27 February 2024

The LEO Foundation introduces two new grant programs – Research Networking Grants and LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers – to enable collaboration and knowledge exchange amongst skin researchers, and across institutions and borders.

With two new grant programs, the LEO Foundation will support research visits to and from Danish institutions and international networking initiatives respectively. The LEO Foundation has maintained a long-standing commitment to funding leading skin research and now extends its strategic focus to also support catalyzing a strong and thriving skin research ecosystem.

Whilst Research Networking Grants will support conferences, meetings, symposia, and workshops open to international skin research networking, LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers will fund research visits – either for skin researchers based in Denmark wishing to visit an institution abroad or for international scientists wishing to visit a Danish institution.

The two new grant instruments both open for applications today, 27 February 2024.

LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers – for research visits to and from Danish institutions

LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers are available to skin scientists who desire a change in research environment for an extended period. The grants provide international and collaborative opportunities for skin researchers, awarding up to DKK 2 million per grant.

With the new program, the LEO Foundation hopes to stimulate the exchange of ideas, knowledge, methodology, and technology across institutions and borders, as Chief Scientific Officer at the LEO Foundation Anne-Marie Engel describes in more detail:

“We hope that the LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers will help to nourish the skin research ecosystem by encouraging international collaborations amongst researchers, fostering new insights into the skin and skin diseases, and establishing Denmark as a hub for the exchange of knowledge and research talent.”

Anne-Marie Engel, Chief Scientific Officer at the LEO Foundation

The funding program is available to all researchers at postdoc level or above. For early-career researchers, this means an excellent opportunity to obtain new knowledge, immerse oneself in a new and foreign research environment, and develop professional capabilities and network. For more established researchers, it offers the additional benefit of face-to-face collaborations, hands-on research, and a chance to discover and rekindle inspiration in a different setting to one’s usual research environment.

LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers

Grants of up to DKK 2 million for research visits to and from Danish institutions

LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers are awarded in open competition and can be up to DKK 2 million per grant – with the program opening biannually for applications. Research visits can be uninterrupted or divided into a series of visits of which one must be at least 3 months.

LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers open for applications today, 27 February 2024. The round closes on 10 April 2024 (4pm CEST).

Read more about eligibility criteria and the evaluation process here.

Research Networking Grants – for international conferences, meetings, symposia, and workshops

Research Networking Grants support networking initiatives open to international participation. The new program funds skin-focused research conferences, meetings, symposia, and workshops for scientists, aiming to encourage the exchange of knowledge across the international skin research ecosystem. A Research Networking Grant can be up to DKK 500,000. Anne-Marie Engel explains her hopes for the new grant instrument:

“We are very excited to launch the Research Networking Grants program. International events and meetings are undoubtedly important venues for key knowledge sharing, network building, and for sparking researcher collaborations. These are all an important part of a strong skin research community, as the interplay between different researchers’ expertise and ambitions can often inspire new and important insights. This is what we hope to enable with our Research Networking Grants.”

Anne-Marie Engel, Chief Scientific Officer at the LEO Foundation

Research Networking Grants

Grants of up to DKK 500,000 for international conferences, meetings, symposia, and workshops

Research Networking Grants can be applied for in open competition and can be up to DKK 500,000 per grant for networking initiatives open to international participation.

Eligible applicants are organization representatives or individuals who are the primary organizer of a topic-centered and research-based international conference, meeting, symposium, or workshop with a main focus on the skin or skin diseases.

Only non-commercial and widely publicized events will be supported by the program and initiatives should contain opportunities for younger researchers to present their work.

Calls for applications will open biannually. Research Networking Grants open for applications today, 27 February 2024. The round closes on 10 April 2024 (4pm CEST).

Read more about eligibility criteria and the evaluation process here.

About the LEO Foundation

The LEO Foundation is one of the largest private funders globally of independent skin research. The Foundation provides philanthropic grants to support the best international research that pioneers new discoveries and transforms our understanding of the skin and its diseases. Over the past decade, the LEO Foundation has given more than DKK 1 billion in grants and awards to independent skin research – in Denmark and all over the world.