Research funding rains millions over MBG
The Department of Molecular Biology (MBG) and Genetics hit the jackpot three times in this round of funding when the Danish Council for Strategic Research announced the projects to funded.
A whopping seven out of nine projects which have received support from the Danish Council for Strategic Research’s Programme Commission for Health, Food and Welfare have scientists from Aarhus University as participants.
The Council has handed out a total of 142 million Danish kroner to the nine projects. Five of the projects are led by a scientist from Aarhus University, while a further two projects have scientists from Aarhus University as participants.
The following reseachers from MBG received a grant:
- Christian Würtz Heegaard (DKK 14.3 mio.)
- Mogens Sandø Lund (DKK 30.6 mio.)
- Peter Løvendahl (DKK 12.2 mio.)
Senior scientist Christian Würtz Heegaard’s ”Transcobalamin in Milk and Optimal Vitamin B12 Uptake (TRIM)” has received 14.3 million kroner for the project which has a collective budget of 18.1 million kroner. The project concerns the intake of vitamin B12, which drops with age and may manifest itself in anaemia, tiredness and a failing memory. The scientists wish to develop a food that can ensure an effective intake of B12 and intend to make their start with investigations that show that B12 is absorbed very effectively from milk.
Aarhus University’s Department of Engineering is also participating in the project, which includes five partners.
Senior scientist Mogens Sandø Lund has received funding for the establishment of a strategic research centre with which to create a new generation of genomic breeding tools across the spectrum of crops and livestock. The project includes a long list of domestic and international partners and has been given a grant from the Commission of 30.6 million kroner. The total budget of the project, which carries the title ”GenSAP: Centre for Genomic Selection in Animals and Plants” is 68.7 million kroner.
Senior scientist Peter Løvendahl - together with scientists from the Department of Animal Science - aims to breed cows with the genetic potential for minimal methane emission and optimal feed efficiency. The project title is ”Reduction of methane emissions from dairy cows and concurrent improvement of feed efficiency obtained through host genetics and next generation sequencing of rumen microbiome” and has received 12.2 million from the Commission. The project’s collective budget is 14 million kroner.
See the other projects funded by the Danish Council for Strategic Research.
Text: Søren Tobberup Hansen