Simon McIlroy was presented with the award, which aims to retain highly talented young researchers within Denmark and strengthen the country's international reputation, in a ceremony attended by Crown Princess Mary.

The award comes with a grant of 500,000 Danish kroner ($100,000 AUD) to assist in Mr McIlroy's research and will be predominantly used to produce a handbook for other researchers in the field.

Mr McIlroy completed his education entirely in Bendigo before moving to Denmark in 2012.

He studied at Golden Square Secondary College and then at Bendigo Senior Secondary College before graduating with honours from La Trobe University, Bendigo with a bachelor of applied science and a PhD in microbiology.

He said it was a common misconception that great things could only be achieved via the large, august institutions of the capital cities.

"Some people think you have to go to big city universities to be able to get proper educations or to go further but it's not necessarily the case," he said.

"Education is a lot what you put into it yourself, the opportunities are there in regional universities, so if people are really motivated they can make things happen."

Despite his high regard for regional education, Mr McIlroy said he'd noticed a few differences between Australia's approach to research compared with his experience in Europe.

"They place a higher value on research in Denmark than they do in Australia, which I think is a shame," he said.

"The trend in Australia has just been getting progressively worse so you've got a lot of people leaving Australia, Australians and people from other countries who have been working in Australia because they simply don't see a future for themselves in Australia career wise, which is really sad, and once they leave, it takes a long time to build up that expertise again."

Despite enjoying the support he receives in Denmark, Mr McIlRoy said he still calls Australia home.

"It would probably be better for me to stay there because there's more support for research in that country, and especially my field, but it's just too far from family and I do also miss living in Australia," he said.