Innovation Project for the Industrial Sector: Industry and services 2026

The purpose of this call is to promote research-based innovation and restructuring in the business sector, solve major societal challenges in a climate-friendly manner, and increase market opportunities and provide financial benefits for companies. Through the Innovation portfolio, the Research Council supports projects within the industry and service sectors that contribute to solving major societal challenges in a climate-friendly, environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner. Research-based innovation and restructuring, in both established and new business sectors, are critical to achieving these goals.

Through the Innovation portfolio, the Research Council supports projects in industry and service industries that contribute to solving major societal challenges in a climate-friendly, environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner. Research-based innovation and restructuring, in both established and new business sectors, are critical to achieving these goals. This call applies to applications where the scope of application of the innovation is within the following thematic areas:

• Health industry: Includes pharmaceuticals, medical technology, diagnostics and digital health services for prevention, treatment and care, aimed at human health.
• ICT industry: Includes software, IT services, telecommunications, computer systems and digital platforms for a wide range of applications.
• Processing and refining industry: Includes the chemical industry, metal production, pulp and paper processing and other raw material-based processing for further applications. This also includes the mineral industry.
• Manufacturing Industry: Encompasses advanced manufacturing of mechanical components, electronics, furniture, and other factory-produced goods for various markets.
• Building, construction and real estate: Includes planning, construction, rehabilitation and management of buildings and infrastructure. Also includes research-based development of real estate for both residential and commercial purposes.
• Service industries:
  • Retail/wholesale: Includes the distribution, sale, and marketing of consumer goods and specialty products, including physical commerce, e-commerce, and logistics.
  • Travel and Tourism: Encompasses the following industries: accommodation, catering, activities and culture (experiences) and transport, as well as development of destinations for the domestic and international market.
  • Media and culture: Includes the production and distribution of content in film, television, games, literature, art and entertainment, as well as digital and print media.
  • Finance and banking: Includes services in banking, insurance, investment and asset management, as well as the development of digital payment solutions and financial technology.
  • Other services: Includes consultancy services, education, legal services, real estate management and other knowledge- and service-based industries.

The call is limited to applications where the scope of application of the innovation is within the defined thematic areas. Applications that are considered to fall under other thematic areas or portfolios will be rejected.

It is a general principle that projects that receive funding from the Research Council must contribute to Norway's commitments under the Paris Agreement and the low-emission society in 2050.

If ranking is required, priority will be given to projects that are most sustainable in terms of climate, the environment and society, and that contribute to a better gender balance and better regional distribution in the active portfolio. For more information on allocation principles, see Evaluation Procedures.

Up to 15 per cent of the announced funding will be allocated to projects in less research-intensive areas and areas that are poorly represented in the active portfolio.

NOK 40 million has been set aside for projects that develop and implement solutions that contribute to increased reuse, repair or sharing of scarce resources, in line with the sub-goals of the Circular Economy Mission (regjeringen.no). The projects must be able to document concrete climate and environmental benefits through reduced material use, lower emissions and more efficient use of resources. The projects may include the development of solutions that support the circular transition through the development of new innovative products, services or circular business models.

The Project Owner must be registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises and have economic activity in Norway. This means that the Project Owner must either be a private company, or a public enterprise that conducts activities of an industrial or commercial nature. In the rest of the call, we use the collective term "company".

Sole proprietorships cannot be Project Owners, but they can be partners.

There are no formal requirements for the project manager, but the professionals will assess whether the person in question has relevant skills and experience.

Norwegian companies that are to be partners must meet the same criteria as the Project Owner in order to participate in the project and receive funding. Partners must enter into effective collaboration with the Project Owner, which means, among other things, that they share both the risk and the results that result from the project. The partners whose costs are covered for part of their costs by the Research Council's support will be recipients of state aid. Read more about effective collaboration.

All partners must have identified costs in the project, but they can choose not to have the costs covered through the award.

For sole proprietorships that are to be partners, there are separate rules for the costs we can cover.

Norwegian and foreign research organisations and other expert communities can participate in the project as R&D provider, with responsibility for carrying out R&D work on behalf of the companies in the project. R&D providers are not required to contribute to financing the project, and therefore do not normally have rights to the project results. They deliver work on commission, and are paid for this work at market price. However, if an R&D provider is to take part in the rights to the project results, the price of the agreed assignment must be adjusted by deducting the market value of the rights from the price.

Where doctoral work is part of the R&D provider's work on the project, you may not impose restrictions on the publication of the doctoral work, with the exception of any pre-agreed postponement of the date of publication.

Since the research organisations' work in the innovation projects is carried out on assignment, the work of universities and university colleges in such projects is defined as contract-funded activity. This means that work performed by PhD candidates must also be invoiced at market price. The prizes for this work are not tied to the Research Council's fixed rates for research fellows. Any research fellows who carry out work in these projects do not have the same rights to have their stays abroad covered as research fellows who are wholly or partly funded by the Research Council.

