Knowledge-building Project for Industry
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We will have new portfolios from 1 January 2024. The thematic areas in our calls reflect the new portfolios. You will therefore find that some research topics lie under new thematic areas. Under this call, this applies in particular to the following:
- The research topic Petroleum is under the thematic area Energy and transport
We reserve the right to make possible changes to the call for proposals after we have received the letter of allocation for 2024.
Important dates
24 Jan 2024
Open for applications
13 Mar 2024
Application deadline
01 Oct 2024
Earliest permitted project start
01 Apr 2025
Latest permitted project start
31 Mar 2029
Latest permitted project completion date
Important dates
Last updates
We unfortunately made the mistake of writing that the time period for support for postdoctoral fellowships is between "two and four years". The new Act relating to Universities and University Colleges (which is expected to come into force from 1.1.25) requires postdoctoral fellows to be employed for three to four years, and the Research Council has already introduced this rule. You can read more here. The call text has been updated with this correction.
If you have already included a postdoctoral fellowship of less than three years in the application and are not able to change this before the application deadline, you will have the opportunity to incorporate this change in the event that we enter into a contract. At the same time, we emphasise that the requirement applies to the duration of the post-doctoral period, and not to the number of man-years. This may, for example, mean that the Research Council's funding for a postdoctoral fellow may remain two years even if the candidate is employed for three years, with salary funding from another source in one of the years.
Purpose
The purpose of the funding is to encourage research organisations to cooperate with trade and industry to generate knowledge that business and industry and society need to solve major societal and business challenges. We require the business sector to provide cash financing for the projects.
About the call for proposals
Through this call, we support projects that, in binding collaboration between R&D actors and actors in the industry sector, develop new knowledge that is needed to meet important societal challenges.
We require that the industry actors are partners in the project and finance parts of the R&D actors' costs.
Through this call we support both basic and applied research.
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In addition to this call, we have four others with a deadline in March that are aimed at research organisations. The five calls for proposals in total are the three thematic priority Researcher Project calls with a deadline of 6 March 2024 (Researcher Project for Early Careers, Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal and Large Interdisciplinary Researcher Project) and the two calls with deadline 13 March 2024 (Knowledge-building Projects for Industry and Collaborative Project to meet Societal and Industry-related Challenges). The thematic texts under this call provide information about which of the other calls may be of relevance to each thematic area. We therefore recommend that you also review any other relevant calls for proposals to see which one is most suitable for your project. Please note that we do not move applications between calls for proposals, and that it is therefore important to apply for the correct call. Please also note that you can only serve as project manager on one application for this and our four other calls with deadline in March. This limitation does not apply to FRIPRO's ongoing calls for proposals. It is therefore possible both to apply to one of the five calls above, and to the FRIPRO calls. |
Before applying, you must familiarise yourself with "Guide to the applicant – knowledge-building project for industry".
- See our video tutorial that tells you how to fill in the application form (in Norwegian).
- Watch a recording of applicant webinar about the March deadlines for researchers (in Norwegian)
The call is available in both Norwegian and English. The Norwegian call text is legally binding.
Who is eligible to apply?
Only approved Norwegian research organisations may apply. See here for the list of approved Norwegian research organisations.
Who can participate in the project?
Requirements relating to the Project Owner
The organisation listed as the Project Owner in the application form must have approved the submission of the grant application to the Research Council. The grant application must reflect the strategic objectives of the Project Owner.
Requirements relating to the project manager
The project manager's professional competence and suitability to carry out the project will be assessed by peers. There are no formal requirements for the project manager's qualifications.
Requirements relating to collaboration and roles in the project
- The project must involve at least two Norwegian partners from the industry sector (see the guidelines for definition) that provide cash financing for the project.
- The grant application must reflect the strategic objectives of all partners. They will also confirm this in the letters of intent.
- The Project Owner and partners are to carry out the project through effective collaboration. See definition in the guide.
- In principle, the Project Owner or partners may not be in a relationship of dependency, for example through a group relationship, with a subcontractor in the project. They must operate at arm's length from these. The Project Owner and partners must also be independent of each other. This means that one cannot have controlling influence over the other. This applies both between the Project Owner and the partner, and between all partners. Read more about such dependencies here.
- A project participant may not have multiple roles in the project, for example as partner or subcontractor.
- Partners that are not research organisations are not to lead the project or major tasks.
- The project must have a steering group or reference group comprising the partners.
