EEA grants and Norway grants

Participation in the EEA and Norway Grants funding scheme

This webpage provides information to faculty and other staff on how the University of Oslo can participate in the EEA and Norway Grants funding schemes, known in Norwegian as  "E?S-midlene". 

The Grants provide an opportunity to build networks and develop longterm collaboration with strategic partners in the 15 beneficiary countries of the Grants.The basics of how the Grants work is presented here.

Programmes funding Research or Educational Co-operation 2014-21

 

Croatia

Education and local development programme

  • 26 million euro has been granted to an Education and local development programme

Estonia

Calls for proposals:

Information on the programme from the Norwegian Research Council (in Norwegian).

Information on Estonian Research organisations:

The Czech Republic

Research programme

Educational programme

Hungary

4,5 million has been granted Education and Scholarships. The cooperation agreements was signed in Desember 2020 Hungary | EEA Grants

Latvia

  • €14,5 million has been granted to Research and Education.
  • Research funding will be offered under a common  EEA Financial Mechanism Baltic research programme with participation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Support for mobility of researchers is included in the programme.
  • Programme Operator: Latvian Ministry of Education and Science

Calls for proposals:

Lithuania

  • €10 million has been granted to Research and Education.
  • Research funding will be offered under a common  EEA Financial Mechanism Baltic research programme with participation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Support for mobility of researchers is included in the programme.
  • Programme operator: Research Council of Lithuania

Calls for proposals:

Information on the programme from the Norwegian Research Council (in Norwegian).

Poland

€20 million has been set aside for an educational programme and €110 million for research.

RESEARCH

The research funding is divided between a fundamental research programme (40% of funding)  run by the National Science Centre (NCN)  and an applied research programme (60% of funding) run by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR).

Information on the programme from the Norwegian Research Council (in Norwegian).

  • Open Calls:
    • Basic research: GRIEG Call for collaborative projects within basic research (closed)
    • Applied research: POLNOR 2019 Call under the applied research programme (closed)
  • Information on the Polish research and education system:
    • Ranking of Polish Research. The Polish ministry of higher education and research evaluates and ranks institutions based on research performance criteria. The ranking is linked to the financing system: Funding is increased for institutions ranked in categories A+ and A while it stays stable for category B.
      • The list of institutions (2017) may be useful as a first step in identifying potential partners. The list is only available in Polish. Explanations with Norwegian translations:
        • N-jednostki : antall vit. ?rsverk

          • Kryt 1: vitenskapelige og kunsteriske resultater (publikasjoner)

            Kryt 2: vitenskapelig potensial (gradsgivende, deltagelse i internasjonale prosjekter, styrer og verv, lab og utstyrspark, aktiv i rekruttering og utvikling av vit.pers...)

            Kryt 3: impact, praktiske resultater av vitenskapelig og kunsterisk aktivitet (patenter, inntekt fra kommersialisering...)

            Kryt 4: andre resultater

EDUCATION

Programme operator  Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE)

Calls for proposals in 2019, 2020 and 2021 (closed).

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

  • € 20 million has been granted to a Business Development, Innovation and SMEs programme.
  • Up to 15% of the grant has been set aside for an educational component.
  • Programme operator: Slovakia Research Agency

Slovenia

  • €13,5 million has been granted to Education, including grants and exchanges.

Other programmes with Research and Education Relevance

  • Funding for research, education and mobility may be provided as components of other programmes (such as environmental programmes, innovation programmes).
  • Other programme areas may also include education and training, R&D, surveys, evaluations and other activities. UiO staff may be involved in other programme areas by providing advice, consultancy, help develop trainings etc.
  • UiO staff need to verify which specific rules apply to their involvement in each case ("sidegj?rem?l", "oppdrag" etc).

How can you participate? 

You are new to the Grants

Have you been approached by a potential partner who plans to apply for project funding?

  • Find out first if the programme which will provide the funding is a Resesarch Programme, an Educational Programme or another type of programme financed under the EEA/Norway Grants.
  • Ask for links to the programme descriptions and call texts to make sure you have the relevant information. If the call text is not in English, we recommmend that you request a translation.
  • Note that the rules and opportunities for funding your participation will vary according to programme type and country.

You are searching for funding opportunities within the Grants

Are you looking for funding opportunities for Research or Educational Collaboration Projects or individual mobility in partnership with beneficiary country institutions? 

  • Find out if a research or educational programme exists or is planned for the country you are interested in by checking the country overview above.
  • Since most calls stay open only for two months, you are advised to contact potential partners and plan project proposals well ahead of the calls being launched.
  • Funding for preparatory visits will be normally be available through open calls.

The rules applicable to the programme and calls will be available in the call documents.  Experienced UiO participants will find that the Grants work in a similar way to the previous period. Specific details such as selection procedures, funding levels, rates etc. have been updated and user-friendliness increased.

Key terminology

See our page with main terms that you will come across in the context of the the EEA and Norway Grants.

