The Children’s Book Publisher (Børnebogsforlaget)
Grantee: Jakob Lund Pedersen, Børnebogsforlaget
Amount: DKK 380,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2023
Geography: Denmark
“Danske Stjerner” (translated to Danish stars) is a series of children’s books about important Danish scientists. The series is for kids of aged 4-8 years. The books’ stories are illustrated, and their tales begin when the scientists are the same age as their young readers. They then follow the scientists into adulthood, exploring their lives and discoveries. The aim of the series is to increase children’s interest for science, and to inspire them through role models. So far, the series consists of eight published books, illustrating the lives of, amongst others, physicist Niels Bohr, seismologist Inge Lehmann, and astronaut Andreas Mogensen.
The grant is for DKK 380,000 and supports the publishing of four additional books to the series, including one about Morten Peter Meldal, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2022 for the development of “click chemistry”, and one about Elise Sørensen, creator of the colostomy bag, which today is used globally.
Visit The Children’s Book Publisher’s webpage
The Biology Olympiad (Biologiolympiaden)
Grantee: Kirsten Wøldike, Biologiolympiaden
Amount: DKK 100,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2023
Geography: Denmark
The Biology Olympiad (Biologiolympiaden) is an initiative which encourages education within biology and biotechnology. The Biology Olympiad is a Danish, nation-wide, online competition for high school students, where the 30 best students progress to the semi-final as well as a talent program – established in partnership with the University of Copenhagen (KU), Aarhus University (AU), University of Southern Denmark (SDU), and Technical University of Denmark (DTU). The talent program, which combines both theory and laboratory exercises, follows the young participants through a series of exercises within cell biology, biochemistry, physiology, ecology, genetics, and evolution. 15 students then progress to the final, and four national winners invited to participate in the international final with participants from 78 countries.
The grant for DKK 100,000 supports introductory exercises and training sessions, as well as travel andfor the four Danish winners invited to compete internationally in 2023. The international final will take place in the United Arab Emirates.
Visit the Biology Olympiad’s webpage
High5Girls
Grantee: Marianne Andersen, High5Girls
Amount: DKK 259,884
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2023
Geography: Denmark
High5Girls is a non-profit organization which works to inspire young women (ages 13-19) to take an education within the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Through camps, workshops, and hackathons, the aim is to strengthen women’s opportunities to create, think innovatively, and turn ideas into reality.
All events are free, and the focus is on solving real challenges. Mentors and role models are also women working within STEM, both from the academic world but also from within the industry.
The grant of DKK 259,884 is to help fund three STEM camps as well as three events for young women and their mothers. The project will create a safe space, where young women can learn about STEM, experiment, and learn through both successes and failures. The goal is also to strengthen the young participants’ self-esteems as well as belief in their own capabilities. Focus is placed on finding solutions for societal challenges through technology and science. Close collaboration with role models throughout hopes to provide inspiration for the young participants to choose an educational or career path within the STEM area.
YouTube influencer “Videnskabsmaria”
Grantee: Maria Jarjis
Amount: DKK 243,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2023
Geography: Denmark
Maria Jarjis is an influencer who goes by the name “Videnskabsmaria”, and has for the last six years run the YouTube channel “WTF is that?” (“WTF er det?”). Using engaging cases, Maria Jarjis fosters an awareness through her channel for the world of sciences, and she specifically targets a youthful demographic of viewers between the ages of 14-24 years – who can be challenging to reach through more the traditional media. The YouTube channel “WTF is that?” has 63,500 followers, and altogether, Maria Jarjis’ videos have been viewed over 22 million times.
The LEO Foundation’s grant of DKK 243,000 supports the production of five videos with a focus on skin and skin diseases. In the videos, Maria Jarjis will interview researchers and other experts. The videos will be released on the YouTube channel “WTF is that?” throughout 2023 and be publicly accessible to young viewers, as well as to anyone else with an interest within the area.
6th JSID Summer School (Aoba Juku)
Grantee: Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology
Amount: EUR 15,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2023
Geography: Japan
Since 2017, the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (JSID) has held a two-day event named Aoba Juku focused on attracting young medical doctors to science. Aoba is the Japanese word for fresh green leaves, representative of the young attendees who absorb energy and who grow rapidly.
