"Nothing ventured, nothing gained”, is the maxim at Villum Experiment. The purpose of the programme is to find and fund very special technical and natural science research projects that challenge the norm and have the potential to change the world and our knowledge of the world.

This is how the VILLUM FOUNDATION explains the background for the grants that have just been awarded to researchers at Danish universities.

This year, a total of nine researchers from Aarhus University have received grants totalling DKK 17.8 million.

At NAT, five researchers have each received approx. DKK 2 million. The grants will run for up to two years.

The recipients are:

Associate professor Alexander Zelikin, Department of Chemistry, receives 2 mio. DKK for the project ”Polymer recycling via monomer reuse”.

Professor Kai Finster, Department of Biology, receives 2 mio. DKK for the project ”Methane, a sign of life - what drives its dynamics on Mars?”

Associate professor Kasper Urup Kjelsden, Department of Biology, receives 2 mio. DKK for the project ”The cellular ultrastructure of Asgard archaea - the ancestors of the eukaryotic cell”.

Professor Kim Daasbjerg, Department of Chemistry, receives 2 mio. DKK for the project ”Developing a Chemically Self Sustaining Martian Society”.

Researcher Søren Lykke-Andersen,  Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, receives 2 mio. DKK for the project ”AUGMENT: Targeted upregulation of protein expression using artificial small RNA guides”.