FRIPRO

Free, basic research is important for scientific and academic renewal, and can form the basis for more applied research, business development and policy development.

The FRIPRO scheme will contribute to this, and funding is available for basic and applied research projects in all disciplines where the project ideas come from the researchers themselves.

The FRIPRO scheme shall promote

• scientific quality at the forefront of international research
• bold and innovative research
• career and international mobility for researchers early in their research careers

At FRIPRO, we are willing to invest in bold research that has the potential to provide significant advances in the field, even if it also carries a significant risk of failure. Describe well how you will manage the risk and alternative plans if the first do not go as desired.

Fierce competition in FRIPRO

FRIPRO is for particularly skilled researchers in their fields of research, and the chance of receiving funding is small. In recent years, less than ten per cent of applications have been approved. The Research Council estimates a mark threshold of around 6.5 (average of the four assessment criteria) for applications awarded funding in the years ahead. Therefore, only applications awarded a mark of 6 or 7 on all assessment criteria are eligible for FRIPRO funding. In 2022, about 25 per cent of these were granted.

Among the eligible applications, we place most emphasis on the assessment criteria Excellence – potential to advance the research front and Excellence – quality in R&D activities when selecting applications for funding. For detailed information about how we select applications for funding, see "FRIPRO's application processing" below.

Only research organisations may apply for FRIPRO schemes, possibly in cooperation with other research organisations. Companies and other undertakings may not be partners, but may provide R&D services to the projects as subcontractors.

FRIPRO's three calls for proposals

Through FRIPRO, we want to reach researchers in different stages of their research careers. We have three calls for proposals, with the following requirements that apply from autumn 2023:

• Researchers at the start of their research careers may apply for a Three-year Researcher Project with International Mobility. When the application is submitted, you as the project manager must have submitted your doctoral thesis. If you have already defended your thesis, it must be less than seven years since the public defence. The projects have a duration of three years, where you as project manager spend two years abroad and spend the third year in Norway.
• The second step in the career ladder is the Researcher Project for Early Career Scientists, and has replaced the Researcher Project for Young Talents in FRIPRO. All researchers with 2–7 years' experience after completing a doctoral degree are eligible to apply. The projects have a duration of 3–4 years, and you can apply for funding for yourself, other researchers and operating costs.
• The top step in the career ladder is a Researcher Project for Experienced Scientists, and has replaced the Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal in FRIPRO. You must have six years' experience after a doctoral degree or approved associate professor qualifications in order to be a project manager. The projects have a duration of 3–8 years, and you can apply for funding for yourself, other researchers and operating costs. 

In addition, all project managers for FRIPRO projects may apply for funding for research stays of 3–12 months for the Research Council-funded doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships in their projects, under the call Overseas Research Grants for Doctoral and Post-doctoral Research Fellows. Project managers for Researcher Projects for Early Careers and projects of the older application types, Researcher Project for Young Talents and Young Research Talents, may also apply for funding for such stays abroad under the same call.

Detailed information about the requirements that apply to your application can be found in the calls for proposals.

When can I apply?

We receive and process applications in FRIPRO on an ongoing basis, which means that you can apply at any time. There are restrictions on how often you can apply, and applicants who already have a FRIPRO project or who are in FRIPRO quarantine must wait longer before applying again. The project for which funding is sought must have been scheduled to start 8–18 months after submitting the grant application. We estimate an average application processing time of 6–8 months, varying from approximately 2–10 months. Read on for details.

Waiting period and submission restriction period

As project manager for a FRIPRO application, you will be given a one-year waiting period calculated from the date you submit the application until you can serve as project manager for a new FRIPRO application. If the application is awarded marks below the specified thresholds in the panel review, you will also be subject to a submission restriction period of 1–2 years. The length of the submission restriction period depends on which call you applied for funding from. In the table below you can see which average grades give the different waiting period and submission restriction periods. (Grading scale 1–7, where 7 is the highest grade.)

You cannot be the project manager for a new FRIPRO application if you are in a waiting period or submission restriction period, but you can be a project participant in other FRIPRO applications and project manager for applications for other calls under the Research Council regardless of the waiting and submission restrictions periods in the FRIPRO scheme.

