Novo Nordisk Foundation Challenge Programme 2027: Harnessing Novel Earth-Abundant Materials for Sustainable Technologies

Funding over a maximum of six years to support collaborative interdisciplinary research projects aiming to develop novel materials for sustainable technologies that exploit the properties of Earth-abundant elements.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF – Novo Nordisk Fonden) is an independent Danish foundation that oversees the commercial and research activities of the companies within the Novo Group. NNF contributes around DKK 5 billion each year for scientific research and humanitarian and social purposes. Its grant programme focuses mainly on Denmark and the Nordic countries, but also includes funding for international collaboration, strategic international initiatives and awards for outstanding researchers.

NNF has established the Challenge Programme to provide support for Danish and European researchers conducting collaborative projects within areas of strategic priority that align with the Foundation’s Research Strategy. The goal is to develop innovative solutions to major scientific challenges, supporting leading researchers to form a consortium united by a clear vision and mission. Challenge programme grants offer substantial funding over several years to encourage and facilitate research with scientific depth and focus and facilitate collaboration and synergy between research partners.

The 2027 Challenge Programme ‘Harnessing Novel Earth-Abundant Materials for Sustainable Technologies’ is seeking to support interdisciplinary research collaborations to develop novel materials for sustainable technologies that exploit the properties of Earth-abundant elements – aiming to match or exceed the performance of those that rely on rare or critical resources.

The objective is to investigate the potential for Earth-abundant materials to provide a sustainable alternative to scarce or hard to source resources in modern technology applications, reducing environmental footprint and encouraging responsible and economical technological progress.

Research projects suitable for support could include, for example:

• Study of novel Earth-abundant materials for quantum technologies.
• Utilise Earth-abundant materials for novel energy storage systems.
• Discover and test cost-effective and sustainable materials for catalytic processes.
• Explore the use of Earth-abundant materials in semiconductors and other electronic components, promoting sustainable processes and alternatives to traditional materials.

Proposals are sought for interdisciplinary research collaboration between materials science, chemistry, engineering, data-science, and physics that targets fundamental material discovery and synthesis of Earth-abundant materials with unique properties for sustainable technologies or development of novel applications based on scalable and abundant materials.

Research must be interdisciplinary and fall within technology readiness levels (TRL) 1-3, with a clear focus on fundamental material discovery, synthesis, and characterisation of Earth-abundant materials. NNF encourages high-risk approaches and strongly values the integration of experimental methods with modelling and a machine learning or data science component.

Techno-economic analysis and environmental sustainability impact assessment cannot be the primary focus of the proposal, but can be integrated, where relevant, in particular where it pertains to evaluating the perspectives for societal applicability and commercial potential. Proposals limited to theoretical approaches and modelling will not be prioritised.