- The project cannot be commissioned research. In the grant application, you must describe how the expertise developed under the project can be of benefit to larger user groups.
What can you seek funding for?
The Research Council will not award state aid under this call. This means that funding from the Research Council may only be used to finance the research organisations' project costs, and that the results from the project must be widely disseminated and benefit other actors. A plan for dissemination of the results must be described in the grant application.
The costs of partners that are not research organisations, both Norwegian and foreign, must be excluded from the budget tables. The activities they will perform, as well as their own financed costs, must nevertheless be described in the project description, under section 3.2.
Scope of funding
- Business partners must cover at least 20 per cent of the project's total costs in the form of cash contributions, both in total and on an annual basis. The cash financing must be confirmed in letters of intent.
- You must apply for at least four million NOK from the Research Council.
- Cash financing from foreign business partners (including Norwegian-registered foreign enterprises) or general government will not count as part of the contact financing requirement.
The following cost types should be used:
- Payroll and indirect expenses related to researcher time (including research fellowships) at the research organisations. For doctoral research fellowships, support is limited to a maximum of three full-time equivalents, and for postdoctoral fellowships, support may be awarded for three to four years.
- Equipment, which includes operating and depreciation costs for scientific equipment and research infrastructure necessary to carry out the project.
- Other operating expenses, which are costs for other activities necessary to carry out the project. Purchases from subcontractors must be specified.
Note that the cost type Procurement of R&D services should not be used.
If the project includes doctoral and post-doctoral research fellowships and there are specific plans for research stays abroad for these, this may be included in the application. The Research Council has also issued a separate call for Funding for Research Stays Abroad for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellows. Here, the project manager can apply for funding for research stays abroad for research fellows participating in the project during the project period. Please note that the separate call for proposals sets out a number of requirements regarding who is eligible for support for the stay abroad
If there are specific plans for visiting researcher stays or stays abroad for researchers participating in the project, this may be included in the application. The rules for such stays and information about rates can be found on the budget information page (see link below).
You will find detailed and important information on the website about what the budget should contain.
Costs incurred by international partners
The Research Council's allocation may cover costs incurred by the international research organisations. See Calculating payroll and indirect expenses in the university and university college sector.
We cannot cover the costs of other international partners. These costs must therefore be excluded from the budget tables. The activities they will perform, as well as their costs, must nevertheless be described in the project description (under section 3.2).
Conditions for funding
Support awarded to the research organisations must only go to their non-economic activity in the form of independent research. Thus, it does not constitute state aid. We assume that the necessary accounting separation is in place.
We require annual project account reports documenting incurred project costs and their financing. The Research Council's Assumptions for allocation and payment of support are specified in our General term for R&D projects.
If the project is awarded funding, the following must be in place when you revise the grant application:
- The Project Owner is to draw up collaboration agreements with the project partners, both Norwegian and foreign. The collaboration agreements are intended to regulate reciprocal rights and obligations and to safeguard the integrity and independence of research. The collaboration agreements are also to ensure that no partner undertaking receives indirect state aid from the Project Owner or partners. The collaboration agreement shall therefore contain conditions that ensure compliance with Section 28 of the EFTA Surveillance Authority's guidelines on state aid for research and development and development and development.
- If the project involves PhD and post-doctoral research fellowships where the responsible university and university college institution is not participating in the application, you must also have a collaboration agreement with the responsible/degree-conferring institution.
- From 2022, research organisations that receive funding (Project Owners and partners) must have a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) available on their website.
- The Research Council requires full and immediate open access for scientific articles; see Plan S - Open access to publications.
- For all projects that handle data, the Project Owner must prepare a data management plan in connection with the revised grant application. Here you will find more information about requirements for data management plans in projects that receive funding from the Research Council.
- The Project Owner is responsible for selecting which archiving solution(s) to use for storing research data generated during the project.
Reporting and disbursement of funding
Funding will be disbursed in arrears, and only actual expenses entered in the institution's accounts will be covered. All reporting shall be done electronically.
Relevant thematic areas for this call
The thematic areas under this call are grouped into the thematic areas below. The topics contain special requirements and guidelines that will be given weight when assessing grant applications.
Energy and transportation
The funds will be used to build knowledge in CO2 management.