Waiting periods and submission restriction periods apply to the entire FRIPRO scheme, across calls for proposals, unless otherwise stated in the call. This means, for example, that if you are in a submission restriction period after submitting a FRIPRO application for a Researcher Project for Early Careers, you cannot be the project manager for a FRIPRO application for a Researcher Project for Experienced Researchers until the submission restriction period is over.

You can apply for one FRIPRO project at a time

You cannot be the project manager for more than one FRIPRO project at a time, but you can apply for a new project well in advance of the completion of your ongoing project. The new project for which you are applying for funding can start no earlier than the day after the end date of the first approved contract for the ongoing FRIPRO project you are leading, and you can submit the application 8–18 months before the planned project start-up.

The restriction applies regardless of the type of FRIPRO project you manage and regardless of which part of the FRIPRO funding for your project is part of (FRIPRO, FRIHUMSAM, FRIMEDBIO or FRINATEK).

If you are unsure which date applies to you, contact the case officer for your project. You will find contact information for the case officer in the contract for the project, which can be found on "My RCN web".

How long before the planned project start-up should I apply?

We estimate an average application processing time of 6–8 months, varying from approximately 2–10 months. This means that you should calculate 2–10 months from submitting your application until you receive an answer. If the application is approved, you may need to update the application/make some changes before we approve it. You will also need to arrange any collaboration agreements and approve the contract, and in addition you may need time to hire PhD candidates or others in the project.

If your project requires significant time from when you learn that the application has been granted funding for the project to start, it is advisable to apply 12–18 months before the planned project start. If you can start quickly, you can apply 8-12 months before. If you receive an answer sooner than you expected and would like to start sooner, we will normally approve this. If the application processing takes more than 8 months, you can also obtain approval to postpone the start of the project if this is necessary for the project.

FRIPRO's application processing

Below is a description of how we process applications to FRIPRO.

Preliminary assessment

First, the Research Council administration checks whether the grant application meets all the formal requirements set out in the call. If your application does not meet the requirements, we will ask you to withdraw the application and possibly submit it again with the necessary changes.

Peer review

Grant applications will be sent to peer reviewers who will carry out a scientific assessment of the applications based on the assessment criteria set out in the call. All grant applications must be assessed by a panel comprising at least three referee reviewers, and we define these referee panels as the application's own referee panel. Each peer reviewer may participate in one or more panels.

How do we find peers?

The Research Council has established a database of peers who have agreed to participate in peer review of FRIPRO applications, to more quickly and efficiently put together referees with appropriate expertise to assess the applications received. This means that we collect peers regardless of when the applications are submitted to the FRIPRO scheme and supplement them as needed. Peer reviewers commit for several years at a time, and generally we use the same peer review for a maximum of three years.

We have the following general requirements for the peer reviewers we use:

• They will have their workplace abroad.
• They must be active researchers with a significant production, both in terms of quality and quantity.
• They should have professorial qualifications. The minimum requirement is associate professor qualifications or equivalent.

All submitted applications are compared with the competence of the peers in the database based on the content of the application using artificial intelligence (AI). Case officers then assess whether the AI-proposed peer reviewers are suitable for assessing each individual application.

We supplement the database as needed with searches in, for example, Web of Science, Google Scholar and well-known foreign universities within the various fields of study. The list of sources varies from field to field. We also consider the applicant's own proposals for suitable peers or a description of suitable competence.

Impartiality

Peer reviewers assess their impartiality for the applications we want them to assess. We ask them to pay particular attention to the points in the impartiality provisions concerning cooperation, friendship and conflict. Peer reviewers will not have access to applications for which they are disqualified and will not participate in discussions of such applications.

