How does the ‘Money Follows Cooperation’ model work?
Money Follows Cooperation makes it possible for Norwegian researchers to receive funding from foreign research councils when they participate in research and innovation projects in other countries.
Mutual broadening of access to national funding schemes
The MFC-agreements are bilateral agreements which mutually open up national funding schemes to foreign researchers from the partner country. This allows research funding organizations to fund projects which are partly implemented in a foreign country. MFC simplifies cross-border funding since it omits the need to have a separate scheme or call for international projects. The goal is to encourage and facilitate collaboration between Norwegian and foreign researchers, and to reach a proportional level of funding between the partner countries.
More about the model
Norwegian researchers can participate in an application sent to a research council we have a MFC-collaboration with. If the application succeeds, the foreign research council will also fund the Norwegian part of the project. The Norwegian part will be funded in line with the foreign research council's rules and regulations. Accordingly, international collaborators in applications to the Research Council of Norway (RCN) will be funded in line with our national rules and regulations.
No specific bilateral calls for proposals
The MFC model normally omits bilateral calls but open up national calls for international cooperation. The application process is therefore dependent on which national call you're applying to.
Questions relating to the RCN's calls should be directed to the contact persons of the given call.
RCN has signed MFC agreements with the following research councils:
The Agreement with Japan is with the Japan Agency for Science and Technology (JST) and was signed in 2019. It allows Norwegian researchers to receive funding in Japanese led applications to JST and for Japanese researchers to receive funding in Norwegian led applications to RCN.
The agreement (pdf) with the Dutch Research Council (NWO) was signed in 2019. It allows Norwegian researchers to receive funding from NWO. For more information, visit their website.
The agreement (pdf) with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) was signed in 2018. It allows Norwegian researchers to receive funding from SNSF via their International Co-Investigator Scheme. This scheme has a deadline twice a year, one 1st of April and one 1st of October. For more information visit SNSF's website.
RCN has concluded an MFC agreement with KETEP (Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning) which covers the following thematic areas: Energy effectiveness, renewable energy, smart grid and energy storage systems (ESS).
- On the Norwegian side, Norwegian project leads can involve South-Korean research organizations in applications to RCN and receive funding under our calls, for example Researcher Project or Collaborative Project to Meet Societal and Industry-related Challenges. The agreement allows for up to 40 % of the budget to be allocated to the South-Korean partner.
- On the South-Korean side the agreement allows KETEP to continuously open calls for collaborative projects with Norwegian partners within the thematic areas of the agreement. KETEP tends to check the potential interest for collaboration by allowing the submission of draft proposals. The calls usually have short deadlines and projects are expected to start up the same year.
The MFC Agreement is concluded with the UKRI (UK Research and Innovation), which is an umbrella organization for several research organizations in the UK. The following research councils are part to the agreement: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Medical Research Council (MRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
The agreement allows Norwegian project leads to involve British collaborators in their applications and these collaborators can be funded based on RCN's rules. Up to 50 % of the budget can be allocated to the British partner. RCN can give funding to cover personnel costs, social costs and research costs.
On the British side, Norwegian researchers can be involved in applications to UKRI and up to 30 % of the budget can be allocated to them. UKRI covers salaries and direct costs, however be aware that indirect costs or overheads are not covered.
The agreement with the Turkish Research Council TÜBITAK was signed in December 2024 and lasts until December 2026.
For more information, see A New Collaboration Model Between TÜBİTAK and the Research Council of Norway (RCN) | TÜBİTAK | Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu.
The application process of these research councils can be found at each council's respective website.
Messages at time of print 23 May 2026, 10:25 CEST
High demand
In connection with the application deadline of 27 May and the transition to the new application system, many of us are now receiving many inquiries. Therefore, it may take longer than usual before you receive a response. We will answer you as quickly as we can. It is a good idea to read through our information about applying in the new application system before you contact us.
Important message
For the calls for proposals with the application deadline 27 May at 13:00 CEST, we manage our hotline +47 22 03 70 00 Thursday 21 May, Friday 22 May and Tuesday 26 May at CEST 08:00–15:00 and Wednesday 27 May at CEST 08:00-13:00.