Dear IFA VIP, Pernille Grøne (cc.) has decided to leave her position as scientific coordinator. Due to vacation her last day at IFA will be 15/7. Pernille has accepted a new job as advisor to Pro-Rector Berit Eika at AU, and we wish her all the best in the new position. We will hire a new scientific coordinator as quickly as possible, but this cannot be effective until at the earliest by October 1st, and then it’ll be some weeks until the new employee is ready to help you. This means that the coming deadlines will be handled in collaboration between us and the Research Support Office. The next deadlines are: Novo Project Grants with deadline 2/9 DFF with deadline 28/9 (see guidance below). Carlsberg with tentative deadline 1/10 The Research Support Office has made some very good guidelines that can help you prepare your DFF budget. If you have any questions in relation to budgets in general you can contact Andreas Krabbe akkb@au.dk<mailto:akkb@au.dk>. DFF guidelines You can apply for: * Research Project 1 (< DKK 2 million, excl. overhead) * Research Project 2 (DKK 2 – 4.3 million, excl. overhead) The deadlines vary for each research council, and are as follows for FNU, FSS and FTP: * Medical Sciences (FSS): September 22nd at 12:00 noon * Technology and Production Sciences (FTP): September 24th at 12:00 noon * Natural Sciences (FNU): September 28th at 12:00 noon The RSO will not provide individual application support for this call. Instead they have prepared a self-help package, including budget templates and information to help you prepare your budget(-s) for the research projects. Attached in this mail, you will find: 1. ‘Budget tool.’ with updated, standard salary rates that you can use to make your background budget. 2. ‘DFF_BudgetSkabelon_E2021’ which is the DFF’s budget template for research projects that needs to be uploaded in the e-grant.dk portal. 3. ‘DFF_useful budget comments’ can help you prepare justifications for the costs of your project activities. You can easily insert the justifications/comments in the official DFF budget template. 4. The mandatory ‘DFF_budget confirmation E2021’ that you need to fill in before obtaining your HoD’s signature. 5. The ‘Call for proposals’, which is the main file to read. Here you can read all the necessary info, and the various sections mentioned throughout this email. Alternatively, you may contact the RSO for budget assistance by sending a mail to Andreas Krabbe: akkb@au.dk<mailto:akkb@au.dk>. Please notice that the transfer of numbers from the draft budget to the official DFF template is the responsibility of the applicant. Please make sure to contact the RSO no later than the 20th of September. Please note the following: * Make sure that you relate actively to the call in question. * If applying for funding for postdoctoral scholarships, make sure that the postdoctoral candidates have obtained their PhD or equivalent qualifications within the last 4 years at the time of the call deadline. Therefore, remember to calculate your candidate’s PhD age according to section 4.3.5 in the guidelines. * Clearly describe the roles and responsibilities of all team members, including PhD students and postdocs. * Do not assume that all evaluators know your field, methods or research context. Consider who your target audience is, and write the proposal so that that the ambition and relevance of your project is clear to people outside your research field. * Outline a realistic work plan, including work packages and milestones if relevant. * Highlight relevant success criteria and risks * Make sure that you have selected the proper research council that corresponds with your field of research. You can read the necessary information on the research councils in section 1.9. * Seek feedback on your proposal draft in your academic environment. Best of luck with your application(-s)! Best regards, Ulrik