A Two-year Research Talent Programme for Early Career Researchers
AAU Excellence
A Two-year Research Talent Programme for Early Career Researchers
AAU Excellence
The purpose of AAU Excellence is to enhance the academic qualifications of early career researchers. AAU Excellence seek to raise the bar for excellent research at AAU, hence giving early career researchers an opportunity to develop their research competencies and mature their research ideas into groundbreaking and original research and prepare them to apply and ultimately secure prestigious research career grants.
AAU must contribute to solving the major societal challenges, and this poses new, special demands for research competences. Therefore, as a university, we must be able to attract, develop and retain the best talented researchers.
CURRENT CALL FOR AAU EXCELLENCE
? AAU Excellence 2026 ?
The current call for AAU Excellence 2026 has expired June 13, 2025. To read the call please see the below.
Call for AAU Excellence
The submitted Phase 1 applications will be evaluated by an internal scientific committee, and 16 applicants will be selected for Phase 2 - four from each faculty.
In Phase 2 the applications will be asked to submit a full application by August 29, 2025. The full application will be sent for external review.
The following step will be interviews with the applicants, in the month of November, after which 8 participants will be selected for the programme.
Timeline for the Application Process 2026
Programme activities
Each year AAU selects eight new participants for the programme. Participants are enrolled into the programme for a period of two years. Within this time the participants will complete a specialised curriculum of activities put together by the programme director and the scientific board of AAU Excellence, which consists of international top professors across all four AAU faculties.
The programme¡¯s activities are defined within four key areas:
Courses
The programme offers a specialised curriculum focusing on strengthening the skills of the participants as well as broadening their perspectives on the academic ecosystems. All activities chosen with the aim to help the participants succeed within all the different areas of academic life. The curriculum offers introductions to the prestigious grants, research leadership, scientific grant writing, communication training etc.
Networking and exclusive events
Participants are urged to and supported in the efforts to establish and strengthen their national and international research networks both within their own field of research and the interdisciplinary. The programme offers unique opportunities to train networking skills through special events with prominent guests. The participants are invited to exclusive and inspirational meet ups with international top researchers, university management and representatives from scientific foundations etc.
