Current Status — Programme Active; Autumn 2026 Round Closed
Verified 2 October 2026: Innovation Fund Denmark’s Industrial Researcher programme remains active for Industrial PhD and Industrial Postdoc projects. The autumn 2026 public-sector Industrial Postdoc call opened on 4 August 2026 and closed on 8 September 2026. Innovation Fund Denmark states that Industrial Researcher deadlines are set on an ongoing basis. Applicants should use the current Industrial Researcher page and e-grant for the next live call rather than assume an always-open application window.
Denmark · Industrial Researcher · Autumn 2026
Innovation Fund Denmark’s Industrial Researcher programme currently accepts autumn 2026 applications for Industrial PhD and Industrial Postdoc projects. These are not stand-alone fellowships for individual applicants. They are collaborative research projects built around a company or eligible public organisation, a university or research institution, and a research candidate where one has already been identified.
Deadline is close: the current autumn 2026 calls close on 8 September 2026 at 12:00 noon. Applicants should use the exact call displayed in e-grant and should not rely on an older spring 2026 deadline or on a predicted future round.
Terminology: CareerAidHub users may search for these opportunities as “Innovation Fund Denmark PhD and postdoctoral fellowships,” but the official programme calls them Industrial PhD and Industrial Postdoc projects. They are employment-linked collaborative research projects, not conventional personal scholarships.
1 Innovation Fund Denmark Industrial Researcher at a Glance
| Funding organisation | Innovation Fund Denmark |
|---|---|
| Programme | Industrial Researcher |
| Main routes | Industrial PhD and Industrial Postdoc |
| Core model | Collaborative research between a company/public organisation, a university or research institution and a research candidate |
| Candidate employment | Candidate is employed under the project rather than receiving a stand-alone personal scholarship |
| Autumn 2026 deadline | 8 September 2026 at 12:00 noon |
| Application language | Danish, English or a combination of the two |
| Application platform | e-grant |
| Last verified |
2 Which Industrial Researcher Calls Are Open?
The official Industrial Researcher page currently lists autumn 2026 application routes for both Industrial PhD and Industrial Postdoc projects.
Private and public-sector routes
Current calls include Industrial PhD projects involving eligible private companies and a public-sector route. Separate Industrial PhD calls are also listed for eligible projects involving Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Deadline: 8 September 2026 at 12:00 noon .
Private and public-sector routes
The autumn round includes Industrial Postdoc opportunities involving private-sector companies and eligible public-sector organisations.
Deadline: 8 September 2026 at 12:00 noon .
Select the correct call in e-grant. A private-sector application should not be submitted under a public-sector call, and vice versa. Innovation Fund Denmark specifically identifies applying under the wrong call as a common application problem.
3 How the Industrial Researcher Partnership Works
The programme is built around a research problem that matters to an organisation and is strong enough to meet academic research standards.
Industrial PhD structure
An Industrial PhD combines employment in a company or eligible public organisation with enrolment in a PhD programme.
The candidate divides working time between the organisation and the university, while the project must include significant high-quality research and business or public-sector relevance.
Industrial Postdoc structure
An Industrial Postdoc is a research project for a researcher at post-PhD level. The candidate works with the company or public organisation and collaborates with a research institution.
The research should produce both credible research outcomes and identifiable value for the organisation.
A named candidate is not always required at submission. The company and research partner can apply without a candidate. If a candidate-related condition is attached to an approved project, the partners normally have up to six months to identify and obtain approval for an eligible candidate.
This point changes how researchers should approach the programme. International applicants can pursue both partner-building before a call and candidate recruitment into an already approved project.
4 Industrial PhD Eligibility
The Industrial PhD candidate must have a project-relevant master’s-level education and satisfy the academic requirements in the current guidelines.
Danish qualifications
For Danish qualifications, the current guidelines specify a thesis/final-project grade of at least 10 and require either:
- a weighted bachelor’s and master’s average of at least 8.2 on the Danish 7-point scale; or
- a weighted two-year master’s average of at least 9.5.
Foreign qualifications
A candidate educated outside Denmark must hold a foreign master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree.
Foreign-degree rule: foreign candidates are normally required to document their relative academic position. The current guidelines use top 30% of the relevant cohort as the normal benchmark for bachelor and master’s study combined.
