Personal Overseas Research Grant

Scientific merit

Scientific merit is a comprehensive criterion that gives an indication of essential, fundamental aspects of the research project. The scientific merit of a project will be assessed in relation to the following points:

• Originality in the form of scientific innovation and/or the development of new knowledge.
• Whether the research questions, hypotheses and objectives have been clearly and adequately specified.
• The strength of the theoretical approach, operationalisation and use of scientific methods.
• Documented knowledge about the research front.
• The degree to which the scientific basis of the project is realistic.
• The scientific scope in terms of a multi- and interdisciplinary approach, when relevant.

Candidates for grants/fellowships

In cases where a candidate for a grant/fellowship is specified by name (documented), evaluation will be focused  on assessing the candidate’s qualifications.
 

Research group

Evaluation will be focused on determining whether the research group has the requisite expertise, resources and/or infrastructure, and sufficient contacts at the national and international levels.
When considering fellowship applicants, the evaluation will assess whether there is a good learning environment and whether efforts have been made to ensure that candidates complete their programmes. For overseas researcher grants, the research group abroad will be assessed.
 

Feasibility

 The feasibility of the project will be assessed in relation to the following points:

• Budget and resource parameters, including financing.
• Plans for project implementation, including milestones and deliverables.

International cooperation

Evaluation will be focused on the extent to which the project will contribute to the internationalisation of Norwegian research and/or industry in the relevant field, and the plans for accomplishing this. Further, consideration will be given to whether the selection of international partners will help to enhance the project's quality and feasibility.
 

Dissemination of results

Evaluation will be focused on plans for communicating results (at the scholarly and popular levels) and user contact, including target groups and the intended means of disseminating information.
 

Environmental, ethical and gender perspectives

The following perspectives are to be integrated into all research funded by the Research Council:

Environmental perspectives
The Research Council attaches importance to the potential impact of research projects on the external environment. The project description must therefore state whether the utilisation of project results will entail any significant environmental impacts (positive or negative). If the project is expected to have such impacts, then answers to the following must be provided: Is there a need for research associated with these environmental impacts? Has the project defined primary or secondary objectives that seek to clarify these environmental impacts?

Ethical perspectives
The Research Council emphasises the need for projects to maintain high ethical standards. As a general rule, relevant ethical questions must be addressed in the grant application.

The checklist found at http://www.etikkom.no/Forskningsetikk/Etiske-retningslinjer/Forskningsetisk-sjekkliste/, drawn up by the National Committee for Research Ethics in Science and Technology (NENT), is applicable to all subject areas.

More information on ethical perspectives may be found in the guidelines for ethics in research drawn up by the national committees for research ethics and in the Act on Ethics and Integrity in Research. An overview and more details may also be found at http://www.etikkom.no/In-English/.

Gender equality and gender perspectives
The Research Council is concerned about the implications of projects for gender equality in Norwegian research and views it as essential that gender perspectives are given adequate consideration in the research projects.

Gender equality
It is a Research Council policy objective to ensure the recruitment of a greater number of women to top-level positions in universities, university colleges and independent research institutes. Thus, consideration will be given to the manner in which the research projects serve to enhance gender equality at the institutions responsible for carrying out the projects. This is particularly important in fields where the proportion of women is low.

Gender perspectives in research
Gender perspectives are pertinent in a number of research areas and, when relevant, consideration will be given to whether the research projects have taken such perspectives adequately into account. This may apply to the research problems selected as well as how the findings may apply differently to women and men respectively. Grant applications must therefore reflect a clear awareness of gender perspective issues.

The application of gender perspectives entails looking at how gender and gender differences affect the conduct of people within society as well as the structure and function of society itself. In this way, it is possible to elucidate and shed light on contexts in which women and men have different life situations, health conditions, affiliation with the labour market, etc. Thus, the application of gender perspectives may be of great significance to findings at both the individual and the societal level.

Relevance relative to the call for proposals

The project will be evaluated in relation to the guidelines set out in the call for proposals for the relevant activity/programme.