with departments whose main scientific focus is within these areas (including university health departments, hospitals, the Danish Cancer Society, DTU Health Tech and SDU Health Informatics and Technology) are not eligible to apply and will receive an administrative rejection.

Applications should state a compelling vision for the research enabled by the infrastructure in question, including an account of the current state-of-the-art of the field and the strategic relevance and long-term potential for bringing Danish research to the global forefront.

The application should describe the commitment of the host department and connections to ongoing and potential new projects. Plans for continued development beyond the granting period and accessibility for other researchers and institutions should be included.

Finally, applications should outline data management considerations.

The following items may be included in the budget:

Purchase of equipment and upgrades to existing platforms
Installation costs, construction, and running costs, incl. salaries for technical support staff*, maintenance, data management, and training of users.
(*Technical support staff salaries = only AC-TAP or TAP. Salaries for scientific staff cannot be applied for.)
Networking activities to increase user awareness
Reasonable costs (up to 5% of the amount applied for) associated with required adjustments to physical locations (e.g. necessary laboratory updates).

Projects are subject to the agreement on project supplements.

The application must contain the following documents (in pdf format as separate files):

Application
Letter of support from the host department
CV(s) in the provided template
Budget in the provided template
Equipment quotations

See application guidelines for further details

Can a Villum Infrastructure grant be used as co-financing for an application for the NUFI Infrastructure roadmap?
No.

Can the main applicant be someone other than a Villum Investigator or permanently employed Villum Young Investigator?
Yes, in special cases it could be another leading researcher from a qualified department.

Can I apply for salary for technical staff, if I want to custom build the infrastructure myself?
Yes. But take care to clearly describe the needs in the description of the infrastructure in your application.

Can I apply for salary for researchers?
No. Costs of research activities and salaries for scientific staff that will use the infrastructure for experiments should be covered via other funding.

Can I include standard glassware, basic instrumentation, chemicals, personal computers, or other basic supplies in my application?
No.

Is the PI expected to spend a certain amount of working hours on the Villum Infrastructure grant?
No, but the PI is expected to be the “super user” of the facility and involved in the day-to-day management of the facility. In the application you should clearly describe your level of involvement and how it aligns with the strategic priorities of the host institution.

Can computing infrastructure be supported?
Yes, as longs as it falls within the scope of the programme.

Can I apply for access to existing large international infrastructures, e.g. beamtime at a synchrotron?
No.