If the university does not issue class rankings, the candidate must document that the ranking cannot be obtained. The guidelines then provide an alternative route involving conversion of the foreign grades to the Danish 7-point scale.
The guidelines also contain limited exemption provisions for candidates who fall slightly below specified academic thresholds but can document qualifying compensatory achievements.
If you hold an Indian or other non-Danish degree, do not wait until the submission week to ask your university for ranking documentation. Obtaining a signed cohort-ranking letter—or proof that the institution does not provide ranking—can take time.
5 Industrial Postdoc Eligibility
An Industrial Postdoc candidate normally needs a PhD relevant to the proposed project.
PhD timing
The official programme states that the PhD degree should have been obtained no more than five years before the application deadline .
Research relevance
The candidate should have research experience relevant to the project, demonstrated through appropriate research outputs such as publications, patents or equivalent work.
Industrial Postdoc projects last between 12 and 36 months.
Candidates should not interpret the five-year PhD rule as a nationality restriction. The key issues are whether the candidate meets the research and degree requirements and whether the project has the required Danish company/public-organisation connection.
6 How Much Funding Is Available?
Company and university support
Up to DKK 17,000/monthContribution toward the Industrial PhD student’s salary for three years. The Fund may finance no more than 50% of the company’s eligible total project costs within the applicable limits.
- Up to DKK 100,000 for eligible student travel and qualifying course activity.
- DKK 360,000 including overhead as the fixed university grant.
- For a qualifying host university outside Denmark, the current guidelines allow up to DKK 122,000 additional support for specified travel and accommodation.
Company and research-institution support
Up to DKK 22,000/monthContribution toward the Industrial Postdoc’s salary.
- Up to DKK 2,500 per month toward eligible travel activity.
- Up to DKK 10,000 per month, including overhead, for eligible research-institution project expenses.
The grant is not the candidate’s full salary. For both routes, the candidate is employed and the organisation remains responsible for the employment relationship and costs beyond the Fund’s contribution.
Minimum salary principle
The current Industrial PhD guidelines state that the student’s total salary plus pension must at least correspond to the level for state-employed PhD fellows.
For Industrial Postdocs, the official programme states that total salary plus pension must at least correspond to a university-employed postdoc, although the candidate and employer may negotiate higher terms.
Expenses that are not automatically covered
The programme does not simply reimburse every project expense. For example, the PhD company is responsible for other project expenses such as equipment, materials and data collection beyond the eligible grant categories. Personal equipment such as a laptop or mobile phone is also a company responsibility.
7 Research Themes and Eligible Project Areas
Innovation Fund Denmark’s current Industrial Researcher material identifies major thematic areas while also allowing relevant non-theme-specific applications in the applicable calls.
Industrial PhD themes
- Green research, technology and innovation
- Life science, health and welfare technology
- Critical and digital technologies
- Space technology
Industrial Postdoc themes listed by the programme
- Green research, technology and innovation
- Life science, health and welfare technology
- Digitalisation, technology and innovation
- Space technology
The current Industrial PhD guidelines also provide a non-theme-specific route for projects that genuinely fall outside the four thematic areas, including potentially humanities or social-science research. Applicants must explain why such a project does not fit one of the thematic areas.
A project should therefore not be forced artificially into a theme. The stronger approach is to choose the call and thematic category that accurately reflects the research problem and its intended impact.
8 Current Autumn 2026 Deadline
Deadline: 8 September 2026 at 12:00 noon.
The current autumn calls opened on 4 August 2026.
Innovation Fund Denmark sets Industrial Researcher deadlines through individual application rounds. There is therefore no single permanent annual date that should be reused in future versions of this article.
After the autumn 2026 deadline passes, this page should be updated to show the call as closed unless Innovation Fund Denmark has formally published another active application round.
9 What Should the Project Team Prepare?
The application consists of the e-grant form and the required supporting material. Exact requirements depend on the project route and whether a candidate has already been named.
Core project information
- Project title and project period
- Selected thematic area or justification for the relevant route
- Project abstract
- Company or public-organisation information
- University or research-institution information
- Objectives and success criteria
- Research state of the art and project description
- Research questions, methods and project structure
- Timeline and division of partner roles
- Dissemination and publication plan
- Commercial significance or public-sector usefulness
- Budget and relevant financial information
Industrial PhD candidate documents, when a candidate is named
- Candidate CV within the current page/character limits
- Complete bachelor’s and master’s degree certificates
- Transcript if the relevant degree is not yet completed
- Danish grade-calculation documentation where applicable
- Foreign cohort-ranking documentation, or the alternative documentation required when ranking is unavailable
Supervisor documentation
Current Industrial PhD rules require CV documentation for the company supervisor, company co-supervisor and university supervisor, together with the required signatures.
