FAQ
Applications will be considered from:
- anyone currently employed at one of the partner universities (AU, AAU, DTU, KU, SDU). Although any application must be sent via their own university. See note below.
- those not currently an employee of one of the partner universities. However, their application must have an authorized signatory, from the partner university where they intend to execute their VPX project. See note below.
Please note that only a partner university can apply for VPX funding for your P2X project application. Therefore a partner university must approve and accept that it is a condition for a VPX grant, that you are employed at the partner university no later than per the start date of the project period, and that your employment at the university is maintained throughout the project period.
Yes, you can apply without a ph.d.! If your project is excellent, with potential for growth, and feasible, please apply. You can be a post.doc, a ph.d., a researcher – but it must be YOUR project, your dream.
No. VPX is not for research and VPX fellows (those getting salary from VPX) are expected to not be engaged in research. This means that VPX fellows should not spend time writing or reviewing scientific papers, teaching courses, writing scientific grant proposals or similar academic work.
This, however, does not mean that a VPX project cannot involve active researchers in an indirect capacity, e.g. in an advisory role, but VPX fellows should be 100% committed to getting their VPX project off the ground.
The typical time for accelerating your project in the VPX program is 2 years. We mentor each project during the full period to help acceleration. In some cases, the period can be extended with 6 months. This extension must be applied for at the end of the project period. Please note that in case you do not follow your proposed plan, the steering group can stop your project before finalization.
Please check the call text on the website. You may also call or write to Scientific Director Peter Vesborg, phone 4525 3276, mail: Peter.Vesborg@fysik.dtu.dk, to discuss your idea. The conversation is confidential between you and the Scientific Director.
Applications are assessed according to three criteria: Excellence of idea, potential for growth, and feasibility. All three are equally important, and each must be clearly illustrated in your application.
No, only the direct costs of your project should be added in the application budget. If your project is funded, overhead up to 15% will be added.
Please make sure you include:
- Application template (send it as a PDF)
- Include full CV of you and all your team members as part of the application (can be submitted as separate documents).
- Record and share a 5 minute video where you present your technology and your team if applicable
You can furthermore include (optionally)
- 10 extra A4 pages of relevant project information, this should include a detailed view of the scale-up of your technology (what will you have archived after 12 and 24 months), a detailed business plan, pictures of setup and deep technology description how does it work and its advantages)
Make sure you are available when VPX Steering Committee invite you for an interview. Please see above for more details
The Steering Committee will read and assess the applications and let you know their decision within approximately 30 days after the submission deadline. The Scientific Director as well as the Technical Director of the VPX will read the applications, but will have no vote in the assessment of the applications.
There will be call for proposals 3 times/year, and it is only possible to reapply if this is suggested in the rejection letter. In such case, you will also need to talk to the Scientific Director before resubmitting.
No. This is a national program and each applicant has identical chances. The Scientific Director will allocate the same amount of time (max 30 min) to each person asking for feedback on his/her idea.
All VPX fellows will be employed at a Danish University (not necessarily DTU) and IPR is handled according to the usual rules for university employees. This means that any foreground IPR generated by VPX fellows is handled as if they were PhD students, postdocs or faculty at their respective university where the university handles patenting and assumes rights to IPR. Upon graduation from the VPX program, any project reliant on IPR must negotiate licensing/purchase of IP with the relevant university on standard terms. The benefits of the above IPR arrangement are: 1) The legal framework is standardized, familiar to all universities. No resources are wasted on up-front legal negotiations before there is even a clear path to market (i.e. before a VPX project is initiated); 2) Patenting costs are paid by the universities.
Make a qualified guess and explain reasoning as needed. Some tech support and lab facilities and a mentor will be at your disposal during the Fellowship at no cost. We may have some suggestions for team members, but it is your own responsibility to onboard the right people. Please note your project should be at TRL 3 before applying.