Rubina Raja has been awarded the prize for her extensive archaeological studies spanning from urban communities and networks in the ancient world to iconography in the oasis city of Palmyra. Her research has not only led to new insights into key events in world history, but also paved the way for a new high-definition approach to excavations which has taken international archaeology onto important new paths.

Jesper Qualmann Svejstrup has been awarded the prize for his groundbreaking research into the molecular “machine” that transcribes our genes. Among many other things, he has discovered that this transcription is a risky process which can lead to serious pathological conditions if it does not function correctly, for example due to various stress factors. In so doing, he has made a fundamental contribution to our understanding of the interaction between molecular processes and the stability of the genome.

H.M. The Queen presented this year’s prizes

The Carlsberg Foundation Research Prizes are awarded on the recommendation of an international Prize Committee. Each prize is worth DKK 2 million, of which DKK 1.5 million is earmarked for research activities and DKK 500,000 is a personal gift.

Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark and Danish Minister for Education and Research Christina Egelund presented this year’s prizes together with the Carlsberg Foundation’s Chair, Majken Schultz, and the Prize Committee’s Chair, Mette Birkedal Bruun.

About the Carlsberg Foundation Research Prizes

The objective of the Carlsberg Foundation Research Prizes is to acknowledge two active researchers in Denmark or abroad who have made crucial contributions to Danish basic research at a high international level. The prizes are intended to encourage further research and may be used for stays abroad, fieldwork, purchases of equipment or wages for scientific work.

The Carlsberg Foundation Research Prizes were instituted in 2011 to mark the bicentenary of the birth of the Foundation’s founder, J.C. Jacobsen.

Open nomination process

The Carlsberg Foundation Research Prizes 2024 were awarded on the recommendation of an international Prize Committee, which received nominations from the Danish research community following an open invitation in spring 2024. All academic employees at post-doctoral level or above at Danish universities and research institutions were able to submit a nomination.

The Prize Committee comprised Professor Mette Birkedal Bruun from the University of Copenhagen (Chair), Professor Gøsta Esping-Andersen from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Professor Anja Groth from the University of Copenhagen, Professor Peter Landrock from the University of Cambridge and Professor Klaus Müller-Wille from Universität Zürich.