Collaborative project to meet challenges in the maritime industry

This call is in a new application system. You can find more information about the new system here.

In addition to our requirement for who can be the Project Owner, we have requirements for the project manager's competence and for who can be collaborating partners.

For all participating organisations, the following applies:

• One and the same actor cannot have two different roles in the project. This means that, for example, a subcontractor cannot simultaneously be the Project Owner or a collaborating partner in the project.
• Some research organisations, such as health trusts and some research institutes, have tasks of a more administrative or commercial nature in addition to their research activities. The nature of such tasks enable them to be included in a project as a representative of the societal or industrial challenge. However, it is important to note that an organisation cannot act both as a research organisation and as a partner outside the research sector in the same project. If they act as a research organisation, they will not count toward our requirements relating to collaborating partners. The roles must therefore be clearly stated in the project description.
• Public agencies or entities can be considered different partners in the project even if the legal owner is the same. We then assume that they contribute with different user perspectives. This must be stated in the project description.

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 collaborating partners in the project. These costs must be entered in the budget 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 related to researcher time (including research fellowship positions and the project manager's position) at the research organisations participating in the project. For doctoral scholarships, the support is limited to three full-time equivalents. For postdoctoral fellowships, the support is limited to a minimum of three years and a maximum of four years. See our website about postdoctoral research fellowship positions and doctoral research fellowship positions. For researcher positions in the institute sector, you must use the reported hourly rates.
• Other project expenses, which are costs for other activities that are necessary to carry out the project's R&D activities. Any purchases from subcontractors must be entered here. All costs you enter as other project costs must be specified in the application.
• Equipment, which are costs that include operating and depreciation costs for scientific equipment and research infrastructure necessary to carry out the project.

The item Procurement of R&D services must not be used.

You can only apply for funding for research activities that can be characterised as basic research or industrial research (for sectors that are not the industrial sector, industrial research can be understood as applied research). Under this call, we do not provide funding for experimental development, operational activities or measures for commercialisation, marketing or other utilisation of research results.

You can find more information about how to set up a budget on our website Set up work packages and budget in the new application system (My page).

Foreign organisations similar to Norwegian research organisations are eligible for funding. See Budgeting costs for collaborating partners abroad.

Expenses of Norwegian collaborating partners that are not research organisations

Industry partners

Companies that are to be collaborating partners must be registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises and have economic activity in Norway. By economic activity, we mean offering goods or services in a market. This means that the collaborating partner must either be a private company, or a public enterprise that conducts activities of an industrial or commercial nature.

Collaborating partners whose project expenses are covered by our support will be recipients of state aid. The state aid rules impose restrictions on such funding. These limitations depend on the size of the enterprise and the type of research being conducted. Please note, however, that in this call, we only grant funding that corresponds to the funding intensity for industrial research, even if the company or companies are involved in basic research in the project.

If the application is recommended for funding, we will ask for more information to ensure that our funding is in line with the regulations.

Public actors

Public actors other than those mentioned in the section above are not covered by the state aid rules. This means that we can cover up to 100% of their costs.

The voluntary sector

Actors from the voluntary sector that do not fall under the definition of economic activity are not covered by the state aid rules and can have up to 100% of their costs covered.

Foreign collaborating partners

We cannot cover the expenses of foreign collaborating partners that are not research organisations. Such costs must therefore be kept out of the budget tables. However, you must mention the activities they will carry out and the costs associated with them in the application.

The application must be created and submitted via the Research Council's application system.

Please note that you can only submit the application once. If you submit the application and subsequently discover that it needs to be changed, you must submit a new application and notify us that the original application is to be withdrawn. When you submit the new application, you must fill in the entire application form again.

You must write the application in English.

You should not link to websites in the application. Any links you provide will not be included in the assessment of the application.

The Research Council of Norway may reject applications where the Project Owner or any partner has significantly breached its obligations in other projects funded by the Research Council within 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 by the Joint Integrity Committee or the Investigation Committee in the last two years prior to the submitted application.

The call is available in both Norwegian and English. The text in the Norwegian call for proposals is legally binding.

The panel will assess the application in light of the purpose of the call and the following criteria:

Excellence

• The extent to which the objectives are clear and relevant to the purpose of the call.
• The extent to which the project is ambitious and will challenge the state of the art.
• The extent to which interdisciplinary approaches are adequately addressed.
• The extent to which the gender perspectives in research and/or innovation are adequately addressed.
• The extent to which ethical issues are adequately addressed.
• The extent to which the theoretical approach, research design and choice of methods are credible and suitable.

Impact

• The extent to which the expected impact of the project underpins the purpose of the call.
• The extent to which the results from the project are likely to make significant and important contributions.
• The extent to which the planned results will contribute to achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
• The extent to which the plans to achieve the described impact are credible.
• The extent to which the plans and measures for dissemination and exploitation of the results are suitable for maximising the expected impact.
• The extent to which proper practice for open research is integrated, including the sharing and management of the research results.
• Where relevant, the extent to which the plans for cooperation with stakeholders, including citizens, end users and society in general, are suitable.

Implementation

• The extent to which the project participants’ expertise is complementary and that they as a whole have the necessary expertise.
• The extent to which the project manager has relevant expertise and experience.
• The extent to which the allocation of tasks ensures that all project participants have a clearly defined role and adequate resources to fulfil that role.
• The extent to which the plan for the implementation of the work is clear and realistic with defined milestones, work packages and deliverables.
• The extent to which the proposed management structures and governance are appropriate.

The extent to which the project is strategically supported by the Project Owner and the collaborating partners.

Applications that do not satisfy the formal requirements or do not meet the purpose of the call will be rejected. Applications that fall outside the delimitations set out in the call will be rejected without further consideration.

Applications that meet the formal requirements and fall within the scope of the call will be submitted to a panel of at least three panel members for assessment. The panel members make their individual assessments of the application and award a mark per criterion. After they have written the individual assessments, the panel meets for discussion, so that the application receives a joint panel assessment. In the meeting, the panel agrees on a joint panel assessment with grades and written assessments for each of the criteria.

The scale of marks goes from 0 to 5, where 5 is the highest. You can find more information on our information page about Scale of marks and assessment criteria.

Thresholds for marks

• We consider applications with an average mark ≥3.0, and no single mark ≤2, to be eligible for funding and will process these further.
• All other applications will be rejected.

Assessment of whether the application satisfies the academic, thematic and/or structural guidelines set out in the call

The administration will assess the extent to which the application meets the requirements and the thematic, academic and/or structural guidelines described in the call.

Portfolio assessment and decisions by the portfolio board

The administration makes a recommendation to the portfolio board. Applications can be recommended for allocation or rejection.

The portfolio board makes the decision on allocation or rejection. The decision is based on a portfolio assessment with the aim of identifying the applications that best meet the objectives, guidelines and priorities of the call as a whole.

Feedback on the application

You will receive feedback in the form of a decision letter. This includes written assessments and grades for each assessment criterion and a written justification for the decision.