Funding for Research Stays Abroad for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellows

This scheme applies to research fellows who are fully or partially funded (at least 50%) by the Research Council in ongoing projects where an approved Norwegian research organisation is the Project Owner. It also applies to project managers for Researcher Projects for early career, young talents and young research talents who receive funding from FRIPRO. The scheme also covers research fellows in the industrial PhD and public sector PhD schemes. 

The following fall within the scheme: 

• Research fellows: Those who are funded by the Research Council and associated with projects with a Norwegian research organisation as the Project Owner.  
• Project managers: For Researcher Projects for early careers, young talents and young research talents with funding from FRIPRO.  
• Industrial PhD and public sector PhD: The company or public sector entity must be the Project Owner and be listed as the applicant, in collaboration with the degree-conferring research organisation.  

Who is applying: 

• The project manager for the main project submits the application after the research fellow has been employed and when specific plans for stays abroad are available, at least 3 months before the stay starts. Any exceptions must be justified in the project description. 
• You cannot apply for stays abroad for research fellows funded through the centre schemes (such as SFF, SFI, FME and FKB) and our other centre announcements.  

If anything is unclear, you can also see our frequently asked questions (in Norwegian). 

The scheme applies to named research fellows associated with ongoing projects funded by the Research Council where a Norwegian research organisation is the Project Owner, for industrial PhDs. and public sector PhD. and for project managers for Researcher Project for Early Careers/Young Talents/Young Research Talents who receive funding from FRIPRO.

You can only apply for the fee for stays abroad, coverage of travel expenses (a return flight, the cheapest way), visa fees and documented expenses for tuition fees.  

We will cover travel expenses for the family if they spend all, or almost all, of the period abroad with the research fellow. The Research Council does not cover travel expenses if the family is to come for a shorter visit. 

You can receive support for a stay abroad for the research fellow for 3–12 months. 

The stay abroad can be divided into shorter periods, each of a minimum of 3 months, provided that you apply for this together in one and the same application. You must justify your wish for division in the project description. 

We only cover one departure and one return trip for the PhD candidate in connection with the stay abroad. This also applies when the stay abroad is divided into several periods. 

If you apply for reimbursement of documented expenses for tuition fees, the amount must be stated in the invitation letter from the foreign host institution. 

For applications from industrial PhD projects – conditions for funding 

Enterprises will receive the aid as "de minimis aid". This means that the company can receive a maximum of EUR 300,000 over a three-year period. The Research Council must attach to the application a written confirmation and an overview of all other de minimis aid that the enterprise has received during the last three financial years. For enterprises that are part of a group, the maximum limit generally applies to the group as such. See also the EU de minimis aid regulation (Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 of 13 December 2023).  

• The project manager for the ongoing main project must be the project manager for the application for a research stay abroad. The project number of the project the research fellow is associated with must be stated in the application form (stated under Placement). 
• The amount of funding you seek and the cost types to be covered must correspond to the framework for the call. 
• The budget must be set up correctly, so that it is clear in the specification field what you are seeking funding for. 
• The field "Scholarship" in the application form must be filled in with "Type of grant", "Basis for calculating foreign scholarship", the research fellow's name and period of stay abroad. 
• You must answer all the points in the project description template. 
• The application and all attachments must be written in Norwegian or English. 
• All attachments must be uploaded in PDF format. 

Mandatory attachments 

• Project description with a plan for the stay abroad according to a fixed template (see the bottom of the call). Upload the project description in the project description field in the application form. 
• A brief CV for the research fellow according to a fixed template (see the bottom of the call). Upload your CV in the CV field in the application form. 
• Invitation from the host institution. The invitation letter from the host institution must include the period of the stay, the name of the research fellow, and the purpose of the stay. Any tuition fees the PhD candidate must pay must be stated in the letter. The letter must be signed. 
• Recommendation from the project manager. Letters of recommendation from the project manager must have the project manager's signature. 

You will find templates for the attachments at the bottom of the call. 

Other Attachments 

• For applications from industrial PhD projects where there is an enterprise applying for a stay abroad, a signed "Declaration of de minimis aid" must be attached according to a fixed template, see the end of the call. You upload the applicant declaration form under "Other" in the application form. 

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

All attachments to the application must be submitted with the application. We do not accept attachments submitted after the application deadline unless we have requested additional documentation. 

We will not consider documents and links to websites in the application or attachments other than those specified above. Be careful to upload the correct attachment type, as there are no technical restrictions on what kind of templates you can possible to upload in the application form. 

You can normally expect an answer to your application within six weeks of submitting it. 

We process the applications administratively. The Research Council will normally grant funding if the formal requirements set out in the call are met. For projects that are awarded funding, the Project Owner will receive a contract for the research stay abroad.