Photo: DTU

EUR 4.7 million to radical research ideas

Villum Fonden supports 53 new research ideas in their Villum Experiment programme. 18 grants were awarded to DTU researchers.

The 53 experiments receiving a total of EUR 13.5 million were selected from more than 400 applications. All applications have been through an anonymous selection process where 15 international judges assessed the research ideas—without the possibility of looking at the researchers’ CVs or academic merits, according to a Villum Fonden press release.

The method has been selected in order to sharpen the focus on the research idea and to allow researchers to come up with new ideas regardless of their previous academic merits.

The 18 projects will receive a total of approximately EUR 4.7 million from DTU—between EUR 200,000-270,000 each. 13 of the projects are spearheaded by researchers with a background other than Danish, including researchers from Taiwan, Romania, Croatia, India, and China.

The research projects span 12 DTU departments and centres and cover a wide range of topics, including optically guided micro-robots, multiresistant bacteria, 3D printing, ultrasound manipulation of nanoparticles, antibiotic resistance—and whether unattractive body odour can explain the demise of neanderthals. See the complete list of beneficiaries and projects at the bottom.

According to Villum Fonden, the Villum Experiment was created for technical or scientific research projects that challenge norms and have the potential to fundamentally change the way we approach key issues.

“VILLUM FONDEN would like to help create room for radical and innovative research that has the potential to fundamentally change the way we approach key issues. Perhaps you have a crazy idea that you are afraid to talk about, or that challenges the recognized research, or does not fit into the ideas of the usual funds. Our anonymous selection process and willingness to take risks open the doors for crazy ideas and alternative approaches,” says Thomas Bjørnholm, Director of Science at Villum Fonden.

This is the second time that Villum Fonden has awarded grants through the Villum Experiment.

Name Occupation Nationality Institute Project title
Ada-Ioana Bunea Postdoc RO Fotonik BioBots: Optically controlled microrobots for precise manipulation of biological samples
Andreas Jensen Senior Researcher DK Nutech Dual-targeted Auger radiotherapy against multiresistant bacteria
Arghya Bhowmik Researcher IN Energy Deep Learning Enhanced Density Functional Theory (DFT) Simulation for Millions of Atoms (DeepDFT)
Arnaud Dechesne Senior Researcher FR Miljø Plasmid-specific bacteriophages to fight antibiotic resistance spread in the environment (P-PhanFARE)
Binbin Zhou Senior Researcher
CN Fotonik Handshaking between THz and hard x-ray: forging the key to zeptosecond science
Carsten Jers Researcher DK Biosustain Non-enzymatic Ser/Thr/Tyr phosphorylation: a new player in bacterial protein phosphorylation?
Elisabetta Maria Fiordaliso Postdoc IT Danchip Aim, shoot and dope! Electron-beam doping of semiconductor nanowires
En Te Hwu Associate Professor TW Nanotech Micro/Nanoscale 3D Printing: Hacking a Blu-ray Player
Henrik Bruus Professor DK Fysik Breaking the small-size barrier: Ultrasound manipulation of suspended nanoparticles

Henrik Toft Simonsen

Læs mere om projektet

Associate Professor DK Bioengineering Did chemosensorial incompatibility doom our sister-species?
Holger Koss Associate Professor DE Byg Optimised constructions using semi-automated designing and manufacturing tools for minimum resource consumption
Ivan Mijakovic Professor HR Biosustain Anti-ribosome
Ivana Konvalinka Assistant Professor  CA Compute Enhancing social interaction through real-time two-brain imaging
Johan Kronholm Senior Researcher SE Kemiteknik WATERSTRUC: Structured Water and its Implications for Biology, Chemistry and Physics
Jon Ashley Postdoc GB Nanotech Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT) Mediated Synthesis of Protein Binding Aptamers
Marlene Mark Jensen Senior Researcher DK Miljø MAGPI - The use of MAGnetic bacteria for inorganic Phosphate recovery from Impaired waters
Vincenzo Esposito Professor IT Energy Defective metal oxide giant electrostrictors for a new design of polymer-supported fast adaptive optical lens
Xiaowei Guan Postdoc CN Fotonik On-Chip Hybridization with Light-Emitting Diodes: a New Engine for Silicon-Based Photonic Integrated Circuits?