Independent Research Fund Denmark

The Independent Research Fund Denmark, until 2017 known as the Danish Council for Independent Research (Danish: Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond, formerly Det Frie Forskningsråd; DFF)^[1] of Denmark funds basic research and gives advice to government and parliament. The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (DASTI) oversees its activity. As of 2012 the council has five sub-councils: Humanities, Medical Sciences, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Technology and Production Sciences.^[2]

Mission

Independent Research Fund Denmark funds basic research within all scientific areas in a bottom-up manner, i.e. it funds ideas based on the researchers' own initiatives, as opposed to through thematic calls. Research projects which improve the quality and internationalisation of Danish research are prioritised, and the main funding criterion is scientific excellence. The DFF annually awards around 400 research projects of well over 1 billion DKK.^[3]

Organisation

As of 2005, the Danish Research Agency (est. 2004) coordinates the DFF as well as the Danish Council for Strategic Research and the Danish Research Coordination Committee.^[4] Independent Research Fund Denmark consists of a Board of Directors, with nine members, and of five scientific research councils:^[5]

Humanities, which covers basic research within all branches of culture, aesthetics, languages, history, and theory of cognition
Natural Sciences, which covers the natural sciences, computer science and mathematics
Medical Sciences, which covers basic scientific, clinical and socio-medical research in relation to human health and disease
Social Sciences, which covers research within economy, sociology, political science, legal theory, and socio-scientific aspects of cross-disciplinary themes
Technology and Production Sciences, which covers basic research within technology and production sciences

Funding schemes

As of 2021, the DFF has following major funding schemes, along with some smaller ones:^[6]

Sapere Aude: DFF-Starting Grant, aimed at funding top researchers to build a research group of researchers to carry out research at a high, international level, similarly to the ERC Starting Grant scheme
Research Project 1 and 2, which fund clear and well-defined research questions. They differ in size: Project 1 supports one applicant, whereas Project 2 supports collaborative projects.
International Postdoctoral Grant, to fund young researchers for research stays outside of Denmark

Other

The council signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities in November 2011.^[7] In 2014 the DFF initiated a controversial "experimental one-year government research-funding scheme specifically for women."^[8]

References

^ Ove W. Dietrich (3 July 2017), Danmarks Frie Forkningsfond (in Danish), Det Store Danske, retrieved 3 April 2021
^ "Danish Council for Independent Research: Scientific Research Councils". Fi.dk. Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation. Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
^ "Mission". Independent Research Fund Denmark. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
^ Sang-Chul Park; Seong-Keun Lee (2005). "The innovation system and regional growth strategy in Denmark". AI & Society. 19 (3): 292–308. doi:10.1007/s00146-005-0335-4.
^ "Board of directors and five councils". Independent Research Fund Denmark. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
^ "Overview of instruments". Independent Research Fund Denmark. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
^ "Berlin Declaration: Signatories", Openaccess.mpg.de, Munich: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, retrieved 17 July 2018
^ Darach Watson; Jens Hjorth (12 March 2015). "Denmark: Women's grants lost in inequality ocean". Nature. 519. doi:10.1038/519158d. PMID 25762273. YDUN