About the programme
BRIDGE – a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in translational medicine
The BRIDGE – Translational Excellence Programme is a postdoctoral programme funded by Novo Nordisk Foundation. Each year, BRIDGE offers selected PhDs a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in translational medicine. The first cohort of fellows on BRIDGE I started in 2019 followed by another cohort in 2020. BRIDGE II has hired three cohorts of fellows from 2021-2023. Recently, BRIDGE has been awarded another grant extension, BRIDGE III, with four calls for applicants in February in 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027. With the new grant, the programme runs until 2030.
A BRIDGE Fellowship is a unique postdoctoral programme consisting of three core elements: education, mentoring and research. In the matrix between these three elements, fellows will be trained and educated in how to apply new discoveries and technologies from biomedical research to the clinical environment and/or the life science industry, to the benefit of patient health. The fellows bridge the gap between research and medical treatment thereby fulfilling the vision of BRIDGE: to establish a translational clinical academic ecosystem in which scientists and physicians interact, so that basic biomedical discoveries can be studied in humans and translated into routine medical therapy.
Need of translational researchers
Translational researchers are needed. Innovative techniques and technological developments in biomedical science must be translated into the clinical realm to improve medical treatment.
BRIDGE enables gaining insights on the scientific content of translational medicine, acquisition of the knowledge and skills to manage the essential collaboration between disciplines, and translation and back-translation between clinical and basic science.
Becoming a BRIDGE Fellow is a unique career opportunity for those wishing to become pioneering leaders in the field of translational medicine.
Previous fellows say
"The BRIDGE Translational Excellence Postdoctoral Fellowship is already a seal of quality which I do not have to explain to colleagues and networks any longer. Through the educational curriculum, the unique team of co-fellows and work with my project, I have become more independent researcher with strong collaborations, contact to several research communities, and feel more confident as a scientist and potential research leader."
"The BRIDGE Programme has given me the opportunity to get the best of 3 worlds. Via my mentors, I have established collaboration with others from the university's large analytical facilities, I can access invasive clinical studies from the hospital, and it is backed up with expert knowledge from industry. All of this, while being educated on the newest state-of-the-art methodologies via the course work. My fellow BRIDGE colleagues have expanded my network, and made the journey joyful, despite the huge workload."
Practical information
Language and location
All courses are taught in English and most course days take place at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (SUND), UCPH. The fellow will be appointed at the department/centre of their basic mentor at SUND. The fellow’s individual research will take place at the lab(s) made available by the fellow's mentors.
Mentoring
The lab(s) of the mentor team will host the BRIDGE Fellow during the two-year period of the fellowship and guarantee the necessary running costs to successfully carry out the fellow's research project as well as provide access to support staff, training, equipment and advice from members of the mentors’ institutions.
Read more about mentor commitments and responsibilities under "Become a mentor".