Funding in Norway - an overview
In Norway, funding for research is provided via a sectoral principle, meaning that the various ministries are responsible for funding research within their respective sectors. The Ministry of Research and Education coordinates overall research policy, which is approved by the Government and the Storting (Norwegian parliament).
Public R&D funding is either allocated directly to the research institutions or channelled through funding agencies.
Researchers wishing to come to Norway should normally look for a position at a research institution as it is the research institutions that directly advertise project-related researcher positions, including doctoral and post-doctoral positions.
- There are four options:
- Look for a vacant position directly.
- Contact the research institutions for an overview of vacancies.
- Do a bibliometric search within your field of interest to see which institutions publish relevant project results, and then contact these.
- Contact your own professional network as well as Norwegian alumni organisations.
- For more information see: Research job opportunities
- Norway has a single research council which covers the entire spectrum from basic research to innovation, and administers a wide variety of funding schemes and research programmes. Funding from the Research Council is awarded on a competitive basis in the form of project funding and other types of support.
- Please note that the partner to the contract with the Research Council must be a Norwegian research institution. Thus, foreign researchers must be affiliated with a Norwegian research institution to have access to the schemes and programmes. International collaboration is an integral component of all Research Council activities.
- For more information see where you can find the calls for proposals on the Research Council's website
- For more information see: Research Council website – International > Funding
- For more information see: INTPART website
Nordic collaboration in research and innovation is divided into two main pillars with appurtenant funding agencies: one for research – NordForsk – and one for innovation – Nordic Innovation. The two agencies issue calls for proposals on their respective websites.
Nordic Centres of Excellence (NCoEs) are a funding instrument that brings together outstanding Nordic researchers and research groups in priority research areas to create added value through Nordic collaboration and pooling of resources and to further enhance the scientific quality of Nordic research.
- For more information about Nordic research and funding see: NordForsk
- For more information about Nordic innovation and funding see: Nordic Innovation
A good overview of European funding opportunities may be found at Researcher career funding opportunities (Research Council of Norway)
The funding agencies that channel public R&D funding are::
- The Research Council of Norway is a national body for the development and implementation of national research strategy and allocates 30 per cent of all public R&D funding. The Council is responsible for enhancing Norway’s knowledge base and for promoting basic and applied research and innovation in order to help meet research needs within society. The Research Council also works actively to encourage international research cooperation. For more information see: Research Council of Norway
- Innovation Norway employs funding instruments to support Norwegian companies in developing their competitive advantages and to enhance innovation. For more information see: Innovation Norway
- The Industrial Development Corporation of Norway (SIVA) is a government enterprise and national instrument for developing and facilitating innovation through ownership in infrastructure, investment in real estate and development of knowledge networks. For more information see: SIVA