Welcome to the 2022 Villum Young Investigators
24.01.2022 l Latest news
16 talented researchers in the technical and natural sciences are to receive grants totalling DKK 102 million that will allow them to pursue their ideas and establish their own research groups at Danish universities
The Villum Young Investigator programme (YIP) focuses on attracting and retaining talented young Danish and international researchers at Danish universities. The aim is to support the development of high-level international research environments in the universities.
VILLUM FONDEN will open the next call for the programme 6 April 2022. Read more about the programme
“It is gratifying that these young researchers are now afforded the opportunity to develop their own impressive ideas. Many have the backing of their host institutions and have excellent career prospects. This bodes well for Danish research,” says Thomas Bjørnholm, Executive Chief Scientific Officer of VILLUM FONDEN.
The Villum Young Investigator Programme focuses on attracting research stars of the future. Recipients are Danish and foreign researchers affiliated with a Danish research institution. The programme allows them to join a research community featuring networks and seminars on issues such as research management.
VILLUM FONDEN first awarded grants as part of this programme in 2012 and since then has supported a total of 200 young and talented researchers with grants amounting to a combined DKK 1.4 billion.
With grants in the region of DKK 6-8 million, this year’s cohort of 16 VILLUM Young Investigators is ready to make its contribution to the research of the technical and natural sciences and to make their mark on the future. Common to all the researchers are towering ambitions and research areas that it can be challenging to get to grips with. Their gazes are directed at everything great and small both on Earth and in the universe – from Earth-like planets to microscopic airborne particles (aerosols).
One research project dives beneath the surface of the sea to find genomic insights into evolutionary novelties in seahorses, pipefishes and seadragons. Another project remains on land and seeks to develop a bio-inspired multifunctional building composite that couples the sustainability of self-healing concrete with the responsive nature of self-sensing materials to communicate its own health in real-time.
The eye of the needleVILLUM FONDEN received 123 applications for the programme. The gender distribution among applicants was 80 per cent men and 20 per cent women, while the distribution among grantees was 75 per cent men and 25 per cent women.
The 16 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 four Danish universities: the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University and University of Southern Denmark.
The 16 Villum Young Investigators will be celebrated on 4 May 2022 in connection with VILLUM FONDEN’s presentation of the Villum Kann Rasmussen Annual Award in Science and Technology. The recipient of this award is normally celebrated on 23 January, which is the birthday of the foundation’s founder Villum Kann Rasmussen (1909-93), but the event itself has been postponed due to the current coronavirus-related restrictions.
The photos and the collage can be used in regards to publicity of the programme.
Download the press photos and videos with the Villum Young Investigators 2022.
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