Introduction to the project supplement

By Financial Services, 6/24/2024

In November 2023, it was announced that Danish Universities and the private Danish foundations Novo Nordisk Foundation, Villum Foundation, Carlsberg Foundation, Velux Foundation, Lundbeck Foundation, and LEO Foundation have entered into an agreement on future financing of the universities' expenses on research projects. The agreement is to strengthen transparency and create clarity around the model that ensures a standardized and clear economic distribution key between universities and foundations when financing research projects.

The agreement ensures that the six private foundations will in the future award a project supplement as part of the grant for a research project. The project supplement is to finance the derived project costs and will thus replace overhead, administration contributions, bench fees, etc. This model applies when applying for research projects under 50 million DKK in open calls.

Universities Denmark have just published a guide that describes project supplements and how the project supplement should be handled in practice in connection with application and financial reporting. The guide can be read on the University Denmarks website: https://dkuni.dk/pressemeddelelser/aftale-om-projekttillaeg-traeder-i-kraft

Project Supplements at SDU

The model around project supplements has consequences for both the pre-award and post-award area as well as the general financial management of externally funded projects. On this basis, the rectorate has initiated a process internally at SDU focusing on how the project supplement should be handled and distributed in the future at the university. The internal distribution of project supplements is expected to be ready during the fall of 2024.

It is expected that the first foundations have incorporated the model for project supplements in their calls by the end of June 2024.