Current calls and posts
You can receive help with the administrative and economical aspects of applications, grants, contracts and collaboration agreements as a researcher at the School of Communication and Culture.
News
The Graduate School introduces four recruitment rounds for specific calls
If you, as a researcher, have received a grant that requires PhD fellowships to be advertised as open calls/in open competition, you now have the opportunity to announce the fellowships four times a year (instead of the previous twice a year).
The new deadlines:
| Draft for the call (form) incl. proof of funding: | 1 August 2025 | 1 December 2025 | 2 March 2026 | 29 June 2026 | 21 September 2026 |
| Announcement on the web: | 1 September 2025 | 11 December 2025 | 12 March 2026 | 9 July 2026 | 9 October 2026 |
| Application deadline: | 1 October 2025 | 1 January 2026 | 1 April 2026 | 15 August 2026 | 1 November 2026 |
| Earliest enrolment start: | 1 January 2026 | 1 April 2026 | 1 July 2026 | 1 November 2026 | 1 February 2027 |
Non-Danish candidates
When you choose an enrolment start date please be aware of the time between the offer is sent to the applicant and the expected enrolment start if the applicant comes from abroad. The offer is sent no later than a month before the enrolment start but the actual enrolment start date depends on how long it takes to process the residence and work permit for non-Danish candidates. They are not allowed to start until the permits are in place.
Summer holiday
If the PhD student is going to start during the summer (July/August) please make sure that there are people present at the department so that the PhD student is not left alone for 1-2 months after enrolment start.
- Note that this change is relevant to specific calls only. The open, faculty-financed calls and PhD fellowships will still be announced twice a year.
- Questions should be directed to Bettina Holmbo Achton from the Graduate School, Arts.
Changes to the ERC work programmes 2026 and 2027
We are awaiting a draft of the next ERC work program for 2026, which will contain some significant changes compared to last year’s work program. Changes both to the submission of applications and the evaluation of proposals will apply, see the news on ERC’s webpage.
There are delays in the preparation of the work program, which is why process plans for the Starting grant call and the Synergy grant call haven’t been announced yet. Detailed information about the StG and SyG grant will be available once the WP draft is received.
- Read more about the ERC calls.
Expected deadlines for the 2026 ERC work program:
| Call opens | Expected deadline | |
Starting Grant 2026 | 9 July 2025 | 14 October 2025 |
| Synergy Grant 2026 | 10 July 2025 | 5 November 2025 |
| Consolidator Grant 2026 | 25 September 2025 | 13 January 2026 |
| Advanced Grant 2026 | 28 May 2026 | 27 August 2026 |
Circle U.-mobility grant continues for 2025
With the Circle U. mobility grant for 2025 there is once again an opportunity to strengthen international cooperation within both education and research. The faculty management team has decided to continue the programme, so employees at Faculty of Arts can apply for grants for international trips. One can also apply for funding for a study trip for up to 50 students.
- Read more about Circle U. mobility grant. (DK only)
- For more information about the grant, refer to the Circle U. mobility grant 2024.
Support for Open Science: Journal Finder
To support researchers in publishing Open Access, the Royal Library has established Journal Finder, which aims to make it easier and more straightforward to identify journals covered by national licensing agreements for Open Access publishing. Try the service, which is free, here: https://pro.kb.dk/en/open-science/journal-finder
- If you have any questions about Open Access, you are very welcome to contact AU Library's Open Access support: oa@kb.dk
Do you process personal data in your research?
When collecting personal data as a researcher, you generally need to inform the relevant people (data subjects) that you are processing their personal data. This is called the information duty. The purpose of the information duty is to secure transparency for the data subjects about how you will process their personal data.
AU’s templates for information duty, scientific research purposes and informed consent have just been updated. You can find them here:
- Scientific research purposes
- Information duty
- Do you have any questions? Then you can contact the data protection coordinator at Arts, Louise Buchhave (lobu@au.dk).
