Call OUH PhD Fund

Februar 2026

Call	Application deadline	Assessment meeting
26 February 2026	8 April 2026 11.59 p.m. (midnight)	2 June 1 - 6 p.m. (13.00 - 18.00)

Proposals for PhD scholarships are invited for the OUH PhD Fund, first round 2026.

For your information, the PhD Fund of the Region of Southern Denmark (RSD) is also open for applications twice a year. Deadlines and other information are available at the website of the Region of Southern Denmark  (in Danish).

Significant changes from previous call

Length of CV and track record/publication list for both applicant and supervisors has been changed to accommodate focus on impact (CoARA) which is also included in the new research strategy of OUH and the Department of Clinical Research, SDU: CV of a maximum of 3 pages and publication list/track record of a maximum of 3 pages for the applicant. Applicants and supervisors are asked to apply the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) templates. 

Objective

“Patient first” is the underlying principle of OUH’s ambition in creating value for our patients. To offer the best treatment, retain and attract the best qualified staff to the benefit of patients, it is OUH’s ambition to strengthen research at the hospital. As one of several initiatives to reach this objective, OUH has set aside funding for PhD scholarships.

Requirements for applicants

All research disciplines within OUH may apply, including psychiatry, somatic specialities, and related research areas. This includes for example clinical patient-related research, epidemiological research, basic and translational research including laboratory-based experimental studies, and health services research.  

Only students, who have obtained approval of their PhD protocol at the University of Southern Denmark before the application deadline, are eligible. Please note that OUH does not support PhD projects not registered at the PhD school (§15, part. 2, The act of PhD education at the universities etc., in Danish), and in the event of this situation, funding for the PhD project will be withdrawn.

The PhD student must have a clear and independent role in the proposed project. The significant part of the PhD study must take place at OUH or the main supervisor must be employed at OUH, and the PhD project must have a distinct clinical perspective relevant to OUH. 

The application must be submitted by the PhD student applying for an OUH PhD Fund stipend. A maximum of one stipend may be granted from the OUH PhD Fund which can be applied up to three times pr. applicant. 

It is possible for more than one applicant from the same department or with the same main supervisor to submit separate applications. However, a maximum of one stipend per department may be granted in each application round. 

OUH encourages a change of research environment, preferably abroad. If a research stay has no bearing on a particular project, applicants should be argued why in the application. A co-supervisor from other hospitals in Denmark or abroad may be an important parameter in developing an independent research profile.

Budget

Applicants are expected to secure a substantial part of the PhD project funding from external sources beyond OUH, SDU, or regional funds. The full project budget, including all funding sources must be clearly presented in the budget section of the application in efond (Step 3). This requirement applies to both new and ongoing PhD projects at the time of the application deadline. 

Eligible costs

• Own salary (stipends) for one year including study fees. A maximum amount of DKK 650.000 for one year may be applied by each applicant from the PhD Fund.

Please note:

• The amount may not cover all expenses for one-year salary and study fees depending on the level of salary of the applicant.
• Grants will be rounded to the nearest thousand for budgetary purposes (e.g. DKK 649.000 instead of DKK 649.357).
• No additional appropriations for a possible grant can be expected from the OUH PhD Fund at a later stage.

Non eligible costs

It is not possible to apply for e.g. the following items from the OUH PhD Fund:

• Salary for other researchers (SCS in English and VIP in Danish)
• Employment or co-financing of non-scientific staff (NSS in English, TAP in Danish) for research projects (e.g. biomedical laboratory technician, research nurses, etc.)
• Purchase of apparatus or other material for research projects
• Other research-promoting purposes
• Overhead due to the fact that the PhD Fund is a local fund
• Open Access publication.

The OUH Research Support offers instructions on how to draw up a budget. If you request assistance, please contact ouh.forskerservice@rsyd.dk.

Assessment criteria

Applications are being assessed according to following criteria:

• Scientific quality of the project
• Qualifications of the applicant
• Academic setting of supervision
• Integration of internationalisation in the project, e.g. through research stay abroad.
• Strategic considerations related to the Research Strategy 2026 – 2030 of Odense University Hospital and the Department of Clinical Research of SDU, in particular:

  • Research at a high international level with the potential of improving patient treatment and demonstrating scientific and societal impact, including advancing knowledge, improving patient care, or supporting knowledge translation.

  • Research and implementation of evidence-based treatment including personalised medicine. 

  • Systematic review addressing one of the research questions of the PhD project.
  • Focus on the patient’s treatment pathway across professions, departments, hospitals and sectors.
  • Involvement of patients and relatives in e.g. developing the research project and in planning how project results may be communicated or applied (see “Considerations” below).

How to submit an application

Applications must be submitted via the application system efond. Please read and comply with the instructions given in efond and enter and upload the required information.

Applicants must indicate in efond which of the following pre-defined main categories and methods apply to their project. Up to two categories and methods can be selected:

1. Clinical research (cohort studies, intervention or observation)
2. Translational research (laboratory methods, cell and animal models)
3. Epidemiological research (registry research)
4. Qualitative research (Interviews, focus groups, observations) and health service research (realistic evaluation, participatory design, and interdisciplinary metods)
5. Implementation research (AI, apps, medical technology, health economics, etc.)

