The Faculty of Health at Aarhus University will host NEXUS, a national academy with a particular focus on researchers in the post-PhD career stage. Researchers will be able to apply for funding and engage in collaborations across universities, hospitals, disciplines and sectors. The initiative will also strengthen collaboration with research communities in the other Nordic countries.
NEXUS means “connection” in Latin, and the academy will connect the cardiometabolic research field across the traditional areas of endocrinology, diabetes, metabolism and cardiovascular disease.
Many patients live with multiple diseases across these areas at the same time, while research and talent development are largely organised within separate disciplines and research environments.
NEXUS aims to help change this.
“Major cardiometabolic diseases cross traditional disciplinary boundaries, and research should do the same. With NEXUS, we can bring research communities closer together and create better conditions for collaboration across the country. This is an initiative for all of Denmark, and we are very proud that the Faculty of Health will host it,” says Anne-Mette Hvas, Dean of the Faculty of Health and principal applicant for NEXUS.
In addition to its ambition to strengthen collaboration, NEXUS’s activities will be guided by four strategic priorities: an integrated research ecosystem, societal impact, prevention and health inequality. These priorities will, among other things, focus on the complexity of multiple coexisting diseases, translating research into tangible value and improving opportunities for prevention.
NEXUS will particularly support researchers in the years following their PhD. They play key roles in research projects but face strong competition for both positions and research funding, while having limited opportunities to apply for research funding independently.
NEXUS will therefore both provide researchers with access to funding and strengthen their scientific and professional development through academic communities spanning the cardiometabolic field.
Around DKK 100 million of the grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation has been allocated to postdoctoral grants, which will be distributed to research environments. The funding will support two-year postdoctoral positions as well as flexible clinical postdoctoral positions.
Courses, workshops, symposia and larger academic meetings will simultaneously strengthen the researchers’ scientific and professional skills and create new connections between, among others, basic researchers and clinical researchers in Denmark and the other Nordic countries.
“Young, talented researchers need better opportunities to develop their own ideas and establish themselves as independent researchers. At the same time, they need access to strong academic communities. This combination of research funding, talent development and cross-disciplinary collaboration is at the heart of NEXUS,” says Anne-Mette Hvas, adding:
“Ultimately, it is about creating research that can make a difference for people living with or at risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases.”
NEXUS will not only connect researchers across the cardiometabolic research fields. The academy will also collaborate broadly with patient organisations and their members, professional societies, clinical communities and the life science industry.
Patient and public involvement will be a central part of NEXUS, and a Patient Public Forum will be established to contribute perspectives on the academy’s activities and priorities, among other things.
The Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy (DDEA) and Danish Cardiovascular Academy (DCA) have jointly developed the concept behind NEXUS and prepared the application.
For more than a decade, the two academies have built experience in talent development and national research communities within diabetes, metabolism and endocrinology, and cardiovascular research, respectively.
One significant difference is that DDEA and DCA have, among other things, had a strong focus on researchers at PhD level, whereas NEXUS will direct a substantial part of its efforts towards the post-PhD career stage.
NEXUS builds on the experience, expertise and networks of the two academies, while taking them forward in a new and broader national initiative encompassing the entire cardiometabolic research field.
“We are very grateful that the Novo Nordisk Foundation has chosen to make such a significant investment in NEXUS. I believe it is visionary to support younger researchers at the beginning of their research careers while also supporting research across major disease groups. We are very much looking forward to getting started,” says Anne-Mette Hvas.
“NEXUS reflects a growing recognition that cardiometabolic diseases are best understood and addressed as interconnected conditions rather than as isolated diseases. By creating an environment where talented early-career researchers can meet and establish collaborations across disease areas and research disciplines, we hope NEXUS can help generate new knowledge that benefits people living with – or at risk of developing – cardiometabolic diseases,” says Rasmus Borgquist, Director at Health, Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Work to establish NEXUS is now getting underway. The next steps include recruiting a director and planning the first courses, academic meetings and activities aimed at strengthening academic communities. At the same time, other stakeholders have expressed interest in becoming co-financing partners in NEXUS, and discussions are underway regarding additional support for the academy’s activities.
NEXUS will open its first call for postdoctoral grants in 2027.
EAN: 5798 0022 30642
Reference: 1025 0006
CVR: 29 19 09 09
