Danish research leaders say Denmark must invest in basic research to create future breakthroughs

Leaders of research centres, supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF), have stated that without new investments in the DNRF, Denmark risks weakening the research environments that have created international breakthroughs and attracted talent from all over the world.

In an open letter published on 13/08/2026, they called for Denmark to arm itself with "strong research" to face "climate change, new technologies, health challenges, geopolitical uncertainty, demographic changes and a rapidly changing labour market that require deep knowledge and innovative research environments".

"But the solutions we will need in 10, 20 or 30 years are based on the basic research we choose to fund today," the research leaders said.

They therefore called on the government, facing a crucial…