Danish National Research Foundation
DANISH NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION
The DNR Foundation works at strengthening Danish research through larger-scale investment in long term basic research endeavours. The main strategy of the Foundation is to establish and fund Centres of Excellence. Since 1991, the Foundation has committed itself to support the Danish research environments with a total of 3.8 billion DKK.
The Danish National Research Foundation is an independent foundation, which works at strengthening Danish basic research within all research fields.
The Foundation was established in 1991 with a capital of 2 billion DKK. In later years, the Government has furthermore allocated annual budget means to the Foundation to augment the funding distribution.
The Foundation’s main working method is to set up and fund research centres of the highest international standing – Centres of Excellence – for periods of 5-10 years.
Over the years, 68 Centres of Excellence have been established. The Foundation has committed itself to support the Danish research environments with a total of 3.8 billion DKK.
The Foundation annually distributes 300 million DKK. This corresponds to approximately 2 % of the annual public research expenditure.
As a supplement to the Centres of Excellence, the Foundation experiments with various other programs, particularly with a view to strengthening the internationalisation of Danish research. In later years the Foundation has invested in six internationally recognised visiting professors and funded the recruitment of three outstanding professors to Danish research environments for a five-year period.
The effect of these investments is clearly visible, i.e. in the exceptional quality of the research output, the high degree of international cooperation, the extensive PhD production, the number of prestigious prizes and honours, and in the ability to attract external funding from abroad.
In July 2007, the Foundation posted a call for outline proposals for new centres of excellence. After this round of applications, the Foundation will in reality have disposed its entire capital. It is therefore imperative that new capital is injected into the Foundation in the years to come.
The Danish National Research Foundation is governed by a board consisting of a chairman (Professor Klaus Bock) and eight members. The administration is headed by the director of the Foundation, Professor Thomas Sinkjær
