53 bold ideas receive funding from VILLUM FONDEN

10 September 2018

Villum Experiment supports 53 bold ideas for research in the technical and natural sciences with a total amount of DKK 100 million.

VILLUM Experiment granted funding to original research experiments at Danish research institutions for the first time in 2017. The programme awards grants once every year.

The 53 experiments, receiving a total amount of DKK 100 million, are selected among more than 400 applications. All the applications have been through an anonymous selection process, where 15 international external experts have assessed the research idea - without having the possibility of taking the researchers' CVs and academic qualifications into consideration.

"VILLUM FONDEN aims to help create space for radical and innovative research, which has the potential to fundamentally alter our approach to key topics. The bold idea, that you might not dare to mention aloud, may challenge acclaimed research even though it does not fit into the conventional peer-review funding system. Through anonymous selection and high risk funding we can contribute by testing the wild and offbeat ideas," says VILLUM FONDEN's Executive Chief Scientific Officer Thomas Bjørnholm.

The researchers behind the 53 experiments range from postdocs to professors and represent 19 different nationalities. They are affiliated with the University of Copenhagen, Technical University of Denmark, Aarhus University, University of Southern Denmark, Aalborg University, Roskilde University, GEUS and the IT University of Copenhagen. Below - an overview of all the experiments.

An experiment – for the foundation as well

One of the research experiments will examine data from previous earthquakes and test a new approach for the prediction of earthquakes, known as the Holy Grail of earthquake science. If successful one common way of predicting earthquakes may be found.

Another experiment tests the effect microorganisms from sea ice have on sky formation in the Arctic when the ice melts. This process has not been examined before and has the potential to change the way of modeling and projecting the dynamics of the climate.

Not only the projects, but the programme itself is an experiment for the foundation.

"It requires steady nerves to deviate from the usual assessment approaches and to allocate funding for projects - or researchers – that challenge the norm, but on the other hand present the best idea. Perhaps only a few of the research projects will prove capable of yielding something unique. However, one wild idea may have the potential to change the world," says Thomas Bjørnholm.

53 bold ideas from 8 research institutes

We refer to the universitys' press and communication contacts for information about the individual researchers.