You can apply for funding for the following research areas:
- next-generation CO2 capture technology
- biomass combined with CO2 capture and storage, often referred to as BECCS (Bio Energy with CO2 Capture and Storage)
- socio-economic and social science research on preconditions for the development and implementation of CO2 capture and storage, DAC (Direct air capture) or BECCS
Grant applications must also fall within the topics described in CLIMIT's work programme.
Applications must include a doctoral degree.
You can apply for up to NOK 7.5 million in funding per project.
When we award a mark for the application's relevance, we will place emphasis on whether the project
- contribute to realisation of benefits from the Longship project
- includes use of ECCSEL's research infrastructure
- has several funding partners that are well integrated into the project
- has funding from internationally exposed industries
- has a scope that it is realistic to implement within the amount sought
If the applications are relevant to the points above, priority will be given to projects that:
- addresses technological solutions that can accelerate the development towards the green shift
- are interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary
- have good gender balance
For projects of approximately the same quality, priority will be given to projects in 2024 that address BECCS or contribute to developing new knowledge about incentives, policy instruments, regulations and business models
It is not possible to use surplus financing from centre schemes (FME, SFI, or PETROSENTER) as part of the cash financing for the project. Surplus financing refers to industry financing that forms part of the collaboration agreement for a research centre. Any letters of support from research centres will not be considered.
Contact persons
Relevant plans
Funding is available for projects that support long-term, sustainable development of the energy system, promote the transition to a zero-emission society and promote competitive Norwegian trade and industry.
The project must address at least one of the following eight areas:
- new renewable energy production based on solar energy, wind, hydropower, bioenergy and other thermal energy
- energy distribution infrastructures, including an integrated and digitalised grid
- solutions for efficient energy use in buildings and built-up areas
- energy efficiency and decarbonisation of industrial processes
- batteries and electrification of transport
- hydrogen and other hydrogen-based energy carriers, as well as biofuels
- energy transition and impacts on society, climate and nature
The areas are defined in chapter 4.1 of the Portfolio plan for Energy, transport and low emissions (see Relevant plans below).
It is possible to apply for funding for both short-term projects addressing particularly relevant issues and broad, more long-term projects.
The recommended amount of funding sought from the Research Council is NOK 8–14 million.
It is not possible to use surplus financing from centre schemes (FMEs, SFI, etc.) as part of the cash financing for the project. Surplus financing refers to industry financing that forms part of the collaboration agreement for a research centre. Any letters of support from research centres will not be considered.
Relevance to the call
When we award a mark for the application's relevance, we will place emphasis on whether the project will contribute significantly to at least one of the thematic areas described above, and whether the project:
- includes doctoral degree (for long-term, large-scale projects)
- contributes to recruitment and education in the energy sciences also at bachelor's and master's level
- has several financing partners, preferably from industries exposed to competition, and where several of the partners contribute substantial parts of the funding
- is strategically anchored with all partners
- has collaboration with relevant international research communities
- has a scope that is within the recommended amount sought
To ensure good competence building and recruitment to energy research, we encourage you to let younger researchers in as project managers. We recommend that you combine this with a mentor scheme and that you describe this in the project description under section 3.1.
Portfolio assessment and priority areas in 2024
We will strive for a balanced project portfolio that covers the breadth of the areas described above and contributes to the implementation of the R&D strategy Energi21.
The marks awarded for the four main criteria will mainly determine which projects succeed in the competition.
When choosing among projects of approximately equal quality, we will in 2024 prioritise projects that will contribute to realising Norway's offshore wind ambitions or that will contribute to more efficient and flexible energy use in mainland industry and buildings/areas.
We strive to achieve good gender balance among project managers in our portfolio. This also means that, in the event of otherwise equal conditions, priority will be given to projects that contribute to a better gender balance.
Contact persons
Batteries and electrification of transport
Solar energy
Energy transition and impacts on society, climate and nature
Hydropower
Energy distribution infrastructures, including an integrated and digitalised grid
Hydrogen and other hydrogen-based energy carriers
Wind power
Built-up and built-up areas
Geothermal energy
Bioenergy and biofuels
Energy consumption in manufacturing industry
Other energy-related topics not mentioned above
Other relevant calls with the same topic
Funding is available for projects encompassing basic and/or applied research on issues related to petroleum activities in open areas on the Norwegian continental shelf. For issues related to safety in the Norwegian petroleum industry, land-based facilities are also relevant.