The Summer School aims to train talented and enthusiastic young doctors as dermatological researchers. To further strengthen dermatological research activity in a clinical setting, it is an indispensable event for recruiting talented doctors to the field.
About JSID
The mission of the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (JSID) is to advance the position of dermatology in the interdisciplinary world and to enhance the quality of science and research presentations in dermatology for the purposes of maintaining healthy skin and further advancing the treatment of skin diseases.
Bloom Festival 2023-2025
Grantee: Svante Lindeburg, ABDC
Amount: DKK 1,650,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2022
Geography: Denmark
The Bloom Festival is celebrated annually and places a focus on acknowledging the wonders of nature and science – the festival is held each year in Søndermarken on Frederiksberg. The festival has existed since 2017, with the LEO Foundation offering funding support since 2019.
The festival is organized by ADBC, which has success in running other alike initiatives, such as the annual Golden Days festival. The annual Bloom Festival is a contribution to strengthening the landscape of STEM-initiatives in Denmark, and functions as an innovative event which aims to enlighten us on the universe, the world, and ourselves.
By uniting the best from the worlds of festivals and science, Bloom aims to tackle Life’s greatest questions through debates, talks, laboratories, conversations, and nature walks.
Astra activities 2023-2025
Grantee: Mikkel Bohm, Astra
Amount: DKK 12,000,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2022
Geography: Denmark
Astra has existed as an organization since 2015-2017 and was born out of a merger between Danish Science Factory, ‘Science Talenter’ and the publicly funded NTS-center (Det Nationale Center for Undervisning i Natur, Teknik og Sundhed). Astra defines its mission as to bring together relevant actors to progress and expand upon the quality and framing of the education of the natural sciences.
The LEO Foundation has previously supported numerous of Astra’s initiatives and activities, and with this grant, funding is dispersed between 3 of Astra’s largest programs: ‘Unge Forskere‘ (Young Scientists) an annual research-idea and talent competition for children and youths in elementary- and high -school with a passion for science and technology, ‘Big Bang‘ an annual science conference for professionals within teaching and communication of STEM and science topics, and ‘Science Talenter’ (Science Talents) which organizes science camps for the oldest pupils from elementary school as well as A-level students with a special interest in and talent for STEM-topics.
Formidling af sundhedsvidenskabelig viden på platformen lex.dk
Grantee: Lex.dk
Amount: DKK 1,000,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2022
Geography: Denmark
Lex.dk is an association formed by the Danish Universities, Gyldendal A/S, G.E.C. Gad’s Foundation and the Danish Society for Language and Literature, which was originally established around the online version of ‘Den Store Danske’, Gyldendal’s well-renowned encyclopedia. The encyclopedia focuses on nature, culture, science, and society with a national point of departure and a global outlook.
Lex.dk has become the go-to resource for dissemination of validated research information from many areas of expertise and is written by researchers and experts. The encyclopedia serves as an important source to the broader public, but rather importantly, also to pupils in elementary school and A-level students when compiling information for assignments and reports.
Lex.dk is unique in that there is no other encyclopedia source in Danish that provides a broad perspective on health and health sciences through focused articles. This grant supports updating and significantly expanding content on health and health research through collaboration with the Norwegian counterpart. This means that newly revised and well-researched information on will become available to the general Danish public online.
SID Resident and Post Doc Retreat
Grantee: Society for Investigative Dermatology
Amount: EUR 15,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2022
Geography: USA
The SID mission is to advance the sciences relevant to skin disease through education, advocacy and scholarly exchange of scientific information.
Unge Forskere (Young Scientists) 2022
Grantee: Mikkel Bohm, Astra
Amount: DKK 2,000,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2021
Geography: Denmark
Unge Forskere is the largest talent competition in Denmark within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Target group is students in primary school and high school.
Unge Forskere contributes to both talent development through participation in the competition and strengthens the work with innovation, idea development and the natural science method in daily teaching. Furthermore, it strengthens the natural science identity and the general science education among children and young people in Denmark.