Cornerstones
Cornerstones
The Novo Nordisk Foundation awards grants based on three established values or cornerstones:
Commitment
We want to contribute significantly to research, education, treatment, innovation and humanitarian and social purposes. We strive to provide optimal benefit to society and are prepared to follow both traditional and new paths to achieve this. In a changing world, we are prepared to challenge and be challenged. In our activities, we strive to contribute significantly to research and development that improve the health and welfare of people, and we believe that knowledge and research benefit the development of society.
Quality
Regardless of which projects and causes we support, the underlying principle for all our activities is that we must act professionally and optimise quality. This means that we are also prepared to take risks and support the most promising projects to create the basis for breakthroughs. In awarding our grants, we consult experts to ensure that the research we support is of high international quality and aims at eliciting new and profound knowledge and innovation.
Respect
We respect other people’s ideas and understand that producing landmark results that benefit society takes time. We are prepared to listen to other people’s views and advice and are also prepared to use the time needed to explain the reasons for our priorities and decisions. We respect the freedom of research and publication, and we attach no conditions to our grants and do not claim rights to the results. In awarding our grants, we have confidence in the researchers and in their ambition to make the results of their research benefit as many people as possible.