Centre for Research on Extremism
Download the call
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Important dates
12 Aug 2026
Open for applications
23 Sep 2026
Application deadline
01 Jan 2027
Earliest permitted project start
01 Jul 2027
Latest permitted project start
30 Jun 2032
Latest permitted project completion date
Important dates
Purpose
The aim of the centre is to ensure up-to-date knowledge about radicalisation and violent extremism in Norway, as well as develop knowledge about possible preventive measures. An additional aim is to strengthen the interaction between research communities and the field of practice.
About the call for proposals
Several incidents in recent years have underscored the need for strengthened knowledge and understanding of radicalisation, prevention and management of violent extremism. Right-wing extremism and extreme Islamism are considered to constitute the most significant terrorist threats to Norway today, but other forms of extremism can also pose threats.
The threat landscape is complex and constantly evolving shaped by geopolitics, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and political polarisation in the United States. Social media and artificial intelligence play an increasingly influential role. Radicalisation is happening in new ways, and ideologies are not always as clear as they used to be. The rapid development in the landscape of threats and challenges may lead to new knowledge needs in the future.
The Extremism Commission has highlighted a need for research on how new technology impacts the field of extremism, radicalisation processes, the effect of preventive measures, and the various forms of how extremism manifests.
The research centre shall:
- conduct high-quality theoretical and empirical research on violent extremism - and strengthen the understanding of related phenomena
- cover various forms of violent extremism, including right-wing extremism and extreme Islamism, without being limited to these
- produce results of relevance to inform the formulation of Norwegian policy
- develop knowledge about radicalisation and online recruitment/use of social media and digital platforms
- develop knowledge on prevention and how to get out of a radicalisation process or violent extremist environments
- contribute to the development of methods and instruments in research on violent extremism and related phenomena/processes
The centre must include research resources from several institutions and academic communities.
We require that the centre has:
- national, Nordic and other international cooperation
- a clear link to higher education (master's level)
- funded recruitment positions (PhD candidates)
- a plan for national and international scientific publishing, as well as user-oriented dissemination
- a plan for mobilisation to raise funds from other funding resources (nationally and internationally)
- an annual meeting place/conference for researchers and key users of research
The centre will be established for a period of five years, with the possibility of a five-year extension. The extension assumes, among other things, that funds are available and that the centre receives a positive evaluation. Based on assessments of the centre, the Research Council may stipulate new conditions in the contract for the future activity.
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?
Only approved Norwegian research organisations are eligible to apply. See the list of approved research organisations.
Who can participate in the project?
Requirements relating to the Project Owner
- The Project Owner must be an approved Norwegian research organisation.
- The Project Owner must have approved the submission of the application form in the application form.
- If the application is a collaboration between several organisations, the Project Owner must submit the application on behalf of all partners.
Requirements relating to the project manager
- The project manager in the application is the same as the centre director.
- 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.
- The project manager must be employed by the Project Owner or by one of the collaborating partners.
Requirements relating to collaborating partners
- Approved Norwegian research organisations and similar foreign organisations may participate as collaborating partners in the project and receive funding.
- Relevant actors outside the research sector in Norway (industry, administration and civil society) can be included as collaborating partners in the centre.
- Foreign actors outside the research sector, except for the industrial sector/enterprises, may also be included as collaborating partners.
- The application must be strategically supported by the Project Owner and all collaborating partners.
- All partners must actively contribute to the planning, follow-up and dissemination of the centre's research activities and results, and ensure that new knowledge is put to use.
Other requirements
The centre must have an advisory committee with participation from international experts on research on extremism and key users of the research.
What can you seek funding for?
You can apply for support to cover actual costs that are necessary to carry out the activity in the centre. 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 (including research fellowship positions), which are costs incurred by the Project Owner and partners in the public sector, research organisations and Norwegian business and industry. For doctoral fellowships, support is limited to three full-time equivalents, and for postdoctoral fellowships, support can be granted for three to four years. See our website about postdoctoral fellowship positions and doctoral research fellowship positions.
- Other operating expenses, which are necessary to carry out the project's R&D activities. Any purchases from subcontractors must be entered here. All costs entered as "other operating expenses" must be specified in the application. Purchases from subcontractors over NOK 100,000 must also be specified.
- Equipment, which includes operating and depreciation costs for scientific equipment necessary to carry out the project
The cost type Procurement of R&D services shall not be used.
You will find detailed and important information about what the budget must contain on the website and more detailed information about the type of application in Requirements and guidelines for research centres (strategic environmental support).
In cases where the support is to be paid as de minimis aid, you must describe this in detail in the cost plan. See more under Scope of support.
The Research Council does not provide funding for major equipment investments or infrastructure under this call.
Stays abroad for doctoral and postdoctoral research fellows must be covered within the framework of the centre. Here you can read more about stays abroad.
Costs of foreign partners
The Research Council's allocation may cover the costs incurred by the foreign partners. See Budgeting of costs for foreign partners. Visiting research stays in Norway for foreign researchers must be covered within the framework of the centre. Read more about visiting researchers' stays.
Scope of support
Funding is available for the establishment of one research centre under this call.
We do not require own financing.
Enterprises will receive the aid as de minimis aid. This means that the enterprise can receive a maximum of EUR 300,000 from the public sector over a three-year period. Prior to any payment of de minimis aid, we will request a written confirmation and an overview of all other de minimis aid that the enterprise has received during the last three financial years. The use of the de minimis funding must be reported to the Research Council on an annual basis. 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). Read more about de minimis aid.
