EEA and Norway Grants and research

What are the EEA and Norway Grants?

The EEA and Norway Grants are Norway's contribution to reducing social and economic disparities in Europe. The funding is also intended to strengthen cooperation between Norway and the beneficiary countries of the EEA and Norway Grants.

Norway has entered into an agreement with the EU on a new period of EEA and Norway Grants. Projects that will be funded during the agreement period 2021–2028 and will be able to run until April 2031. The funds are used to finance projects in various fields and sectors. In the next round of EEA and Norway Grants, efforts will be concentrated on

• green transition
• democracy, the rule of law and human rights
• social inclusion and societal resilience

Read more about priorities and areas of support on the EEA and Norway Grants website.

Which activities can receive support?

The EEA research programmes cover research activities in both Norway and the partner country. The research programmes follow guidelines that are closely aligned with the EU's framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe. They will contribute to strengthening the participants' knowledge of the Framework Programme. 

The calls for proposals are administered by the Research Council's partner organisations. Relevant Norwegian partners are mainly research organisations, but the projects also involve the business sector, civil society and the public sector.

The project coordinator must be from the partner country, but there is a requirement for at least one Norwegian and/or Icelandic partner in each project.

Where can I find relevant calls for proposals?

New calls for research collaboration will be published in spring 2026 at the earliest.

Cooperation with Poland

The agreement with Poland, which was signed on 23 April 2025, provides for 140 million euro to be set aside for research collaboration with Norway and Iceland. The funds will be divided between basic research (60 million euro) and applied research and innovation (80 million euro).

Read the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' fact sheet on the agreement with Poland. 

Preparations for research collaboration with Poland are on schedule, announcements are expected in the spring of 2026.

Cooperation with Portugal

In July 2025, an agreement was signed with Portugal stipulating that 25 million euro will go to research collaboration on topics related to the oceans in the "Blue Growth" programme.

Read the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' fact sheet on the agreement with Portugal. 

Cooperation with other countries

In the agreements with Estonia and Slovakia, no funding is set aside for research programmes. Norwegian partners who wish to cooperate with these countries in the EEA and Norway Grants are encouraged to explore opportunities in other types of programmes such as "Green Transition", "Local Development" or "Bilateral Funds". These programs are also under development and will be available from 2026.

Negotiations are now underway on the composition of programmes for a further 11 countries. Only when these agreements are in place will we know whether research and development will be part of the programme activities.

You can read more about this on the EEA and Norway Grants' website.

Who has received support in the past?

To date, about 250 bilateral research projects have received funding from the EEA and Norway Grants.

In the period between 2018 and 2024, bilateral research programmes were carried out in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Portugal. There was also a joint programme for cooperation between the three Baltic states, and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

You can find information about these in the EEA and Norway Grants' results portal.