Foreign organisations that are not R&D providers in the project can participate, but they cannot receive support from us. Instead, they must cover their own costs in full.

The Project Owner or partners may engage subcontractors to deliver services and contribute to the implementation of certain tasks in the project. Subcontractors cannot be given rights to project results.

Organisations that are subject to the regulations for public procurement must in the usual way carry out the selection of subcontractors in line with these regulations.

Read more about the use of subcontractors.

Actors who are not described above, such as other international and public actors, can participate in the project, but you must not include them as partners in the application form. You should instead mention this type of collaboration in the application form, under Implementation.

Read more about collaboration agreements, partners and R&D providers.

Article 25 of the EU Block Exemption Regulation describes in more detail which activities can be supported and which costs of these activities can be covered in whole or in part. Funding may cover direct and indirect project costs to the extent that they are costs related to industrial research or experimental development.

Read more about state aid.

You can apply for funding to cover up to 50 per cent of the costs of each of the companies in the project. The degree of support for the company's project costs within the framework of 50 per cent depends on the size of the company and the type of R&D activities.

Please note that we are not making full use of the room for manoeuvre in the state aid rules. In this way, we will be granted more innovation projects. The state aid rules allow a small company to be covered up to 70 percent for IF, and a medium-sized company up to 60 percent for the same. However, none of them can receive more than 50 per cent under this call, even though all the activities are industrial research.

• Example 1: a small company with all the costs within the IF: The state aid rules indicate that public support can contribute 70 per cent of the costs, but the company can only cover 50 per cent through an innovation project in the business sector.
• Example 2: a medium-sized company with all the costs within the EU category: The state aid rules indicate that state aid can cover 35 per cent of the costs, and that is what the company can be covered.
• Example 3: a small company with half of the costs within the IF category and half within the EU: The state aid rules indicate that state aid can cover 57.5 per cent of the total costs, but we only cover up to 47.5 per cent of them.
• Example 4: a medium-sized company with half of the costs within the IF and half within the EU: The state aid rules indicate that state aid can cover 47.5 per cent of the costs, but we only cover up to 42.5 per cent of the costs.

Since the Research Council only allocates up to 50 per cent to industrial research even though the company could have been covered by up to 70 per cent, you can apply for additional funding from other public schemes, such as Innovation Norway and SkatteFUNN.

The final amount and percentage of support will be determined in the grant letter.

This call constitutes an aid scheme that must be notified to the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) and has the reference: GBER XX/2026/R&D&I.

The aid under the scheme is awarded in accordance with Article 25 of the Block Exemption Regulation (Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014). In addition, the general conditions in Chapter I of the Regulation must be met.

See the Consolidated Block Exemption Regulation with amendments up to and including June 2023  (link opens in a new window). The scheme shall be practised in accordance with the EEA Agreement's state aid rules. Terms and concepts shall be interpreted in accordance with the corresponding terms and concepts in the aid rules. In the event of any conflict between the announcement and the state aid rules, the latter shall take precedence. For the same reason, the call for proposals may also be adjusted.

Aid may not be granted to undertakings that have not complied with the requirements for repayment following a previous decision by the ESA/EU Commission declaring the aid illegal and incompatible with the internal market. Nor may aid be granted to undertakings in difficulty within the meaning of EEA law.

The Research Council's conditions for funding can be found in our general terms and conditions for R&D projects on this information page.

The Research Council requires a high standard of research ethics in the projects we fund. You must therefore provide a brief description of how ethical issues will be handled, to show the panel that you have an appropriate plan for this.

The responsibility for ensuring that the research ethics standard is followed lies with the individual researcher and research organisation (cf. the Research Ethics Act). The panel's assessment and the Research Council's decision on the award do not entail any approval of research ethics.

For more information, see the Research Council's research ethics requirements website.

If your application is approved, you must be aware of the following:

• You cannot have started any of the activities in the project before you submit the application. If you intend to submit an application for other funding schemes (including SkatteFUNN) for the project, you can read more about the incentive effect and combination of policy instruments here.
• You must cover all costs that may arise from the time you submit the application until you receive the letter of allocation from us.
• The latest date for the start of the project will be four months after you are notified of the award. Projects that have not started by this time may lose the award.
• Funding from other public actors for the project or for activities included in the project may affect the scope of the Research Council's funding.
• If you receive state aid from us that is equivalent to EUR 100,000 or more, we will make it known in the Register for State Aid  (link opens in a new window).
• The project manager and the Project Owner must have assessed and managed any issue of research security in the project. Research security refers to the risks related to undesirable transfer of knowledge and technology, malign influence on research and innovation or violations of research ethics or integrity, where knowledge and technology are used to undermine key societal values.
• 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.