
New seal of approval to the University of Copenhagen
Top researchers from the University of Copenhagen have been awarded eight large grants from the European Research Council out of a total of ten grants given to Danish projects. This is the highest number ever for a Danish university and paves the way for several research projects beneficial to society.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen excel in the international competition for research funding. The European Research Council (ERC) has just disclosed the names of the recipients of the crucial ERC Consolidator Grants, which are given to outstanding scientists with projects of great promise. With eight grants awarded the University of Copenhagen’s researchers have received a record-high number totalling close to DKK 127 million. It is the highest number of ERC grants ever awarded to one Danish university, and a very significant part of the ten Consolidator Grants given to Danish research projects this year.
“Receiving ERC grants is one of the most spectacular seals of approval a university can achieve in Europe, and we’re very pleased that our researchers at the University of Copenhagen have attracted funds of this magnitude. It’s a consolation at a time of large-scale reductions in both education and research,” says Prorector for Research and Innovation, Thomas Bjørnholm.
From Big Data in healthcare to old genes
The list of recipients from the University of Copenhagen covers a wide range of research topics vital to science and society. The projects will shed light on topics ranging from the progression of cancer, the early development of the human gut and the biological development of the modern horse. A fourth project has the potential to change the way in which society deals with the mounting volume of citizen health data.

How can we manage the increasing collection of health data on citizens? One of the ambitious new projects aims to map out one of today’s major challenges and resources. Photo: Polfoto
Professor Klaus Høyer from the Department of Public Health is behind the project 'Policy, practice and patient experience in the age of intensified data sourcing,' which has been awarded nearly EUR 2 million. Together with eight other researchers, he will map out one of today’s major challenges and resources: health data.
“GPs, hospitals and psychologists are all increasingly collecting big data on citizens. And researchers, politicians and pharmaceuticals are all keen to use the data. But there is a wide range of potentially conflicting interests and legislation in this field because our understanding of the data collection is fragmented,” Professor Høyer says.
With the backing of the ERC grant, his research project now has the possibility of mapping practice and conditions of data collection and compare against similar data issues in other countries.
“We will be able to give the Danish academic environments that are using health data an empirically-based understanding of the data collection. This will make it possible to advise politicians, researchers and clinicians on the consequences of data collection, so that we can find the most optimal ways of managing this issue,” he says.
Contact
Director Kim Brinckmann
Research & Innovation
Mobile: 29 13 26 10
Mail: kim.brinckmann@adm.ku.dk
Chief Advisor Charlotte Autzen
Communications
Telephone: +45 2875 4264
Mail: chau@adm.ku.dk
Top three recipients this year
1. University of Oxford – 11
2. University College London – 9
3. University of Copenhagen – 8
With 17 grants, the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique formally tops the list, but is an association of research centres.
The eight recipients
- Ludovic Orlando, Natural History Museum of Denmark, SCIENCE
The makeup of the modern horse: a history of the biological changes introduced by human management
Amount: EUR 1.99 million - Søren Galatius, Department of Mathematical Sciences, SCIENCE
Moduli Spaces, Manifolds and Arithmetic
Amount: EUR 1.99 million - Mette Rosenkilde, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, HEALTH
Virus exploitation of human adhesion receptor
Amount: EUR 1.81 million - Janine Erler, Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC)
Matrix during cancer progression
Amount: EUR 1.99 million - Ellen Harlizius-Klück, HUMANITIES
A study of weaving as technical mode of existence
Amount: EUR 1.94 million - Kim Jensen, Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC)
Foetal Intestinal Stem Cells in Biology and Health
Amount: EUR 2 million - Marcus Thomas Pius Gilbert, Natural History Museum of Denmark, SCIENCE
Exploring and exploiting the potential of extinct genome sequencing
Amount: EUR 2 million - Klaus Høyer, Department of Public Health, HEALTH
Policy, practice and patient experience in the age of intensified data sourcing
Amount: EUR 1.97 million