Support for events

Applications will be accepted from approved Norwegian research organisations, companies, groups of companies, public entities and organisations that have been issued an enterprise number under the Register of Business Enterprises. See here for the list of approved Norwegian research organisations and the definition of public sector bodies.

Sole proprietorships and private persons are not eligible to apply for support for events.

Some research programmes may stipulate additional requirements. More information about this is available under the individual programme.

Requirements relating to the Project Owner

The organisation listed as the Project Owner in the application form must have authorised you to submit the grant application.

• Support from the Research Council is limited to maximum 50 per cent of overall approved project costs for the event.
• Applicants may seek up to NOK 100 000 in funding per event. Certain programmes may stipulate other limits. See “Relevant thematic areas for this call” below.
• Funding will only be awarded to cover direct costs, such as hire of a venue, materials, procured services, and travel expenses for invited presenters. Expenses related to giveaways, gifts to speakers, etc. will not be covered.
• Support may not be used for payroll costs. These costs are not to be included in the funding amount sought, but may constitute part of own financing and should therefore be identified separately in the budget and final accounts.
• If a participation fee is required this is to be reflected in the budget and final accounts. The participation fee may constitute part of own financing.
• Travel expenses for participants in the event will not be covered.

More information about the budget can be found here.

The Research Council will only disburse funding for events that are carried out. Funding will be disbursed in arrears based on an approved account report. The funding provided may not contribute to a net profit.

De minimis aid

Support to research organisations or other entities that pursue both economic and non-economic activities may only be used for the organisation’s non-economic activity. Thus, it does not constitute state aid. The Research Council requires a clear separation of accounts for the organisation’s economic and non-economic activities.

Support will be awarded to companies as de minimis aid. This means that companies (defined as an “undertaking” in the state aid rules) may receive maximum EUR 200 000 in de minimis aid over a period of three fiscal years.

Prior to disbursement of any de minimis aid, the Research Council will request written confirmation and an overview of all other de minimis aid that the company has received in the course of the three fiscal years in question. For companies that are a part of a group of linked enterprises, the ceiling amount generally applies to the group as a whole. For more information on de minimis aid, see the Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013.

The Project Owner (institution/company) is responsible for selecting the archiving solution(s) to use for storing research data generated during the project. The Project Owner must specify the planned solution(s) in connection with the revised grant proposal.

Please note that it is not possible to revise and resubmit grant applications multiple times for calls for proposals with open-ended submission deadlines. It is therefore important that your application is completely finished before you submit it.

General requirements:

• All items in the project description template must be completed. Responses to each item should be as concrete and clear as possible.
• The applicant/Project Owner must come from an eligible category of institution.
• The grant application must lie within the scope/satisfy the objectives of this call.
• The application form must be fully completed.
• The project description must provide answers to the items set out in the text of the call.
• Grant applications and all attachments, may be submitted in Norwegian or English.
• All attachments must be uploaded in PDF format.
• The required attachments must be included using the designated templates.

Requirements relating to finances and budget:

• The funding amount sought, expenses to be covered and any own financing to be provided must be in keeping with the framework of the call.
• The budget must be formulated correctly to clearly indicate what the funding will cover.

All the templates for attachments are available for download at the end of the call for proposals.

Mandatory attachments

• A project description of maximum 5 pages using the designated template.
• A CV of maximum 4 pages for the project manager, using the designated template.
• A preliminary programme for the event.

Applications that do not satisfy the above requirements will be rejected.

Links to websites and documents, as well as other attachments than those specified above, will not be included in the application review process. There is no technical validation of the content of the attachments you upload, so please make sure that you upload the correct file for the selected type of attachment.

In 2019 the Research Council is introducing three new assessment criteria: Excellence, Impact and Implementation. These criteria have been designed to be applicable for assessing basic and applied research activities alike.

Applications will be processed by the Research Council administration. The processing time is up to six weeks after receipt of the application.