Competence

Peer reviewers assess their level of competence based on title, objectives and summary. It is therefore very important that you write these texts so that the reviewers can state their level of competence as precisely as possible. Before peers receive this information, they must consent to our confidentiality agreement. Peer reviewers can choose one of three levels of competence in each application:

• Specialist (S): The proposal is within your primary area(s) of expertise or connected to your research interests. You are well qualified to evaluate the proposal.
• Generalist (G): You have a general knowledge of the main subject of the proposal (or at least one of the main subjects if there are several). You are qualified to evaluate the proposal.
• Minor (M): You have only minor relevant expertise on the main subject(s) of the proposal.

Write your application so that it can be understood by peers with general expertise in the research field.

The Research Council's competence requirement is that at least two of the referee panels assessing the grant application must have generalist or specialist expertise in the grant application. If the panel has only three members, all of them must have generalist or specialist expertise in the grant application.

Information for peer reviewers

Peer reviewers receive our general guidelines for application processing in FRIPRO. The four assessment criteria (Potential to advance the research front, Quality in R&D activities, Impact and Implementation) have been elaborated, together with a definition of the grading scale. Among other things, we emphasise the importance of consistent grading and the quality of feedback to applicants.

Application assessment

The panel members read and assess the grant application, and each submit their own preliminary assessments before the panel meets digitally to discuss the grant application. At the meeting, they discuss the application and arrive at a consensus-based assessment with marks.

A single peer reviewer may participate in several panel meetings in one day, together with the same or different peers. How many depends on how many applications have been received around the same time that are likely to be assessed by the same peers.

Research Council employees participate in the meetings, but not in the scientific discussion. We have a guiding role and contribute to a common understanding of the assessment criteria and the grading scale. We ensure that everyone has their say, handle disqualification in line with the rules and stop discussions on matters that are outside the panel's mandate. We check that the assessment texts are in accordance with the panel's decision and meet our quality requirements.

Decision

The portfolio board for ground-breaking research makes decisions on grants, rejections and quarantine every two months (normally even-numbered months). Which applications are awarded funding will depend on the available budget and a set of rules for prioritising grant applications.

The rules are determined by the portfolio board and are intended to contribute to achieving the objectives of the FRIPRO scheme and the priorities described in the calls for proposals, as well as ensuring equal treatment. The Research Council administration submits lists to the portfolio board indicating which applications are to be granted and rejected in accordance with the rules.

The budget for each decision round corresponds to the proportion of funding rounds that year (normally six), and is thus independent of the number of applications that are ready for decision. This means that FRIPRO's annual budget will not be spent early in the year, even if there are many applications under consideration then.

Rules for decisions for applications to FRIPRO

Only applications awarded a mark of 6 or 7 for all assessment criteria are eligible for FRIPRO funding. All applications below the qualification threshold for funding in FRIPRO will be rejected. Project managers for applications awarded marks lower than the grade limits for a submission restriction period (see section further up about this) will be placed under a submission restriction period.  

Eligible applications are entered into the competition for funding in three decision rounds. If your application is eligible, but is not granted in the first round of decisions, it will be given a second chance in the next round of decisions. If it is not granted then either, it will enter a third and final round. Applications that are included in their second or third round compete on an equal footing with newly received applications. This method will help to even out any random differences in the quality of applications for consideration in different parts of the year, and ensure that the quality of applications awarded funding is as equal as possible, regardless of when they have been submitted.

Applications will be granted funding until the budget allocated for the decision round has been exhausted, in accordance with the rules for prioritising applications for allocation.

The Portfolio Board for Ground-breaking Research is scheduled to set rules for prioritisation of grant applications within the available budget at its meeting in April 2024.

Feedback to applicants

We provide information on our website and in the newsletter about which applications have been awarded funding and statistics on applications and marks. We plan to make our first announcement of results in June 2024.

All applicants will receive a letter of decision on "My RCN web" with feedback in the form of marks with written justifications for the four criteria against which the panel has assessed the application, as well as information about which peers participated in the panel.

Applicants whose applications are rejected will receive a letter of rejection, while applicants whose applications have been granted will receive a letter requesting funding. The letter of funding contains requirements for changes and updates that must be made before the Research Council and the Project Owner (the applicant institution) can enter into a contract.

The responsible portfolio board

The Research Council's portfolio for ground-breaking research is responsible for FRIPRO.