Recruit a Researcher from Ukraine for an Ongoing Researcher Project
Purpose
The Research Council supports Ukrainian researchers employed by a research organisation in Ukraine who will contribute to an ongoing Researcher Project. The background for the scheme is the difficult situation researchers and research institutions in Ukraine are currently experiencing. When the war ends, research will be crucial for the reconstruction of the country. The purpose of this scheme is to contribute to maintaining and developing Ukrainian research. International cooperation is made more difficult by the current situation, and the scheme is intended to contribute to increasing cooperation, primarily between Norwegian and Ukrainian research communities. This could also contribute to an increased international network for the Ukrainian researcher and the research community in Ukraine. The purpose is thus twofold: to contribute to maintaining and building up Ukrainian research and contributions to ongoing Norwegian Researcher projects.
About the call for proposals
The scheme aims to support funding of researchers in Ukraine, which will be linked to and contribute to an ongoing Researcher Project.
The project description should answer the following questions:
- Why do you want this researcher to contribute to the research project?
- How will the researcher contribute to academic quality improvement in the Ukrainian research environment from which he or she comes?
We encourage researchers to spend part of their time with the Norwegian research partner through one or more visits. However, this is not a requirement.
The entire period during which the Ukrainian researcher is affiliated with the project must fall under the project period for the researcher project.
The researcher must be employed by a Ukrainian research organisation. This Ukrainian research organisation will be a partner in the project. In order for the scheme to benefit as many Ukrainian research organisations as possible, each Ukrainian research organisation can only participate in one project.
This call is subject to ongoing application processing, and the call will open for submission of applications on 1 September 2025.
The call is available in both Norwegian and English. The text of the Norwegian call for proposals is legally binding.
Who is eligible to apply?
The organisation responsible for the application must be the Project Owner for a Researcher Project that started in the period 1.8.24 – 1.8.2025.
Who can participate in the project?
Requirements relating to the Project Owner
The Project Owner must enter into a collaboration agreement with the Ukrainian organisation where the researcher is employed, when the commitment has been given and before the contract can be signed. Read more about partners.
Requirements relating to the project manager
The project manager must be the same as the project manager for the Researcher project to which the Ukrainian researcher is to contribute.
Requirements relating to the foreign researcher
The researcher must have academic qualifications that provide added value for the project, and a minimum of a Ph.D. The person in question cannot already be involved in the project applying for funding under this call. The Ukrainian researcher must be resident in Ukraine and have his/her main position at a Ukrainian public research organization or higher education institution.
Researchers may not be employed by a research organisation that is subject to international or national sanctions (see EU Sanctions Map).
Requirements for Ukrainian partners
A Ukrainian partner can be a public Ukrainian research organisation or a higher education institution, which is registered in the Ukrainian Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Organisations.
The Ukrainian partner can only participate in one project under this scheme.
What can you seek funding for?
You can apply for funding to cover the actual costs necessary to carry out the project. The Project Owner must obtain information on costs from a partner in Ukraine. These costs must be entered in the cost plan under the cost type they belong to.
We require that you break down the project budget into the following cost types in your application:
- payroll and indirect expenses, which are costs for the researcher at the Project Owner or the Ukrainian partner
- equipment, which includes depreciation costs for scientific equipment and research infrastructure necessary for the researcher's work in the centre/project
- other operating expenses, such as costs related to travel and accommodation in Norway for the researcher. All costs entered as "other operating expenses" must be specified in the application.
The cost type procurement of R&D services shall not be used.
You will find detailed and important information about what to enter in the project budget on the website.
Scope of support
Funding of NOK 1 – 1.5 million per project is available under this call. We do not require self-financing.
Prerequisites for the award of funding
The projects must start between 1.10.2025 and 31.12.2025.
The project must start and end within the project period of the Researcher Project that will involve the Ukrainian researcher.
The latest permitted project completion date is 30.12.2029.
In addition, you must be aware of the following if you should receive an award from us:
- The Research Council's prerequisites for awards can also be found in our general terms and conditions for R&D projects on the information page What the contract involves.
- The project manager and the Project Owner must have assessed and handled the consideration of research security in the project. Research security refers to risks associated with unwanted transfer of knowledge and technology, impact on research and innovation, or breaches of research ethics/integrity where knowledge and technology are used to undermine key societal values.
- Grant recipients in research organisations and the public sector (Project Owners and partners) must have action plans for gender equality (GEPs) available on their websites. This must be in place before the contract is signed for projects with grants from us. The requirement does not apply to the private sector, interest groups or the voluntary sector.
- 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 application. Here you will find more information about requirements for data management plans in projects that receive funding from us.
- For medical and health studies involving humans, the Research Council sets special requirements and guidelines for prospective registration of studies and publication of results.
Relevant thematic areas for this call
The call covers all subjects and thematic areas.
Internationalisation
Practical information
Requirements for this funding scheme
Please note that you can only submit the application once. If you submit the application and subsequently see that it still needs to be changed, you can create a new application – e.g. as a copy of the one you have already submitted – and in this way submit a new version as long as the call is open for applications.
- The application and all attachments must be written in English.
- All attachments must be in PDF format.
Mandatory attachments
- Project description of maximum 2 pages. Use the standard template that you can download at the bottom of the page.
- CV of Ukrainian researcher. Use the standard template that you can download at the bottom of the page.
- Formal approval from the Ukrainian research institution confirming the researcher's employment and that the institution will support the Ukrainian researcher's participation and implementation of the project.
- Copy of the Ukrainian researcher's PhD diploma.
Applications that do not meet the requirements above will be rejected.
The call will close on 22 October, or earlier if the funds have been used up. 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 websites linked to 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 it is possible to upload in the application form.
Administrative procedures
Applications will be processed on an ongoing basis and in the order in which they are received by the Research Council's administration.
It is the management of the Project Owner organisation for the project that assesses the quality of the researcher and the research for which funding is being sought. The administration checks that the requirements for an application are met, cf. the project description and mandatory attachments.
The Research Council of Norway and the National Research Foundation of Ukraine (NRFU) will review the mandatory attachments: CV, formal approval from the Ukrainian research institution and copy of the Ukrainian researcher's PhD diploma. NRFU mayhave a dialogue with the Ukrainian partner if needed.
You can expect an answer to your application no later than 2 months after you have submitted it.