A new research programme has seen the light of day, and for the first time, the Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded grants within it. The programme is called 'NERD', which stands for New Exploratory Research and Discovery, and the ambition behind the programme is to enable pioneering new research in the scientific and technical disciplines.

The programme is aimed at ambitious, dedicated researchers who prioritise pursuing their own creative ideas in the laboratory and want to maintain focus on a topic over a long period of time in order to generate new original knowledge.

A total of eight researchers are the first successful grant recipients within this programme.

At Aarhus University...

...lecturer Alexander Zelikin from the Department of Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) receives DKK 13.5 million for the project "Signalling and internalising receptor mimics".

The project aims to develop artificial chemical receptors as functional mimics of natural signalling and internalizing receptors and in doing so address the fundamental challenge of receptor mimicry. Results of this study will establish a platform for diverse applications such as cell-based production in biomedicine and biotechnology.

A total of eight grants of between DKK 10 and 13.7 million have been awarded for projects that run for up to seven years. The selection criteria and the long perspective of the projects help make the NERD grants something special,

Read more about the new research programme at the Novo Nordisk Foundation here. 

Read the press release by the Novo Nordisk Foundation on the  here.

Contact:

Associate Professor Alexander Zelikin
Department of Chemistry
Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO)
Aarhus University
Email: zelikin@chem.au.dk
Phone: +4587155906