The aim
The aim of the call is to strengthen international competitiveness and facilitate the development of excellent Nordic research environments. The call is initiated to support research-based university cooperation across the Nordic region, to increase researcher mobility, enhance capacity and competence building and thereby the excellence and significance of Nordic research cooperation. The call is open to all themes and disciplines.
Internal procedures at UiO
The required Letter of Commitment is to be signed at Faculty level (OD Dean). The external funding contact can assist after projects are appropriately anchored at the institute level.
Funded activities
Activities that can be funded include:
- mobility and networking activities
- guest researchers
- PhD students and post-docs
- workshops, seminars and conferences
- research training - such as intensive courses, field courses, summer schools and joint courses
- communication and dissemination activities
- other activities that promote the cooperation framework and are necessary for implementation of the collaboration
Two phases
The call is conducted in two phases. In phase 1, the call Committee will assess the pre-proposals.
In phase 2, approximately 20 applicants will be invited to submit full proposals, which will be assessed by an international expert panel and the Call Committee.
The funding decision will be announced in Q4 2023. All applicants will receive written feedback from the expert panel.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for funding, the following conditions must be met:
- The contractual partner for a University Cooperation Grant must be a Nordic university, university college or university of applied sciences.
- The consortium must include universities, universities of applied sciences or university colleges located in at least three Nordic countries/ autonomous regions (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland Islands).
- The cooperation partners are obligated to contribute twice the amount sought from NordForsk. The contribution must be guaranteed through a letter of commitment signed by the rector or a dean with the authority to assume obligations on behalf of the university, university of applied sciences or university college.
- The Project Leader of the university cooperation must be a qualified researcher employed by the host institution during the grant period.
Budget and Funding
Available budget is NOK 300 million, NOK 100 million from NordForsk and NOK 200 million NOK provided by the institutions.
The total NordForsk funding allocated to the call is maximum NOK 20 million annually and will be available for 5 years, 2024-2028.
Each university consortium may receive NOK 4 million in NordForsk funding per year. Each university consortium must provide resources equalling twice the amount of funding sought from NordForsk.