New Act and changes to the fund’s calls in 2026

The legislative amendment introduces three changes affecting Independent Research Fund Denmark: a limitation on the number of applications per applicant, collaboration with other foundations on calls for proposals for thematic funding, and an extension of the strategy period.

From January 2026, Independent Research Fund Denmark will begin implementing the legislative amendment. It is important to the fund that the implementation is carried out in a proper and transparent manner. Therefore, over the coming months the fund will continuously publish a series of news items on the consequences of the legislative amendment that will be of relevance to applicants.

On 11 December 2025, the Danish Parliament adopted the bill amending the Act on the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy and Independent Research Fund Denmark. The Act was initiated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science and introduced in the Danish Parliament by the Minister for Higher Education and Science, Christina Egelund.

The changes affect when and how frequently you can apply to Independent Research Fund Denmark. The specific limitations that will apply to you as an applicant are set out in the Executive Order on the Grant Administration (Bekendtgørelse om bevillingsfunktionen m.v. under Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond).

Going forward, you may submit only one application per year.

If you have previously submitted more than one application to the fund in the same year, you must in future choose which funding call you wish to apply for. In recent years, approximately one in four applicants has submitted more than one application per year.

If you have two or more active grants from Independent Research Fund Denmark, you will not be eligible to apply. Currently, approximately 200 researchers hold two or more active grants from the fund. Once you again have only one active grant, you may submit an application to the fund.

The legislative amendment was adopted shortly before Christmas 2025. Prior to its adoption, the bill was subject to a public consultation involving a number of authorities, institutions and organisations, etc. from 23 June 2025 to 21 August 2025. Independent Research Fund Denmark was not able to inform applicants about the legislative amendment or its consequences until the Act had been adopted by the Danish Parliament. The fund therefore begins informing about the changes now. The Ministry of Higher Education and Science was the responsible authority for managing the process leading up to the adoption of the Act by the Danish Parliament.

Yes. The bill was circulated for public consultation among a number of authorities, institutions and organisations, etc. from 23 June 2025 to 21 August 2025. Most universities submitted consultation responses, and a number of other research institutions and organisations also made use of this opportunity. On the basis of the consultation responses, the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science adjusted the Act so that the limitation on applications from active grant holders applies to applicants with two or more grants – and not to applicants with one active grant, as set out in the original Act.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Science has assessed that there was a need to amend the Act on Independent Research Fund Denmark. Since the fund was given a new Act in 2017, the volume of applications has increased by 87 per cent, while funding has not increased to the same extent. As a result, many applicants submit applications to the fund that do not receive funding. At the same time, the fund’s reviewers and secretariat spend significant resources processing a large number of applications that are rejected. Some of the applications received by the fund come from applicants who submit multiple applications in the same year (often the same application to different funding instruments), or who already hold several active grants from the fund. On this basis, the Ministry has assessed that it is appropriate to limit the number of applications an applicant may submit, as well as to restrict the possibility for further applications from active grant holders with two or more grants from the fund.

The purpose of the amended Act is to support the fund’s success rates not declining further, so that the fund can award grants to applications at least to the same extent as before (in percentage terms), and to simplify the fund’s administration of applications. The Act also entails an extension of the fund’s strategy period by one year, changing the strategy from covering a three-year period to a four-year period.

The Act amending the Act on the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy and Independent Research Fund Denmark took effect on 1 January 2026. 

The detailed rules on restrictions on applications and the imposition of quarantine periods are set out in the Executive Order on the Grant Administration (Bekendtgørelse om bevillingsfunktionen m.v. under Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond), which entered into force on 27 March 2026.

The specific criteria for imposing quarantine periods will be determined by the fund during 2026. The fund expects to introduce quarantine periods in the calls for proposals for 2027. It is not yet clear whether the criteria will apply to all target groups and funding instruments, but this will be specified in the calls for proposals once quarantine periods are implemented.

What is currently known is that, under the Act, you as an applicant may be subject to a quarantine period if your application is of a quality far below the threshold for consideration of funding, or if your scientific qualifications are otherwise assessed as being insufficient. The Act further provides that a quarantine period may be imposed for up to two years from the date on which the decision to impose the quarantine period is taken.

