Application results for the calls for Researcher Projects with deadline 10 February 2021

Did you apply for one of the Researcher Project calls in February? We have announced which applications have been granted funding.

This year’s deadline for submitting an application under the calls for a Researcher Project was 10 February. NOK 3.7 billion were announced divided between four calls:

Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal (NOK 2,118,000,000) – 1,600 applications
Researcher Project for Young Talents (NOK 468,000,000) – 540 applications
Three-year Researcher Project with International Mobility (NOK 65,000, 000) – 93 applications
Large-scale Interdisciplinary Researcher Project (NOK 1,070,000,000) – 188 applications

Applications have been submitted for a total of NOK 27 billion.

Last year, because of the low number of applications granted under the Ground-breaking Research (FRIPRO) topic over several years, the Research Council’s Executive Board decided to use the council’s provisions to increase the allocated budget for this topic by NOK 300 million in 2021.

Applications granted in December

We have granted 39 applications for Large Interdisciplinary Researcher Project within the topic Groundbreaking Research (FRIPRO). The call for proposals is funded through Fellesløft IV, a joint venture in which the research institutions and the Research Council each cover half of the budget of NOK 1 billion.

Applications for Large Interdisciplinary Research Project granted in December 2021 (Fellesløft IV) (pdf)

Universities have prioritized between their own qualified applications and have had the opportunity to increase their contribution to the Fellesløft IV in order for more applications to be granted. The other institutions were offered to co-finance their qualified applications. Decisions on allocation have been made to the portfolio boards following feedback from the universities and the other institutions.

Application results august

As a result of additional funding for excellent research and challenge-driven humanities research, 11 applications for Researcher Project were granted funding in august 2021.

Applications for Researcher Project granted in august 2021 (pdf)

Applications results 24 June

Publication of results

We have announced which applications have been granted funding on the front page of forskningsradet.no, in our newsletter and in a press release (in Norwegian). The application results will also be published in the call under which you submitted your application .

Each individual applicant will receive an answer to their application in My RCN Web. Although we start sending the reply letters as soon as the results are published, many applicants may not receive a reply until after the summer holiday. We will also take account of the institutions’ holiday periods when we set the deadlines for revising granted applications and appealing rejections.

What does the reply letter say?

The reply letter contains information about the outcome of the application review process, feedback from the referee panel and, if the application has been assessed for relevance, a brief description of the factors emphasised in the portfolio assessments and what was decisive to the final decision.

If you selected more than one topic in the application, it may have been assessed for relevance in relation to several topics. In such case, you will receive separate feedback for each individual topic.

Improved written feedback from referees

The application review process for Researcher Project was up for debate this winter, and we received much input on what could be improved. Many concerned the referees’ feedback on applications and their use of the scale of marks.

In order to ensure that the referees’ use of this scale is as uniform as possible and that the written feedback on the application is as clear as possible, our case officers have followed up the referee panels more closely than before. We have specified to the referees that the panel’s feedback must be concise and reflect the panel’s overall assessment. The feedback is meant to state the grounds for the mark and not serve as a guide to how the application can be improved.

The other input received in this debate cannot be assessed in relation to this year’s application review process, which was carried out soon after last year’s allocations and was planned in detail well before the application deadline.

We will issue information about the changes planned for the calls for proposals in 2022 and 2023 this autumn.

The application review process

Applications are first assessed by a joint set of referee panels composed on the basis of the research content of the applications. The referee panels have assessed the applications regardless of which topic(s) the applicant has selected.

The Research Council then considers the application’s relevance to the topic(s) selected by the applicant. The administration presents alternative ranked lists to the portfolio boards, which decide which applications will be granted funding.

Applications under the topic Ground-breaking Research (FRIPRO) are exempt from the assessment of relevance.

Referees and referee panels that have assessed the applications

Results from the application review process 2016–2020

Number of applications and percentage of applications granted per call for proposals in 2019-2020:

	2019		2020
Researcher Project for	Applied	Granted	Applied	Granted
Scientific Renewal	2,303	12.2%	1,694	11.7%
Young Talents	467	11.8%	512	8.4%
Three-year with International Mobility	114	10.5%	128	10.2%
In total	2,884	12%	2,363	10.8%

Below is an overview of the results of the application review process for the former application types Researcher Project, Young Talents and Mobility Grants under what was then FRIPRO for the years 2016–2018

	2018		2017		2016
Application type	Applied	Granted	Applied	Granted	Applied	Granted
Researcher Project	811	7%	767	8%	788	8%
Young Talents	376	9%	398	9%	353	13%
Mobility Grant	92	16%	70	20%	75	20%
Total	1,279	8%	1,235	9%	1,216	10%

Messages at time of print 18 April 2024, 21:49 CEST

Important message

For the application deadline 24 April, we manage our hotline +47 22 03 72 00 Monday 22 April and Thursday 23 April at CEST 08.00–15.45 and Wednesday 24 April at CEST 08.00-13.00.