Novo Nordisk Foundation Challenge Programme: Harnessing Biology for Climate-Resilient and Healthy Soils

Funding to support research aiming to enhance understanding of how biological factors influence and interact with physiochemical and other properties of soil to help prevent further soil degradation and enable the regeneration of healthy soils.

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 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 2026 Challenge Programme: Harnessing Biology for Climate-Resilient and Healthy Soils focuses on research to enhance fundamental understanding of how biological factors influence and interact with physiochemical and other properties of soil to prevent further soil degradation and enable the regeneration of healthy soils as a vital natural resource.

Proposals are sought for interdisciplinary research at technology readiness levels (TRL) 1 to 3, with a clear focus on soil health. Research outcomes will provide the scientific foundation for developing biotechnology- or nature-based solutions and should generate fundamental mechanistic insights that can inform solution development and guide future innovations. Projects are not expected to develop new technologies directly.

Advancing soil health solutions requires understanding how biological drivers like soil organic matter and nutrient cycling promote soil health functions, including carbon storage, water holding capacity, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, and resilience to abiotic stressors, such as resistance to physical degradation. The programme is aimed at fundamental research merging technical and/or ecological sciences with agronomy and/or soil science to understand how biological processes can improve soil health. Understanding these drivers could lead to sustainable bio-based solutions, improved soil management practices, and an accelerated green transition. Such insights are crucial for innovative soil management practices and decision support tools for farmers.

Research proposals could include, for example:

• Exploring how biological processes enhance soil health and resilience against climate fluctuations, including patterns and principles defining healthy soil biogeochemistry.
• Examining the impact of soil functional biodiversity on overall soil health.
• Investigating soil-microbe-plant interactions to enhance soil carbon content and water-holding capacity.
• Investigating the role of soil biotic components, such as microbiomes, foodwebs, fauna, and viruses, and their interactions with minerals, water, and greenhouse gases.
• Developing modelling and data-driven approaches to predict soil ecosystem resilience for agricultural management based on interactions between soil biota, physiochemical properties, and climate factors.

Field experimentation and model development to understand and predict mechanistic processes are encouraged. Novel biotechnologies or other emerging technologies for improving, assessing, or predicting soil health can be included.