Independent Research Fund Denmark now has the legal basis to collaborate with other foundations on the allocation of politically prioritised funding, for example politically defined thematic areas, and thus not on the fund’s independent funding. The fund will enter into relevant collaborations where this is deemed appropriate with the purpose of strengthening a politically prioritised area. The fund will consider potential collaborations on an ad hoc basis and in response to specific approaches from other foundations.

As an applicant, you may submit one application per year to Independent Research Fund Denmark across all funding calls. If you wish to apply for funding in 2026, you must therefore choose which instrument or thematic call you want to apply for.

If you submit a new application before the end of the year after having already applied at an earlier application deadline in the same year, your new application will be rejected without assessment on the merits.

You cannot apply to Independent Research Fund Denmark for funding if, at the time of application, you hold two or more active grants from the fund. This applies to all DFF grants, regardless of funding instrument. If you have two or more active grants from DFF, you may only apply for funding for a new research project once at least one of the two projects has been completed, so that you have a maximum of one active grant from the fund. A grant is considered completed once both the final academic report and the final financial report have been approved. You will receive a completion confirmation once your grant case has been closed.

If you submit an application while holding two or more active grants from the fund at the time of application, the application will be rejected without assessment on the merits.

Applications for, and grants to, NordForsk projects that have been co-funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) and are administered by NordForsk are not covered by the restrictions on the number of applications and grants. Applications to, and grants funded and administered by, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) under the bilateral agreement between DFF and SNSF are likewise not counted.

Your grant from the fund is defined as an active grant from the starting date applied-for. The grant is regarded as active from that date, even if a postponement of the start date is subsequently requested.

Example: You have an active grant that expires at the end of 2027, and you have just been awarded another grant in spring 2026 with 1 September 2026 as the starting date applied-for. You will therefore have two active grants from 1 September 2026 until the first grant, which expires at the end of 2027, has been closed (i.e. once both the final scientific report and the final financial statement for the grant have been approved).

Yes, you can. The new restrictions apply only to the applicant, meaning the researcher who submits the application and who is responsible to the fund in the event of a grant being awarded.

You may therefore submit your own application (where you are the applicant), while also participating in another researcher’s application to Independent Research Fund Denmark, for example as a Co-PI (in the case of an application to a thematic call) or as a project participant.

No. As an applicant, it is your responsibility to decide whether to seek funding for your project from multiple funding bodies at the same time.

If you receive full or partial funding for the project from another source, you are required to notify DFF within 14 days. If your project has received full funding from another fund, you cannot at the same time receive funding for the same project from Independent Research Fund Denmark, as the fund does not provide double funding for research projects. If you have received partial funding for your project, you must submit a statement to the fund describing the extent to which there is thematic and/or activity-based overlap between the two projects, and which budget items have been covered by the other funding source and must therefore be deducted from any potential grant from Independent Research Fund Denmark.

No. As an applicant, it is your responsibility to comply with the formal requirements of the call so that your application can be assessed on its merits. If your application is rejected due to failure to meet one or more formal requirements, you may not submit a new application until the following year. You can find the list of formal requirements in section 7 of the call to which you intend to apply.

As you may only submit one application per year to Independent Research Fund Denmark, one of your applications will be rejected without assessment on the merits. If, despite the restriction, you submit two applications to the same deadline, you will be asked to choose which of the two applications you wish to retain.

No. As an applicant, you must choose which funding instrument or theme you wish to apply for. It is not possible to submit a new application to another call if you withdraw your original application.

For this reason, Independent Research Fund Denmark has published an overview at the beginning of the year showing the funding opportunities available in 2026. This ensures that applicants have the best possible basis for deciding which call to apply for.

It is up to you as an applicant to assess where your application fits best – this is unchanged from previous years. Unfortunately, the secretariat does not provide guidance on academic matters, and you must therefore assess by yourself which call or funding instrument best matches your original research idea. You can see the current funding opportunities here.

If you are interested in seeing success rates for the different research councils and committees, as well as for funding instruments and thematic areas in previous years, you can find more information in the fund’s annual reports or the overview available under each instrument or theme on the website.

Due to the amended act, it is important to be aware that you may submit only one application per year. You must therefore choose which call or funding instrument to apply to. Once you have submitted your application, you are not permitted to submit further applications in the same year. If you do so, those applications will be rejected.