Support for a research organisation goes to the organisation's non-economic activity. It therefore does not constitute state aid. The Research Council assumes that the necessary accounting separation is in place.
Conditions for funding
The projects must start between 1 January 2027 and 1 July 2027. The latest permitted project completion is 30 June 2032.
The Research Council's conditions for the allocation and disbursement of funding for the first year, and any commitments and disbursements for subsequent years, are set out in our general terms and conditions for R&D projects, which you can find in full on the information page What the contract involves.
In addition, you must be aware of the following if you should receive an award from us:
- The Project Owner must establish a joint collaboration agreement with all partners and a mandate for the board.
- The centre will appoint a board during the first year. It must consist of representatives of the Project Owner and the most important partners.
- 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, 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
Democracy and global development
Practical information
Requirements for this funding scheme
You can change and submit the application several times until 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 process.
- The application and all attachments must be written in English
- All attachments must be in PDF format.
Mandatory attachments
- Project description of maximum 20 pages. Use the standard template that you can download at the bottom of the page.
- CV for project manager. Use the standard template that you can download at the bottom of the page.
- Description of relevance of a maximum of one page. When describing the application's relevance, we recommend that you read the call text carefully. Uploaded as attachment type "Other". 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.
Optional attachments
- CV for key participants in the project, maximum 10. Use the standard template that you download at the bottom of the page.
- A brief description of competence or proposals for up to three referees you believe will be suitable to assess your application. We are not obliged to use the suggestions, but can use them if necessary.
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.
Assessment criteria
Applications will be assessed in light of the purpose of the call and the following criteria:
Excellence
• Scientific creativity and originality.
• The extent to which hypotheses and research questions are innovative and courageous.
• The extent to which the centre has the potential to generate new knowledge that advances the research front, including significant development/renewal of theories, methods, experiments or empirical knowledge.
The quality of the centre's R&D activities
• The quality of research questions, hypotheses and the centre's objectives, and the extent to which they are clearly described.
• The extent to which the theoretical approach, research design and choice of methods are credible and appropriate, and interdisciplinary perspectives are sufficiently considered.
• The extent to which research conducted at the centre takes sufficient consideration of social responsibility, ethical issues and gender dimensions.
• The extent to which the centre satisfactorily addresses users/stakeholders’ knowledge.
Impact
• The extent to which the centre’s planned results can contribute to addressing important scientific challenges, both now and going forward.
• The extent to which the centre’s planned results can address important challenges in the sector(s), both now and going forward.
• The extent to which competence building and the centre's planned results will form the basis for value creation in the Norwegian business and/or public sector.
• The extent to which the centre’s planned results are relevant to the UN Sustainable Development Goals or have the potential to address other important societal challenges, both now and going forward.
• The extent to which the potential impacts are clearly formulated and credible.
Communication and utilisation
• 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.
• The quality and scope of communication and involvement activities targeting relevant stakeholders/users.
• The extent to which partners are involved in the work of utilising the centre's results.
Implementation
• The extent to which the project manager (centre director) has relevant expertise and experience and is qualified to lead an initiative of this scale.
• The extent to which the project participants complement one another, and the project group has the necessary expertise to effectively implement the centre initiative.
The quality of the centre’s organisation and management
• The extent to which organising the research activities as a centre rather than separate projects gives added value.
• The extent to which the centre will be efficiently organised, including whether the resources allocated to the different work packages are sufficient and in accordance with the centre’s objectives and deliveries.
• The extent to which the centre's tasks are distributed in a way that ensures all project participants have a clear role and sufficient resources to fulfil that role.
• The extent to which the management and governance of the centre are expediently organised, including risk and innovation management.
• The extent to which the partners contribute to the management and implementation of the centre.
The quality and extent of international cooperation
• The extent to which the scope and quality of international collaborative activities are in keeping with the centre's objectives.
Gender balance in the centre’s project group
• If the gender balance in the centre's management team (centre manager and research managers) is poor, the extent to which there is an expedient plan in place for the centre to support the development of researcher talents of the under-represented gender to qualify for senior-level positions.
Relevance to the call for proposals
Administrative procedures
Once we have received the applications after the deadline, the Research Council will first check that all formal requirements have been met. Applications that do not satisfy the formal requirements will be rejected.
Where the 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 effect" and "implementation". The referees will then meet in one or more thematic panels where they will reach a consensus assessment of the application for each of the three criteria.
If the referee panel assesses all criteria for a mark of 5 or higher, the application is eligible for award. The application will then be assessed on the basis of the criterion "Relevance to the call" by the Research Council's case officers. The relevance assessment will include the points under "We require the centre to have". The administration then writes a recommendation with recommendations to the portfolio board for Democracy and Global Development. The portfolio board bases its decision on the expert panel's assessment and the administration's assessment of the relevance of its decision.
The following portfolio criteria are used as a basis for prioritisation between otherwise equally ranked applications:
- A good plan for using the research in relevant user environments
- A good plan and strategy for how the centre and its knowledge will be sustainable, i.e. have effects beyond the allocated project period
The Research Council may reject applications where the Project Owner or partner has materially breached its obligations in other projects funded by the Research Council in the two years prior to the submission of the application.
The application may be rejected if the project manager has been found guilty of misconduct the Joint Integrity Committee or the Investigation Committee in the last two years prior to the submission of the application.
See also: How we process applications.
We expect to publish which application will be funded in December 2026.