Villum Sabbatical
Shelly Zhang DTU Sabbatical (2025)
Granted amount:
DKK 365,900
Villum Sabbatical
For US-based researchers wishing to visit a Danish university for up to 12 months
Villum Foundation wishes to encourage the exchange of scientific ideas between the US and Denmark. Villum Sabbatical supports research stays of up to one year at a Danish university. Researchers at the associate professor or professor level based at a US university may receive up to 1 MDKK to cover their salary (in part or in full), salary of accompanying group members (postdocs and PhD students), travel and research costs associated with the stay. Applications are only accepted from the head of the department at the Danish host institution.
If a visiting researcher subsequently decides to relocate to Denmark, they are encouraged to apply for one of Villum Foundations’s investigator grants (Young Investigator, Ascending Investigator, Investigator)
Status
Closed
Full budget of the call
DKK 15m
Maximum application amount
DKK 1.0m
Application
- Open for submissionsApplication
- Deadline for submissions
14:00
The applications will be assessed by the Villum Foundation secretariat for technical and natural science, based on the following criteria:
- Scientific excellence of the visiting researcher
- Relevance for the host institution/group
- Prospects for collaborations that go beyond the sabbatical.
15 August 2025, 2 PM: Deadline for applications
End of September 2025: Rejection or approval of grant
If granted the project should start August 2026 at the latest.
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.
Furthermore, 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.
The application must be submitted by the head of department at the Danish host institution of the stay. Each department may only submit one application for this call.
The application must contain the following documents in pdf format, submitted as four separate files:
- Application (max. 2 pages)
- CV for the visiting researcher in the provided template
- Statement (max. 2 pages) from the visiting researcher, outlining their motivation for the stay
- Budget in the provided template.
The application should include:
- The strengths of the visiting researcher and their standing in the international research community
- How the visit aligns with the strategic plans of the department
- Synergies with existing research groups at the department
- Further perspectives of the stay, including possible permanent recruitment.
Eligible budget items include:
- Salary for the visiting scholar
- Salary for accompanying group members (postdocs and PhD students)
- Running costs and technical assistance at the host institution
- Travel costs
- Other costs associated with the stay (subject to the host institution’s rules).
Villum Foundation is a party to the agreement between a number of private foundations and the Danish universities on a common model for indirect costs. This means that indirect costs are covered through a project supplement calculated from the number of project-funded full-time academic staff equivalents in certain staff categories.
The project supplement is DKK 250,000 per project-funded full-time academic staff equivalent in eligible staff categories.
Do you wish to print the whole page?
Print the necessary guidelines before applying.
Contact