Projects eligible for funding within this topic must fall under at least one of the following five areas:
- reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and the environment
- subsurface understanding
- drilling, completion, intervention and permanent abandonment of wells (P&A)
- production, processing and transport
- major accidents and working environment
The areas are described in more detail in the portfolio plan for Petroleum.
In 2024, we wish to prioritise projects targeting energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to petroleum activities on the Norwegian continental shelf. In the application, you must give an account of the estimated total emission reductions for the technology/technologies the project intends to develop, including quantitative greenhouse gas accounts. You must also describe the time perspective and framework conditions for implementing the knowledge/technology and see it in the context of the industry's new climate targets for 2030 and 2050.
Priority will be given to grant applications that:
- include researcher education for doctoral and/or post-doctoral fellows, and who contribute to research-based teaching at master's level
- incorporate collaboration with another Norwegian research organisation in addition to the minimum requirement for participation by industry
- have concrete plans for international cooperation
- have industry partners who are well integrated into the project and contribute with significant funding
To ensure beneficial competence building and recruitment within petroleum research, we encourage you to assign the role of project manager to younger researchers, provided that you combine this with a mentoring scheme so that experience and expertise are addressed in the project team.
The recommended amount of funding sought from the Research Council is NOK 8–16 million to ensure that the majority of the projects are of a certain size.
Delimitation
All applications must clearly target the petroleum industry. The Petroleum portfolio will exclusively prioritise projects where the technology is directly applied in the Norwegian petroleum operations and linked to the thematic priorities set out in the Petroleum portfolio plan. Grant applications primarily targeting the renewable energy sector, including CCS, geothermal energy, offshore wind and hydrogen, are not eligible to apply for the thematic area petroleum. Applications that fall outside the scope of the topic will be rejected.
You must avoid activities that duplicate other, ongoing projects and centres. It is not possible to use surplus funding from centre schemes (FME, SFI or PETROSENTER) as part of the cash financing for the project. By surplus funding we mean industry funding that is part of the collaboration agreement for a research centre. Letters of support from research centres will not be considered.
Relevance
When awarding marks for the application's relevance, we will consider how well the application addresses the points above, in addition to the general requirements and characteristics of the call.
Portfolio assessment
We will strive for a balanced overall project portfolio that covers the breadth of the areas described above and contributes to the implementation of the portfolio plan for petroleum and the R&D strategy OG21. KSP applications relating to ongoing research centres or other ongoing projects must be clearly defined and distinctly new.
Contact persons
Relevant plans
Other relevant calls with the same topic
Practical information
Requirements for this application type
You can amend and submit the application several times up to the application deadline. We recommend that you submit your application as soon as you have completed the application form and uploaded the mandatory attachments. When the application deadline expires, it is the version of the application that was submitted most recently that we will process.
- The grant application and all attachments must be submitted in English, with the exception of the attachment to the relevance report, which may be in Norwegian.
- All mandatory attachments must be included. The attachments must be in PDF format.
- The project must start between 1 October 2024 and 1 April 2025. Projects that have been approved for allocation, but do not start during this period, may lose their allocation.
- You must clearly demonstrate that the project meets the priorities described in the topic from which funding is being sought.
Mandatory attachments
- Project description of maximum 11 pages You must use the 2024 template.
- CVs for the project manager and key project participants, maximum four pages each. You decide which project participants are the most important. Key project participants who are researchers can use the CV template called "Template for CV researchers". Other key project participants can use the CV template called "Template for CV".
- Letters of intent from all partners. See an example of a letter of intent on our guide. The cash contribution from industry actors must be specified in the letter of intent. Cash contributions entered in the project budget, but not specified in the letter of intent, will not be included in the assessment of grant applications.
- Description of relevance on a maximum of one page. When describing the application's relevance, we recommend that you read the relevant thematic text carefully. Uploaded as attachment type "Other".
You must use default templates for all required attachments. The templates can be found at the end of the call.
All requirements set out in the call must be met. Grant applications that do not satisfy the formal requirements, requirements relating to the Project Owner and requirements relating to collaboration and roles in the project, will be rejected.
We will not consider attachments other than those specified above, or documents and websites linked to in the application. The system does not perform any technical validation on the contents of the attachments you upload, so be sure to upload the correct file for the correct attachment type.
Optional attachment
Please enclose proposals for up to three experts (or academic communities) who you believe have the competence to assess the application, or a brief description of the competence that you believe will be suitable for assessing it. We are not obliged to use the suggestions, but can use them when necessary. We encourage gender balance in the proposals.
