Recruitment of Talented Researchers to Norway
Download the call
Download templates
Important dates
01 Jul 2025
Earliest permitted project start
31 Dec 2026
Latest permitted project start
30 Dec 2029
Latest permitted project completion date
Important dates
Purpose
The Research Council supports the recruitment of talented international researchers to the Research Council's centre calls and for projects funded through FRIPRO's call for experienced scientists. The background for the scheme is the difficult situation that many researchers and institutions are now experiencing globally. The aim of the scheme is for Norwegian research organisations to have a special opportunity to recruit talented international researchers who can establish themselves in Norway, thus contributing to raising the quality and academic added value of the research communities with which the researcher will be associated.
About the call for proposals
The scheme aims to attract talented researchers from countries outside Europe to Norway.
The researchers that the Norwegian research organisations wish to associate with, cannot live in or be employed at institutions within the Council of Europe's definition of Europe (46 Member States of the Council of Europe - Portal). Russia is also excluded from the scheme.
Researchers must be linked to a research centre with funding through one of our centre calls or to a Researcher Project with funding through FRIPRO's call for experienced scientists. The organisation to which the researcher can be linked is the Project Owner and/or Norwegian collaborating partners that are research organisations. We expect the management of the research organisations to take responsibility for prioritising the applications that will be submitted under this call.
The project description must contain answers to the following questions (maximum three pages):
- Why do you want this researcher to establish themselves in Norway?
- How will the researcher contribute to academic quality improvement in the research community with which they will be associated?
You can apply for up to NOK 3 million per year to cover the costs defined below.
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 management of the Project Owner that has ownership of the centre and/or the project with funding through FRIPRO's call for experienced scientists, is eligible to apply under this scheme. The Project Owner may also apply on behalf of a Norwegian collaborating partner that is an approved research organisation.
Who can participate in the project?
Requirements relating to the Project Owner
The project must start and end while the centre or the FRIPRO experienced scientists project still has active funding from the Research Council.
Requirements relating to the project manager
The centre director or project manager for FRIPRO experienced scientists must be the project manager for the application.
Requirements relating to the foreign researcher
In line with the Research Council's other mobility schemes, the researcher cannot already be employed by a Norwegian research organisation or reside in Norway.
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 the partners in the project. These costs must be entered in the cost plan under the cost type to which they belong.
We require that you break down the project budget into the following cost types in your application:
- payroll and indirect expenses, which are costs incurred by the Project Owner or partner for the researcher
- 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 associated with travel and accommodation for the researcher. All costs entered as "other operating expenses" must be specified in the application.
The cost type procurement of R&D services cannot be used.
You will find detailed and important information about what to enter in the project budget on the website.
Scope of support
The size of the projects can be up to NOK 6-9 million in total, spread over 2 to 3 years. We do not require own financing.
Conditions for funding
The project must start between 1.7.2025 and 31.12.2026. The latest permitted project completion date is 30.12.2029.
In addition, you must be aware of the following if you should receive support from us:
- The Research Council's conditions for funding 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 that are research organisations and public sector entities (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, where you will find more information about the 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 is open to 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 3 pages. Use the standard template that you can download at the bottom of the page.
- CV for the foreign researcher. Use the standard template that you can download at the bottom of the page.
Applications that do not meet the requirements above will be rejected.
All attachments to the application must be submitted with the application. 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 by the Research Council's administration, but please note that we will open new calls in subsequent years, where we will also have ongoing application processing until the funds in the individual call have been used up.
It is the management of the Project Owner that has ownership of the centre and/or project that assesses the quality of the researcher and the research for which funding is being sought. The Research Council will not review this assessment. The administration only checks that the criteria for an application are met, cf. the project description and mandatory attachments.
You can expect an answer to the application no later than 4 weeks after you have submitted it.