Strengthened clinical and independent research

Description of the theme

The politically determined agreement states that ”DKK 229.0 million is allocated to DFF with the purpose of strengthening researchers’ own ideas within point of care clinical and independent research, and in areas where there is limited commercial interest and/or opportunities for external funding (e.g. from research foundations).

The effort can, among other things, contribute to generating new knowledge about prevention, the effects of existing standard forms of treatment and their side effect profile, and research in the prioritisation in the health care sector (prioritisation research). Furthermore, it can contribute to new knowledge on application, implementation and effect of existing and time-saving forms of care and treatment.

Moreover, the effort must strengthen research in prevention, assessment and treatment of dementia and research in nursing and care for patients with dementia and their next of kin as well as coherence in the health care system and citizen involvement in this area.

In addition, the effort must contribute to research on women’s diseases and side effects related to contraception, including in light of the publication Illumination of gender representation in clinical research (only available in Danish).

Furthermore, this effort must strengthen research on inequality in health on the basis of, among other things, gender, disability, working environment and socio-economic conditions, chronic disease, antibiotic resistance and stress. The funds must also support research on citizen-centred primary healthcare services, including local and municipal healthcare services.”

As part of the framework of DKK 229.0 million for ”Strengthened clinical and independent research” the parties behind the political agreement on the distribution of the research reserve agree to prioritise two specific subthemes. A part of the financial framework has thus been designated (earmarked) for these. DFF remarks that these are minimum amounts, i.e., in relation to the final implementation of the funds additional funding may be allocated to the specially prioritised subthemes compared to the framework outlined below. 

Earmarking of funds for research in fertility:

”The parties agree on prioritising DKK 19.7 million of the collective framework for research on fertility of men and women, including research in biological causes and prevention, assessment and treatment of reduced fertility and involuntary childlessness. Thus, the effort must contribute to investigating the fertility of the Danish population. Furthermore, the effort must also support research on societal conditions which influence birth rates.”

Earmarking of funds for research in drug use, opioids and intoxicants:

”The parties agree on prioritising DKK 14.8 million of the collective framework for research on drug use, including intoxicants and opioids in a societal perspective. The research can be interdisciplinary and must address treatment, prevention of substance use and addiction as well as damage control in relation to drug use, including intoxicants and opioids.”

DFF encourages that applications for research on drug use, opioids, and intoxicants are interdisciplinary.

Cf. the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science’s Mapping of clinical research and its funding from 2021 (only available in Danish), clinical research can be briefly described as the practically oriented part of health science research, which deals, amongst other aspects, with the description of patients’ pathological pictures and course of the disease, assessment of diagnostic methods, and thorough testing of various forms of treatment.

With the DKK 148.4 million, which has been prioritised for research in psychiatry, it is the intention that funds will not be allocated for psychiatric research under the theme “Strengthened clinical and independent research”. Applications within clinical research on psychiatry are therefore referred to the theme “Research in psychiatry” (see section 2.6 of the thematic Call for Proposals).

It is possible to apply for research projects within a budgetary framework of up to DKK 5,000,000 excluding overhead/administration expenses. Within the upper budget limit of DKK 5,000,000 excluding overhead/administration expenses, research projects of various sizes can be applied for and granted.

The following theme-specific requirements apply to your application:

• In the appendix to your project description, you must account for how your application addresses the call’s theme of strengthened clinical and independent research, including how the research area has limited commercial interest and/or limited opportunities for external funding (e.g. from research foundations).

Applicant and Co-PI

The project must be lead by an applicant and a named Co-PI. The applicant is main responsible towards the fund in the event of a grant.

As applicant as well as Co-PI you must have obtained a PhD degree (or similar qualifications, e.g. positive assistant professorship evaluation) at the time of the application deadline. Both the applicant’s and the Co-PI’s previous results will be assessed in relation to their career path and in relation to the scientific challenges of the project applied for. If you, as the applicant, are not an associate professor and have not been awarded a positive associate professor assessment (“lektorbedømmelse”) and the project involves the education of researchers, you must account for how the relevant supervision will be provided, and how the research student’s scientific association to the project will be ensured.

The applicant and the Co-PI must enter into a relevant and binding collaboration on a joint research project. The distribution of roles between the applicant and the Co-PI in the research project must appear clearly from the application.

Application requirements

The research project must be run by multiple researchers, including both an applicant and a Co-PI. DFF emphasises that the research project involves, e.g., PhD students and postdoctoral candidates to a relevant extent.

The research project must be characterised as being a coordinated and mutually binding collaboration on a well-defined research question. The research activities must establish synergy among any sub-projects.

The research project must be of a high, international standard and involve international collaboration to a relevant extent. If the research project is embedded in a specific, local context, it is expected that the project argues for the potentially limited internationalisation. In all cases, DFF expects applications to relate to the international state of the art within their area.

You can apply for funding for embedded PhD and postdoctoral scholarships, if these are well integrated into the project and fulfil a clear, independent function within the research project. Embedded postdoctoral candidates must have obtained their PhD or achieved equivalent qualifications, e.g., a positive assistant professorship evaluation (”adjunktbedømmelse”), within the last 4 years at the time of the application deadline. Periods of leave must be deducted (see section 5.3.5 in the thematic call for proposals). If a named postdoctoral candidate is a PhD student at the time of application, the application must include a declaration from the student’s supervisor, stating that the student is expected to submit the PhD thesis within 6 months after the application deadline. If the application includes requests for funding for unnamed PhD students and/or unnamed postdoc candidates, the application must include an account of the proposed recruitment process.

There must be a sufficiently balanced relationship between the roles of all listed project participants (scientific/academic staff, technical/administrative staff, and whether funded or not), and the concrete role of the participants must be accounted for and justified.