All attachments must be submitted with the application. We will not accept attachments submitted after the application deadline unless we have requested additional documentation.
Assessment criteria
We assess applications in light of the objectives of the call for proposals and on the basis of the following criteria:
Excellence
• Scientific creativity and originality.
• Novelty and boldness of hypotheses or research questions.
• Potential for development of new knowledge beyond the current state of the art, including significant theoretical, methodological, experimental or empirical advancement.
The quality of the proposed R&D activities
• Quality of the research questions, hypotheses and project objectives, and the extent to which they are clearly and adequately specified.
• Credibility and appropriateness of the theoretical approach, research design and use of scientific methods. Appropriate consideration of interdisciplinary approaches.
• The extent to which appropriate consideration has been given to societal responsibility, ethical issues and gender dimensions in research content.
• The extent to which appropriate consideration has been given to the use of stakeholder/user knowledge.
Impact
• The extent to which the planned outputs of the project address important present and/or future scientific challenges.
• The extent to which the planned outputs are openly accessible to ensure reusability of the research outputs and enhance reproducibility.
• The extent to which the planned outputs of the project address important present and/or future challenges for the sector(s).
• The extent to which the competence developed and planned outputs of the project will provide the basis for value creation in Norwegian business and/or development of the public sector.
• The extent to which the planned outputs of the project address UN Sustainable Development Goals or other important present and/or future societal challenges.
• The extent to which the potential impacts are clearly formulated and plausible.
Communication and exploitation
• The extent to which the appropriate open science practices are implemented as an integral part of the proposed project to ensure open sharing and wide distribution of research outputs.
• Quality and scope of communication and engagement activities targeted towards relevant stakeholders/users.
• The extent to which the partners are involved in dissemination and utilisation of the project results.
Implementation
• The extent to which the project manager has relevant expertise and experience and demonstrated ability to perform high-quality research (as appropriate to the career stage).
• The degree of complementarity of the participants and the extent to which the project group has the necessary expertise needed to undertake the research effectively.
The quality of the project organisation and management
• Effectiveness of the project organisation, including the extent to which resources assigned to work packages are aligned with project objectives and deliverables.
• Appropriateness of the allocation of tasks, ensuring that all participants have a valid role and adequate resources in the project to fulfil that role.
• Appropriateness of the proposed management structures and governance.
• Appropriateness of the partners' contribution to the governance and execution of the project.
Relevance to the call for proposals
The extent to which the project satisfies the guidelines and priorities of the thematic area
• The extent to which the project satisfies the thematic guidelines and delimitations.
Requirements and characteristics of the call
The extent to which the project satisfies the requirements and characteristics of the call and the thematic area
• The extent to which the project satisfies the requirements for partners in the project.
• The extent to which the project satisfies the purpose of competence-building in the research environments.
Administrative procedures
We will consider your application as it has been submitted.
Once the grant applications have been received, the Research Council will first check that all formal requirements have been met. Applications that do not satisfy the formal requirements will be rejected.
In addition, grant applications that fall outside the thematic delimitations set out in the call will be rejected. Decisions to this effect are made by the individual portfolio boards.
Where the formal requirements are met, we will make the application, with all mandatory attachments, available in an online portal for experts who individually assess the criteria "research quality", "impact and impact" and "implementation". The referees will then meet in thematic referee panels to reach a consensus-based assessment of the grant application for each of the three criteria.
If all of the referee panel's assessment of all criteria is 4 or higher, the application will also be assessed by the Research Council's case officers on the basis of the criterion 'Relevance to the call for proposals'. The assessment and marks for all four criteria will be consolidated into an overall mark that indicates the merit of the application.
The Research Council also bases its decisions by the portfolio boards on an overall portfolio assessment. This takes into account:
- the applications' assigned marks based on the assessments.
- the distribution of projects according to priority areas set out in the thematic area.
- the relationship between grant applications within other calls within the same thematic area.
- any changes in the ministries' financial or scientific framework for the award.
Other considerations will also be taken into account by the portfolio boards under each thematic area.
As a general rule, the portfolio board will hold resolution meetings before summer 2024. We will publish the results of the application review process after these meetings.
On the Research Council's website, you can read more about the processing procedure for Collaborative and Knowledge-building Projects.
See also: How we process applications.
Messages at time of print 7 May 2024, 11:24 CEST