Social security at the School of Communication and Culture
It is important to factor in social security – understood as the right to benefits such as parental leave and sickness benefits – when appointing international researchers with external grants if they are living and working in countries other than Denmark (including part time), as there could be significant costs associated with such appointments. The school is unable to cover social security costs for employees involved in externally funded projects. In such cases, the costs must be covered by the project, so it is important to take this into account when applying for external funding. Arts HR (in collaboration with Arts Finance) has offered to assist in calculating the costs of social security. The research consultants are responsible for inquiring about and verifying whether social security considerations are relevant when approving budgets. If you have any doubts about social security, you can always contact one of the school’s research consultants.
Workshops, webinars and masterclasses
DFF webinar
Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) invites you to participate in a webinar on the fund’s independent research funding instruments and application procedures. Learn about the funding opportunities with deadlines in autumn 2025 and spring 2026, and get answers to your questions about application process and what happens next.
The webinar will be held in English, and the office of DFF will answer questions after the presentation, as well as in the Q&A function during the presentation.
- Find out more and participate via. DFF’s website.
- Read the call in advance to get the most out of the webinar.
Date and time: 3 September 2025, 10:00–11:15 – online.
Do you have an idea for a school workshop?
We would be happy to hear from you, if you have any ideas for research-related workshops to be held at the school. Simply reach out to the research consultant with suggestions and wishes in this regard.
Explorative lunch meetings at the Faculty of Arts
Are you interested in exploring cross-disciplinary themes or issues with researchers from other faculties at AU? Have you got a new, untested, crazy, experimental or inspiring idea for a new angle on research collaboration between ARTS and the other AU faculties (HEALTH, BSS, NAT and TECH)? An explorative lunch meeting at the Faculty of Arts might be exactly what you’re looking for. The Faculty of Arts is inviting its researchers (assistant professors, associate professors and professors) to propose a variety of cross-disciplinary themes which could be explored at a series of lunchtime meetings in 2022 with a view to conducting a broad investigation of the cross-disciplinary potential in various new research ideas or fields. Proposals are welcome on an ongoing basis. You can read more about the procedure here.
Calls for applications
ERC Advanced Grant (AdG)
Notification deadline: 7 April 2025
Deadline: 28 August 2025
Are you an established, leading principal investigator who wants long-term funding to pursue a ground-breaking, ambitious project? The ERC Advanced Grant could be for you.
- Sign up by sending an email to ERC.FSE@au.dk.
Vienna Center for Advanced Studies
Deadline: 1 September 2025
The University of Vienna’s newly established Center for Advanced Studies (ViCAS) is dedicated to advancing innovative research in all fields, and encouraging dialogue that bridges academic disciplines, countries, and intellectual traditions. Each year, ViCAS offers up to ten Senior Fellowships and multiple Early Career Fellowships to international scholars from all academic fields who pursue ambitious, curiosity-driven projects, including those that transcend disciplinary boundaries.
ViCAS Senior Fellowship Programme, University of Vienna
Duration: 1 October 2026 – 30 June 2027
Eligibility & key features:
- Professorial or equivalent senior academic position
- Open to established international scholars from all academic disciplines
- Focus on interdisciplinary engagement and research
Funding: €7,000/month stipend and €1,500/month accommodation allowance
ViCAS Early-Career Fellowship Programme, University of Vienna
Duration: 1 October 2026 – 30 June 2027
Eligibility & key features:
- PhD completed within the past 8 years
- Open to researchers from all academic disciplines
- Focus on interdisciplinary, curiosity-driven research
Funding: €5,500/month stipend and €1,500/month accommodation allowance
For inquiries, please contact vicas@univie.ac.at
VELUX FONDEN: The value of voluntary social work 2025
Deadline: 1 September 2025 at 14:00
With this call, VELUX FONDEN invites actors from civil society or municipalities, in collaboration with researchers in the humanities and social sciences, to submit applications for projects in which researchers and practitioners together explore and shed light on the value of voluntary social work.
- Read more about the call (DK only)
Trygfondens research project support
Deadline: 1 September 2025
TrygFonden supports projects promoting safety, health, and well-being in Denmark, and which can solve challenges within one of Trygfondens goals and defined areas of interest:
- Children and youth
- Adults
- Elderly
- Safety, health, and well-being in everyday life
- Frameworks for safety, health, and well-being
Learn more about Trygfonden and Trygfondens goals (DK only), as well as information about the application and how to apply (DK only).
