The research stars of the future: 19 new Villum Young Investigators

22.01.2021 I More news

This year, VILLUM FONDEN is awarding a total of DKK 126 million to 19 particularly talented young researchers in the technical and natural sciences. Their research areas are very wide-ranging – from the formation of the universe’s first structures to sustainable production using microalgae.

Talent, cutting-edge expertise and ambitions for research careers are what Villum Young Investigators are made of. Since the programme was started in 2011, a total of 184 researchers have been given the title – and part of a total grant of over DKK 1.2 billion.

The Villum Young Investigator programme allows talented Danish and international researchers to pursue their ideas and establish their own research groups at Danish universities. With grants of between six and eight million DKK, this year’s 19 budding research stars are ready to make their mark on the future:

“The only thing we know today about the new knowledge that will shape our lives in 20 years’ time is that it is largely being created in the minds of talented young researchers. It is therefore important to give young researchers a solid starting point for establishing their own research profiles,” says Thomas Bjørnholm, Executive Chief Scientific Officer of VILLUM FONDEN.

The new Villum Young Investigators’ contributions to the technical and natural sciences span a wide range of fields – from understanding the universe’s first structures and challenges of quantum technology to the sustainable production of bioproducts using microalgae and the development of an autonomous soft robot.

VILLUM FONDEN received 161 applications for the programme. The 19 researchers who made it through the eye of the needle have gone through a process of academic evaluation and interviews with the foundation’s scientific committee as well as final approval by the foundation’s board.

The new Villum Young Investigators are based in five Danish universities: the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, University of Southern Denmark and the IT University of Copenhagen.

The 19 Villum Young Investigators will be celebrated virtually on 22 January 2021 in connection with VILLUM FONDEN’s presentation of the Villum Kann Rasmussen Annual Award in Science and Technology.

The researchers will also have the opportunity to take part in a special Villum Young Investigator community with networks and seminars, for example on research management.