Innovative research projects

Purpose 

COWIfonden grants donations to innovative research projects across all areas of the COWI Group’s fields of activity. We value projects that demonstrate innovation and social relevance and are characterised by high professional standards, social responsibility and a long-term perspective that goes beyond the standard market and service development at COWI.  

Who can apply?

We welcome applications from employees within COWI Group companies and research communities at Danish universities. 

In order to be eligible for a donation, projects should be collaborative efforts between COWI and universities in Denmark, Norway or Sweden. Priority will be given to projects that involve COWI Executive Units and universities in more than one of the three Nordic regions. 

Industrial PhD studies 

Innovative research projects may include industrial PhD studies. The conditions are the same as those of our industrial PhD studies, which require securing funding from the relevant national support scheme for industrial PhDs.

Duration

The project duration must be limited to a maximum of three years. 

Prequalification 

Submission of an application requires prior prequalification, and as much as DKK 100,000 is granted to prepare the actual application. 

Your application for pre-qualification must be submitted by 1 April at 12:00 (noon) ET.

Application for pre-qualification must be submitted via COWIfonden's online application platform, and document forwarding is not permitted. 

When preparing the application for prequalification, please use this guideline. 

Please ensure that the prequalification application, including all appendices, is prepared in English. 

Preparing your application 

When preparing your application, please ensure that you meet the submission deadline of 1 October at 12:00 (noon) CET. Please note that we only accept applications via COWIfonden's online application platform, and document forwarding is not permitted. 

When preparing the application, please use this guideline.

Language 

Please ensure that the pre-qualification application, aw well are the application, including all appendices, are prepared in English. 

Economic framework 

You can apply for a maximum amount of DKK 6 million for a three-year project. 

COWI's budget share of the applied salary cost must be a minimum of 25 per cent 

When applying for funds, you have the opportunity to cover the following expenses within your project: 

• Salary expenses/basic salary rate plus an overhead up to 40% noting the following:
• The maximum overhead for graduates is DKK 200 per hour and for students and undergraduates DKK 100 per hour. 
• Other project-related costs, such as equipment and airfare, can also be considered, corresponding to direct expenses plus a 5% overhead. 

Funding requires co-financing from all parties involved. Co-financing should typically cover project salary costs, overhead costs above what is covered by COWIfonden, access to experimental facilities and similar. The application must describe the type and size of co-financing. A total co-financing of 20-25% is considered appropriate. 

Results 

To ensure transparency and impact, the project results must be published or made public. This may involve various forms of dissemination, such as publication in international scientific journals, participation in international conferences or release of open-source software. 

Assessment of applications

When assessing applications, the Assessment Committee looks at a number of aspects.

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