A formally incomplete application can be rejected without academic assessment. The project team should therefore work from the current e-grant form and current 7 July 2026 guidelines, rather than reusing a document set prepared for an older call.
10 How to Apply through e-grant
- Identify whether the project belongs to the Industrial PhD or Industrial Postdoc route and whether the organisation is applying under a private- or public-sector call.
- Build the partnership between the company/public organisation and the university or research institution.
- Decide whether a candidate will be named in the application or recruited after conditional/approved funding.
- Develop the research problem, impact case, methodology, timeline and partner responsibilities jointly.
- Register the relevant project participants in e-grant.
- The company-side supervisor creates the application under the correct Innovation Fund Denmark call.
- Complete every required e-grant field and attach the current supporting documents.
- Review the call, theme, candidate eligibility, budget, signatures and formal requirements before submission.
- The company-side supervisor submits the final application through e-grant before the deadline.
A candidate does not submit the Industrial Researcher grant application independently. If you are a researcher seeking the scheme, your practical task is to join or help build an eligible project partnership.
11 How Are Industrial Researcher Applications Assessed?
Applications are assessed by the Industrial Researcher Committee, which makes recommendations to Innovation Fund Denmark. The Fund makes the final decision.
Quality of the idea
The assessors look at research novelty, state of the art, theoretical basis, research questions or hypotheses, methods and data.
Impact
The proposal should explain what the results can change for the organisation, including the route to business value or public-sector usefulness.
Quality in execution
The team must show that the project is feasible, well structured and supported by partners with the necessary competencies.
Partnership credibility
Roles, time allocation, supervision, implementation, dissemination and the candidate’s connection to both research and organisational environments should be convincing.
CareerAidHub reading: a proposal can be scientifically strong and still be weak for this programme if it never explains why the company or public organisation needs the research. Conversely, a business idea without credible research novelty and execution will also be weak.
Innovation Fund Denmark identifies several recurring problems, including a weak explanation of business significance, incomplete team competencies, use of the wrong call, poor thematic alignment and insufficient involvement of all partners in preparing the application.
12 What International Candidates Should Know
International nationality is not, by itself, a reason a candidate cannot participate. The programme’s structural requirement is that the relevant company or public organisation has the required Danish connection under the call.
Foreign Industrial PhD degree documentation
Prepare master’s-equivalence evidence and cohort-ranking documentation early. If ranking is unavailable, obtain written confirmation from the institution and follow the Fund’s alternative grade-conversion procedure.
University can be outside Denmark
The current Industrial PhD guidelines allow an officially approved university in Denmark or abroad to participate, provided the required supervision and PhD-school conditions are met.
The Fund’s English guidelines state that they are translations and that the Danish version is legally binding. Where a translation appears ambiguous, applicants should rely on the Danish call/guidelines or obtain clarification from Innovation Fund Denmark.
Researchers looking for other doctoral routes can compare CareerAidHub’s PhD opportunities , while PhD holders can explore current postdoctoral fellowships .
13 What Happens after Approval?
Innovation Fund Denmark communicates the decision through e-grant. Depending on the application, the project may be approved, conditionally approved or rejected.
Project start
A project cannot start before the relevant commitment/final approval has been issued. Approved projects normally need to start within six months of the grant commitment.
If no candidate was named
Where candidate recruitment is a condition of approval, the partners must identify an eligible candidate and submit the required candidate documentation within the permitted period.
Grant payment
The programme currently pays 85% of the relevant grants in advance after the required start-up documentation has been approved. The remaining 15% is linked to final accounting/reporting and, for Industrial PhD university funding, completion documentation specified by the Fund.
Approval of the grant does not remove the employment, PhD-enrolment, reporting, collaboration and financial obligations of the participating organisations.
14 CareerAidHub’s Practical Interpretation
1. Do not search for this like a normal scholarship
The Fund does not primarily ask: “Which student should receive a fellowship?” It asks whether a collaborative research project deserves investment.
