LEO Foundation Cuts Its Skin Research Grants From Three Rounds to One: The November 23 International Call Is Now the Only Chance for Most of the World

On September 29, 2026, the LEO Foundation of Denmark changed how it funds independent skin research. Its open-competition Research Grants program had run three separate application rounds a year. It now runs one annual international call. That call opened October 1 and closes November 23, 2026, at 16:00 CET.

The foundation is also adding a separate European call for researchers at European institutions. It opens June 10, 2027 and closes July 30, 2027.

The international scope has not changed. Researchers anywhere in the world can still apply. What has changed is the number of chances. In 2026, a dermatology investigator in Boston, São Paulo or Seoul could submit to rounds closing January 8, March 19 and August 25. From now on, researchers outside Europe get one chance a year, and it is four weeks away.

Why LEO matters

The LEO Foundation owns LEO Pharma and describes itself as "one of the largest private funders of independent skin research at universities and hospitals worldwide." It has awarded more than DKK 1.8 billion to independent research overall. Its open-competition grants are large for a disease-specific private funder:

• Typical grant: DKK 2–4 million over one to three years, roughly $300,000–$600,000 at recent exchange rates
• January 2026 round: DKK 66.9 million (about EUR 9 million) to 18 international projects, an average of about DKK 3.7 million each
• August 2026 announcement: DKK 61.9 million more for skin research

In the United States, investigator-initiated dermatology funding comes mostly from NIAMS. A LEO grant of DKK 3–4 million is roughly comparable to two years of a modular R01's direct costs. Researchers outside the US with no dedicated national skin-research funder have even fewer alternatives.

The call at a glance

The 2027 application guide gives April 2027 as the notification month. Its evaluation section also says decisions come "approximately three months after the application deadline," which would mean late February. Plan around the specific dates (April notification, July 1 earliest start) rather than the general one.

Who gains and who loses

European researchers gain. A researcher at a European university can apply to the international call in November and the European call in July, two chances a year. The "one application per call" rule applies to each call separately. European researchers go from three chances a year to two, and in the July call they compete only against other European applicants.

Researchers outside Europe lose the most. Under three rounds, an American or Asian investigator turned down in January could revise and resubmit by August. Now a rejection in April 2027 means the next chance is November 2027. Because the guide allows only one resubmission of any previously reviewed application, each attempt counts for more.

Reviewers and the foundation gain efficiency. The 18-member Scientific Evaluation Committee will review one large international batch instead of three smaller ones, which should make scores more consistent. It probably also means more applications per review cycle and more competition for each slot.

The foundation has not said how it will split its annual budget between the two calls. Applicants should not assume the international call gets a larger share just because more countries are eligible.

Eligibility rules that disqualify applicants

From the 2027 application guide:

• PhD or equivalent required. The applicant must be the Principal Investigator.
• Affiliation with a university, hospital or other non-profit organization. Patient organizations and other foundations cannot apply.
• One application per applicant per call. If you submit more than one, only the first is evaluated and the rest are administratively rejected.
• One main applicant and one host institution. All money goes to the host. Redistributing funds to collaborators is the host's job.
• Current grantees are restricted. Anyone with an active LEO Research Grant or Dr Abildgaard Fellowship cannot apply until the last year of that grant, and a new grant cannot start until the old one ends.
• One resubmission only. A resubmission needs a cover letter describing every change.

Excluded research:

• Skin cancer (melanoma, CTCL, BCC, SCC). Skin cancer models are allowed if they are used to study other skin biology.
• Aesthetic or cosmetic dermatology. Treating moderate to severe late consequences of disease is not considered cosmetic.
• Research involving commercial companies or drug testing for commercial purposes. Clinical trials must be investigator-initiated and independent of commercial interests.

The cancer exclusion catches many applicants. A lab whose main work is keratinocyte carcinoma is ineligible. A lab that uses a melanoma model to study pigmentation biology may be eligible. Make that distinction explicit in your aims.

Budget rules

• Budget must be in Danish kroner (DKK). Convert at a recent rate and say which rate you used.
• Overhead is capped at 5%. For US universities with negotiated rates above 50%, this is the biggest obstacle. Talk to your sponsored programs office now about a waiver or a foundation-rate exception. Many US institutions have a reduced-rate policy for private foundations, but it can take weeks to get approval.
• Salary is allowed, including the PI's, but the foundation will not pay "double salary." If you request salary for an existing full-time employee, the guide requires a specific justification, for example a host policy requiring 30% of base salary from external funding. Writing "fringe" alone is rejected.
• PhD students must be fully funded. If LEO pays part, the budget must confirm that the rest of the PhD is already secured.
• Not covered: students below PhD level, activities before notification, domestic meetings, passive conference attendance.

Writing to the format

The application is a set of plain-text fields with strict character limits (spaces included):

12,000 characters is about 1,800 words, much shorter than an NIH Research Strategy section. Rich-text formatting is removed. You can upload up to four illustrations, and any extra attachments make the application ineligible, because the foundation treats them as a way around the character limits.

Required attachments: a two-page CV (with h-index and citation count from Scopus if possible), a one-page list of your ten most important publications, an overview of current external funding, and one-page CVs for every funded team member.

Reviewers score six criteria: significance and impact; innovation and novelty; strategy and approach; lead investigator and team; environment and resources; overall focus and project plan. No feedback is given on unfunded applications. That makes your one resubmission harder to use well, so get feedback from colleagues before you submit.

A four-week plan

1. This week: Confirm eligibility on three points: no skin cancer focus, no commercial partner, and no active LEO grant outside its final year. Open your LEOnora account. The activation link expires in two hours.
2. This week: Ask your institution about the 5% overhead cap. If no exception is possible, decide whether to apply from an affiliated hospital or non-profit, which the rules allow.
3. Week 2: Draft the 12,000-character strategy section first, then cut. Write the abstract under the required Vision / Plan / Impact headings.
4. Week 3: Build the DKK budget. Justify every existing-employee salary line. Choose a start date no earlier than July 1, 2027.
5. Week 4: Have a colleague outside dermatology read the science abstract, because reviewers outside your subfield will use it. Generate the PDF in the portal and check that every figure is legible. Submit by November 20. Missing mandatory items block submission, and fixing them takes time.

Other LEO programs on the calendar

The single international call is LEO's main open door, but there are others:

• Visiting Researchers and Research Networking grants: round 1 closes November 12, 2026; round 2 runs April 7–June 2, 2027
• Serendipity Grants: up to DKK 4 million over two years, for current grantees with unexpected findings; December 4, 2026 to February 3, 2027
• Dr Abildgaard Fellowships: DKK 12 million over five years for emerging leaders building a group at a Danish institution; December 2, 2026 to March 2, 2027
• ISID-LEO Foundation Awards: USD 100,000 for young skin researchers, one per region each year (2026 rounds closed)

The bottom line

LEO's change makes things simpler for the foundation and much harder for researchers outside Europe. A program that offered three chances a year now offers one, with a one-resubmission limit and no reviewer feedback. If you have a strong skin-biology project, are not on an active LEO grant and can work within the 5% overhead cap, apply by November 23. Missing it means waiting until late 2027.

For other dermatology and skin-research funding, including NIAMS, disease foundations, and European and Asian national programs, search Granted's database or ask our AI assistant to match your project to current opportunities.