How the EEA and Norway Grants work

The Grants provide funding for collaboration between institutions in Norway, and in the case of EEA Grants, also between Iceland and Liechtenstein and specific beneficiary EU countries. The beneficiary country institutions always acts as project promoter for collaborative projects.

Generally, the projects are well funded, requiring little or no co-financing from the Norwegian partners. For the Norwegian partners the programme administration appears user-friendly and relatively simple.

Not all countries offer the same programmes. Refer to the country heading for each country for an overview of the programmes offered.

Funding period

  • The Grants are donated for multiannual periods.The current funding period covers 2014-21.
  • Project funding ends in April 2024 at the latest. The funding period for individual projects is specified in the project contract.

Application process

Regular projects

  • The project promoter is responsible for submitting the project application to the programme operator.
  • The Norwegian institutions act as project partners.
  • Terms and conditions are published in the calls on the programme operator Web site.
  • As a general rule, any public of private legal entity established in a beneficiary country is eligible to apply. Any restriction has to be agreed in specific cases and will be published in the calls. Previously there have been restrictions for educational and research programmes, which have sometimes restricted application to education and research institutions.
  • Individual apply via their institutions.

Other projects and activities

  • Preparatory visits for meeting partners and planning projects and similar preparatory activities: Norwegian institutions may apply for funding directly to the programme operator if permitted under a specific call.
  • UiO staff may also apply directly for funding of other activites if permitted by a specific call.

What can be funded?

  • The EEA and Norway Grants provide funding in a number of areas.
  • The bilateral research and educational cooperation programmes, and student and staff mobility under these and other programmes are most relevant to the UiO. Other programme areas may also be of interest to UiO departments (Culture, Energy, Environment, Public Health etc.). 
  • Each programme description and related calls set out the areas of support and the measures that can be funded. 

How to find open calls

This info page will provide links to Web pages where you can find open calls. It is also advisable to follow the Norwegian programme partners' web sites.

Funding for bilateral research cooperation

Funding for bilateral educational cooperation and mobility

  • Links to the  specific programmes in each country are provided under the country headings.
  • Link to description of programme area "Education, Scholarships, Apprenticeships and Youth Entrepreneurship"

Participation in other programme areas

UiO may be involved in other programme areas by providing advice, consultancy, help develop trainings etc.

 

Advice to Norwegian Project Partners

Partner finding stage

  • Finding the right partner with common interests and complementary competencies and capacities is essential for a succesfull partnership.
  • Various partner data bases and assessment tools can be consulted:

You have agreed with a partner in a beneficiary country to apply for project funding

Project proposal stage

  • You are strongly advised to engage with your benefiary country project partner at the earliest possible stage in the development of the project. This is essential to ensure mutual benefits from the collaboration and a clear definition of your role in the project, the amount of funding allocated for your part in the project etc. Please note that the Department Head should co-sign the application according to the general guidance for externally financed project cooperation. See Roles and Responsibilities Project Owner (in Norwegian only)

Project agreement

You must enter into a written agreement with the project coordinator setting out the conditions of the partnership and the obligations of the partners. At the UiO, the legal advisor of the Academic Administration Department can check the agreement before it is signed. Your department financial advisor should check the budget.

See the relevant Work Support page for more information on contracts, roles and responsibilities. Please note that  the rules and advice relating to the role and responsibilities of "Project Owners" at the UiO apply in so far as relevant to the role as project partner, which is the role that the UiO partner generally has under the EEA/Norway Grants programmes.

Research projects at UiO: Resources when you're applying for funding, and for managing or supporting a research project at UiO.

These pages provide guidance through the main steps you will go through when you plan and carry out an externally financed research project - from pre-award to completion, with links to resources to support your work.

 

Where can Norwegian project partners get more advice and assistance?

  • The Norwegian programme partners Diku (formerly SIU) and the Research Council are the main sources of information for the Norwegian Research and education sector. The Norwegian programme partners do not manage the programmes. Their role is to provide advice the programme operator during programme Development and implementation. They are well placed to provide advice and assistance to Norwegian partners.
  • Diku and the Research Council provide advice and information for programmes for which they are official programme partner
  • Innovation Norway acts as programme partner for the programme area "Business Development, Innovation and SMEs" which may have relevant compontents for the HEI sector (see e.g. Portugal) 
  • Your department international advisor, research administrator, financial adviser or other designated officer can provide assistance to academic staff in the preparation of Project proposals and the implementation of projects according to department procedures.
  • The  Educational Quality Office provides support for Educational Programmes through the Erasmus coordinator. Research programmes and general information is available through the coordinator at the Research Support Office.

More about partnerships under the Grants

Contact

University of Oslo contact email

Diku (external Website in Norwegian)

Research Council (external Website in Norwegian)

Open calls and newsletter

More info?

Check our webpage with Resources for EEA and Norway Grants

 

 

Published Mar. 12, 2018 10:40 AM - Last modified Feb. 2, 2022 9:15 PM
E-mail this page