2. Candidates have two entry routes
You can help build a proposal with a company and research institution before submission, or be recruited into an approved project where the candidate had not yet been named.
3. International PhD applicants have an extra documentation burden
Foreign degree equivalence and cohort-ranking evidence can become the practical bottleneck even when the research fit is otherwise strong.
4. Research quality and organisational value must be visible together
A proposal should not read like an ordinary academic PhD proposal with a company name added at the end. The organisation should have a genuine research need and a credible route to use the results.
Useful test before investing time: Can the team state, in a few sentences, what research question is new, why the organisation needs the answer, why these partners are necessary, and what changes if the project succeeds? If not, the partnership or project concept is probably not mature enough.
15 Final Pre-Submission Checklist
- We selected the correct Industrial PhD or Postdoc route
- We selected the correct private- or public-sector call
- The company/public organisation satisfies the geographic and organisational requirements
- The university/research institution can provide the required supervision
- The research problem is genuinely relevant to the organisation
- The research novelty and methods are clearly stated
- The project has a credible implementation and impact route
- Candidate eligibility has been checked if a candidate is named
- Foreign PhD-candidate ranking/degree documentation is ready where required
- Budget entries follow the current grant limits and eligible-cost rules
- Current supervisor and candidate documents have been attached
- Required signatures have been obtained
- All participants have reviewed the final proposal
- The company-side supervisor will submit in e-grant before 12:00 noon on 8 September 2026
16 Frequently Asked Questions
These answers focus on the distinctions most likely to affect whether a researcher or project team is actually eligible for the current Industrial Researcher round.
What is the deadline for Innovation Fund Denmark Industrial PhD and Postdoc applications?
The current autumn 2026 Industrial Researcher calls close on 8 September 2026 at 12:00 noon. The calls opened on 4 August 2026.
Can I apply directly as an individual PhD or postdoc candidate?
No. The Industrial Researcher application is a project application involving organisational partners. The company-side supervisor creates and submits the application in e-grant.
Does a candidate have to be identified before the project application is submitted?
Not always. Innovation Fund Denmark allows eligible project partners to apply without a named candidate. If the project is approved subject to candidate recruitment, the partners normally have up to six months to identify and obtain approval for a qualifying candidate.
Can an international candidate join an Industrial PhD?
Yes, provided the candidate and project meet the programme’s requirements. Foreign Industrial PhD candidates must satisfy the master’s-equivalence and academic-documentation rules, including cohort-ranking requirements or the relevant alternative procedure where ranking is unavailable.
Does the Industrial PhD grant pay the candidate’s entire salary?
No. Innovation Fund Denmark contributes up to DKK 17,000 per month toward the student’s salary for three years, subject to applicable limits. The company remains the employer and must meet the remaining employment and project costs.
How old can the PhD degree be for an Industrial Postdoc candidate?
The official programme states that the PhD should normally have been obtained within the previous five years at the application deadline, subject to the detailed provisions in the current guidelines.
Can the Industrial PhD university be outside Denmark?
Yes. The current Industrial PhD guidelines permit a university in Denmark or abroad if it is officially approved to conduct a PhD programme and can provide the required supervision. The guidelines also contain a specific additional travel and accommodation allocation for qualifying foreign host universities.
How are applications evaluated?
Innovation Fund Denmark assesses Industrial Researcher proposals under three main criteria: quality of the idea, impact, and quality in execution . The Industrial Researcher Committee assesses the applications and the Fund makes the final decision.
How long does Innovation Fund Denmark take to make a decision?
The Fund states that it generally aims for a processing period of about three months from the application deadline. The current Industrial PhD guidelines specify an aim of approximately 13 weeks, although cases can take longer.
Official Sources and Verification
Official programme: Innovation Fund Denmark Industrial Researcher
Current Industrial PhD guidelines: Industrial PhD Guidelines — effective 7 July 2026
Application system: e-grant
Last verified by CareerAidHub:
Status at verification: The autumn 2026 Industrial PhD and Industrial Postdoc calls were open, with an official deadline of 8 September 2026 at 12:00 noon .
Innovation Fund Denmark notes that its English guidance may be translated and that the Danish rules are legally binding where applicable. Call status, funding rules and deadlines can change. Applicants should therefore verify the live Industrial Researcher page and the exact e-grant call immediately before submission.