Budget help can be sought via academic coordinator Thor Fris Jespersgaard from Arts Economy.
Carlsberg Foundation grants autumn 2025
See the schools internal processes.
Join the Carlsberg Foundations webinar on the grants, sign up via. the link.
Grant | Amount | Deadline |
| Science Communcation | 200,000 - 3,000,000 DKK | 1 September 2025 at 16:00 |
| Carlsberg Mindelegat | 50,000 - 200,000 DKK | 1 September 2025 at 16:00 |
| Research Infrastructure | 300,000 DKK | 1 October 2025 at 16:00 |
| Semper Ardens Accelerate | Max. 7,000,000 DKK | 1 October 2025 at 16:00 |
| Semper Ardens Accomplish | 10,000,000-13,000,000 DKK | 1 October 2025 at 16:00 |
| Monograph Fellowships | 1 years salary + operating expenses | 1 October 2025 at 16:00 |
| Reintegration Fellowships | Full salary + operating expenses | 1 October 2025 at 16:00 |
| Publications | No max. | Running deadline. |
| Conferences | Max. 80,000 DKK | Running deadline. |
| Field Trips/Research Stays | Max. 100,000 DKK | Running deadline. |
| Field Trips/Research Stays | Over 100,000 DKK | 1 October 2025 at 16:00 |
Note, the following calls open in 2026: | ||
Industrial Researcher Call (Postdoc, PhD, and Innoexplorer) autumn 2025
Deadline: 2 September 2025 at 12:00 noon (except for Innoexplorer, which opens for applications 27 August – 24 September, 2025)
Innovation Fund Denmark supports Industrial Researcher projects that fall within the four thematic focus areas listed below, as well as projects outside of these focus areas:
- Green research, technology, and innovation
- Life science, health, and welfare technology
- Critical and digital technologies
- Space technology
In addition, the Innovation Fund will support Industrial PhD projects in Greenland and the Faroe Islands in autumn 2025.
If you are interested in applying, you can contact research consultant Line Gren.
See the individual calls below:
Industrial Postdoc in the Public Sector
The Innovation Fund invests in public-sector Industrial Postdoc projects that create new insights and practical value for organizations, strengthen the universities’ relationship with the public sector, and give the postdoc an opportunity to see their research applied in real-world contexts.
Industrial Postdoc in the Private Sector
An Industrial Postdoc project is a business-oriented research project conducted in collaboration between a private company in Denmark, a postdoc, and a research institution.
Industrial PhD in the Public Sector
The fund invests in public-sector Industrial PhD projects that generate new insights and practical value for organizations, strengthen the relationship between universities and the public sector, and give the PhD student a chance to see their research applied in practice.
Industrial PhD in the Private Sector
An Industrial PhD project is a business-oriented research project carried out in collaboration between a private company in Denmark, an Industrial PhD student, and a university.
Innoexplorer
Grants for maturing entrepreneurial ideas based on knowledge and research results from public Danish research and educational institutions and hospitals.
Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF): Thematic call on Arctic Research
Deadline: 3 September 2025 at 12:00
With this call, DFF aims to strengthen Arctic research and contribute to sustainable development in the Arctic through a greater understanding of climate change and its impact on biodiversity, ecosystems, cultural heritage, and living conditions in the Arctic. The research may, for example, focus on climate change, biodiversity, or social and cultural changes and conditions in Arctic communities. Applications must include collaboration between different research institutions and support capacity building in the Arctic, including a focus on the involvement of local populations and Indigenous peoples.
- Read the full call (pdf)
- For budget help, please reach out to Arts Finance/Thor Fris Jespersgaard, thor.jespersgaard@au.dk
- Please remember that if your project includes a named PhD student, a pre-qualification is needed (via Research Consultant Helle Breth Klausen, hbk@cc.au.dk)
- Remember to send the budget for approval via research consultant Helle Breth Klausen, hbk@cc.au.dk, by 20 August 2025.