Appendices

The following mandatory appendices must be uploaded in PDF format:  

• Approval of PhD protocol from the PhD School at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU)

• Approval from both Head of Department and Head of Research at OUH stating that the project can be carried out at OUH. 

• CV of a maximum of 3 pages and publication list/track recordof a maximum of 3 pages for the applicant (PhD student). Applicants are asked to apply the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) templates. Please indicate any periods of leave, e.g. maternity leave in the CV. The OUH PhD Fund applies the DFF (Independent Research Fund Denmark) definitions; please refer to the latest call for guidance. 

• Diploma including transcripts of records from the applicant’s (PhD student) Master’s degree programme. If you have not yet finished your Master’s degree programme, please upload your most recent transcript of records. 

• For main and co-supervisors: CV of a maximum of 3 pages and publicationslist/track record of a maximum of 3 pages CV should include number of former and current PhD students. Supervisors from OUH are asked to apply the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) templates.

• Confirmation of research stay abroad from the foreign research institution or collaborator. If a research stay is not planned, it must be argued why (Step 2 in efond).

The following appendices may be uploaded:

• Figures to support your project description.
• Authorisations, e.g. The National Committee on Health Research Ethics (Videnskabsetisk Komité), Danish Medicines Agency (Lægemiddelstyrelsen) or other.

Please avoid abbreviations in the application apart from the most commonly used.

Budget information

In the budget section in efond (step 3), please state which year a possible grant from the OUH PhD Fund is applied for:

• Year 1 = 2026
• Year 2 = 2027
• Year 3 = 2028
• Year 4 = 2029
• Year 5 = 2030

If a possible grant is to be divided between two years, please indicate number of months and amount for each year, e.g.:

• Year 1: 6 months, DKK 325,000
• Year 2: 6 months, DKK 325,000

In addition, in the budget section in efond (step 3), please enter the full budget of the entire PhD project including already obtained or expected funding and any other budget headings.

A confirmation by email will be sent from “efond” if the application is submitted correctly (please check your spam filter if you do not receive an email).

Language

The application must be in English. Please note that the layman’s summary must be in Danish.

The wording of the application must be comprehensible to laymen and not only specialists within the proposed professional field.

Administrative rejection

Please note that an application may be rejected on an administrative basis if it does not comply with the above requirements.

Consequently, please make sure that the required information is entered in efond and that required appendices are attached.

Assessment procedure

Submitted applications will be reviewed and prioritised by the PhD Stipend Committee at Odense University Hospital prior to the assessment meeting.

The PhD Stipend Committee will invite the applicants who have received the highest review score for an interview. As mentioned above, a maximum of one stipend per department is to be expected for each application round. Consequently, if two applicants from the same department are invited for an interview, a maximum of one may be granted a stipend.

Please note that invitations will be sent with short notice, approximately one week before the assessment meeting where the interviews will take place. See the expected date for the meeting at the top of this call . The meeting will take place from 1 – 6 p.m. (13.00 – 18.00) and you are advised to book this period of time in your calendar as it will not be possible to reschedule if you are invited for an interview. 

If you are invited for an interview, you will be asked to present your project to the committee (5 minutes) followed by questions from the committee (5 minutes). The presentation will be in English while questions may be in Danish. Physical presence at the committee meeting is preferred. However, you may give an online presentation if you have urgent activities elsewhere (please contact ouh.forskning@rsyd.dk).

Only applicants with the highest score in the assessment of applications prior to the meeting will be invited for an interview, and that stipends will be awarded among applicants invited for an interview. Consequently, if you do not receive an invitation for interview approximately one week before the assessment meeting, you will most likely not receive a stipend at this particular application round. 

We aim to give all applicants feedback no later than 3 weeks after the assessment meeting, including applicants who are not invited for an interview.

Considerations

It is important that you apply for or have already received external funding in addition to applying for funding from OUH. In the budget section in efond, you must give information about how your PhD project is funded and if you are applying for funding from other sources.

Patients are members of the assessment committee and will be reviewing the applications with other members of the committee. The primary focus of the patients is on the layman’s description and description of patient involvement, why these parts must be understandable to a non-specialist.

It is important to describe considerations about patient and relative involvement in the application. The involvement can take place throughout the entire research process – from the planning of the project to dissemination of the results that are generated. The main purpose of health research is obtaining results that will be beneficial for patients.

Involving patients and relatives in the research process can help to ensure that the research focuses on those topics and issues that are most important from a patient perspective. Involvement by patients and relatives should be enhanced where it contributes the most value for the individual project and thus the value of the project to patients and society as a whole.

Examples of how and when patients and relatives can be involved:

• Clarification of research questions, outcome goals
• Reading the application – especially Danish sections (layman’s description, descriptions to Ethical Committee of Science)
• Dissemination of research results

Please find more inspiration at VIBIS (in Danish), the OUH Center for Brugerinvolvering i Forskning (in Danish) or NIHS in the UK.

Questions and contact information

Please forward questions to ouh.forskning@rsyd.dk.