Aarhus University Research Foundation (AUFF) grants, autumn 2025
See the schools internal processes.
| Grant | Amount | Deadline |
| NOVA | Small projects: 600,000 DKK (excl. overhead) Large projects: 2,500,000 DKK (excl. overhead) | 10 September 2025 at 12:00 |
| 200,000 DKK (excl. overhead) | 17 September 2025 at 12:00 | |
| 15,000DKK per month (excl. overhead) for up to 3 months | 17 September 2025 at 12:00 |
Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) grants, autumn 2025
See the schools internal processes.
Grant | Amount | Deadline |
| Explorative Network (FKK) | Up to 550,000 DKK (excl. overhead) | 10 September 2025 at 12:00 |
| Journals (FKK) | Up to 130,000 DKK evenly divided over 3 years | 10 September 2025 at 12:00 |
| Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader | Up to 4.4 million DKK (excl. overhead) | 7 October 2025 at 12:00 |
| DFF-Research Project2 | Between 2,500,000 and 4,400,000 DKK (excl. overhead) | 7 October 2025 at 12:00 |
| DFF-International Postdoctoral Grant | Up to 1,500,000 DKK | 6 November 2025 at 12:00 |
Partnership for Children’s Research 2025
Deadline: 16 September 2025
The Partnership for Children’s Research is now open to applications for research projects that contribute knowledge about the lives and development of children aged 0-6 years. Projects can apply for up to 6-8 million DKK, including overhead, depending on the focus area. The projects are expected to start in 2026.
For 2025, funding can be applied for within three focus areas:
- Organization, Leadership, and Framework Conditions – Research on how structures, organization, and leadership affect children's lives and the professional quality in early childhood education.
- Living Conditions of 0-6-Year-Old Children – A large survey of the living conditions of young children in Denmark, focusing on well-being, health, relationships, and daily life.
- Knowledge in Practice – Studies on how research and practice can enrich each other and strengthen pedagogical professionalism.
Currently the 2025 call is only available in Danish, for English refer to the 2024 call for now.
ERC Starting Grant (StG) and Synergy Grant (SyG)
Notification deadline: 30 June 2025
Expected deadlines: 14 October for StG and 5 November for SyG 2025
The Starting Grant is for researchers with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD. Applications can be made in any field of research and applicants may be awarded up to € 1.5 million for a period of 5 years.
The Synergy Grant is for researchers wanting to address a research problem so ambitious, they cannot deal with it alone. A group of two to maximum four Principal Investigators (PIs) can apply, and will work together, bringing different skills and resources to tackle research problems. Applications can be made in any field of research and applicants may be awarded up to € 10 million for a period of 6 years.
- There have been changes to the submission of applications and the evaluation of proposals, compared to last year’s work program. See the news on ERC’s webpage.
- To sign up for support from an RSO ERC advisor, send an email to ERC.FSE@au.dk by 30 June 2025.
MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025
Deadline for RSO support: 12 August 2025
Call deadline: 25 November 2025
The call for MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025 will be published 28 May 2025, but already now researchers planning to coordinate a MSCA Doctoral Network should begin the proposal preparation. Please see below for a short description of the instrument.
The Research Support Office support AU coordinators of MSCA Doctoral Networks that has signed up before 12 August. The support includes:
- Planning meeting (overview of proposal material and draft of process plan)
- Set up proposal in the Funding & Tenders platform, invite partners, monitor and quality check admin, technical and capacity input from partners.
- Detailed feedback on project description, abstract and ethics description
- Instructions on call requirements, including the budget and the need to allocate management funds to the coordinator
PIs that participate as partners in proposals for Doctoral Networks are only offered instructions on call requirements and quality check of the A form for AU.
- If you wish to sign up for RSO coordinator support, please send an e-mail to ina@au.dk (Inge Andresen) before 12 August.
VELUX FOUNDATION Core Groups 2026
Notification deadline: 22 October 2025
Deadline: 3 February 2026, 14:00
The purpose of the Core Group Programme is to support independent, original basic research at an excellent level within the humanities and closely related fields of social sciences (anthropology, political science, sociology and psychology). With this programme, we wish to strengthen the growth layer of research (emerging research groups with budding ideas) to enhance the future of humanities and social science.
