Learn more about the application form

Get a better idea of what the application form looks like. The following takes you through the application form and explains the terminology we use.

It is possible to create and submit grant applications from the time the call for proposals has been designated as “Apply now” and up to the application submission deadline. The call will have a link for creating an application.

Project partners

Section one of the application form pertains to the project partners. Here you are to enter information about the institutions/companies that have responsibilities and/or rights under the project. We also ask for information about certain key personnel and contact persons here.

Project Owner and project administrator

The Project Owner is the organisation, company or public sector entity that is responsible for carrying out the project.

The call provides information about the kinds of organisations, companies and public sector entities that can serve as the Project Owner.

Here we also ask for the name of the individual designated by the Project Owner to serve as project administrator. This is the person who is authorised to represent and assume obligations on behalf of the Project Owner vis-à-vis the Research Council.

Project manager

This is the person who is responsible for the scientific progress and performance of the project. The call may stipulate requirements regarding who can serve as the project manager as well as documentation of his/her qualifications.

Please also refer to the General requirements for grant applications for more information about the roles and responsibilities of the Project Owner, project administrator, project manager, etc.

Partners

A partner is an organisation, a company or a public sector entity that is under obligation to contribute to and participate in the project together with the Project Owner.

This obligation will involve performing R&D activities, providing financing and/or being granted rights to the project.

All project partners, Norwegian as well as non-Norwegian, need to be listed in the grant application. We also ask you to provide a contact person for each partner.

When a partner is contracted to provide R&D services to the Project Owner or other partners in the project, this partner is in reality a sub-contractor (supplier of R&D services). Costs related to R&D services should be entered under “Procurement of R&D services”. In the application form, suppliers of R&D services are to be registered as partners with the role “Only research activity”.

All other partners that are under obligation to perform R&D activities in the project are always listed with the role “Both research activity and financing” regardless of whether all their own costs are financed by the Research Council or others.

Project participants

All individuals listed in the grant application form and the project description (including those for whom CVs have been submitted) are considered to be project participants.

Only individuals who will be playing an active role in the project are to be listed in the grant application and project description.

In this context, “active role” means that the individual will be taking part in one or more work packages, participating in the management of the project or contributing in another way to the implementation of the project.

Project information

In section two of the application form, we ask you to provide a brief summary of the scientific content of the project.

Project title

Choose a title for your project. Project titles for all applications under processing are made publicly available on the Research Council website, so the project title should therefore not disclose sensitive information.

Primary and secondary objectives of the project

State the project’s primary and secondary objectives. The objectives must be verifiable and must describe the results the project will achieve.

Project summary

You need to provide a brief summary of the project.

The Research Council publishes project summaries for all applications granted funding on its website. The summaries may also be forwarded to the referees being considered in connection with the application review process. It is important to make sure that the project summary does not disclose sensitive information.

It is important to emphasise the objectives of the project, the most critical R&D challenges to be faced and the anticipated potential for use of the project findings.

We suggest that you write your project summary first and then copy it into the application form. The application form closes automatically after two hours, without being stored, unless you have actively saved it yourself or moved on to another section.

Outcomes and impacts

This is where you briefly describe the outcomes and impacts that you expect the project to have.

In this context, outcomes refers to what the project will entail for the participants and related framework (target groups, users) in terms of changes in competency, conduct, practice and policy.

Impacts refers to long-term changes in society to be brought about by the project results and outcomes.

Funding scheme

In section three of the application form, you classify your project in terms of the relevant scientific disciplines. We also ask you to provide information regarding any related applications that have been submitted to the Research Council and/or any other public funding scheme.

Progress plan

In section four you are to provide a progress plan for the project. Here we need information about the planned project period and the main activities of the project (work packages) with the relevant milestones and deliverables.

The call for proposals will typically set parameters for when the project is to be carried out and how long it can last.

Dissemination plan

Section four also asks you to provide a dissemination plan for the project. Here you provide information regarding plans for scientific and popular science dissemination activities and contact with users, including relevant target groups and type of dissemination.

Budget

The tables that appear in section five, “Budget”, are determined by the call for proposals selected. There are guidelines for each table, and you should read these carefully.

To be able to fill in the budget tables, you must first enter the dates of the project period in section 4, “Progress plan”.

Some of the application forms contain tables asking for an overview of costs distributed across all project partners. The Project Owner and all formally registered partners will be automatically entered in these budget tables. It is therefore important to make sure you have registered all project partners and their roles in the project (only financing, only research activity or both) before you begin filling in the budget information in your grant application.

For more details about the different cost codes, rates for fellowship grants, and other budget-related information, please see the information about budgets.

For more details about the state aid rules, see the information on state aid rules.

The total amount for each budget year must be identical in all the budget tables. You can check this by using the function “Save and check page” in the application form.

Attachments

Section six, the final section of the application form, contains fields for uploading attachments to the application. The fields that appear are determined by the call for proposals selected.

The call provides information regarding the mandatory and optional attachments we need in order to process your grant application.

All attachments to the grant application must be uploaded in PDF format. The PDF format satisfies the criteria stipulated by the National Archives of Norway, whereas Word and RTF formats do not.

It is not possible to upload an attachment that exceeds the maximum page total stipulated, nor is it possible to upload attachments larger than 40Mb.

Submission of attachments after the deadline:

The Research Council does not accept late submission of attachments. Transcripts issued after the application deadline and confirmation of completed defence of a doctoral dissertation are the only documents that may be submitted after the grant application deadline. These should be sent by email to post@forskningsradet.no, and should be marked with the name of the responsible application officer, the project number, project title and name of the project manager.

Project description

The project description must not exceed the length limits set for the application type.

As a rule, you will need to use the project description template provided with the call for proposals. The template contains guidelines for writing the project description.

Before you upload your project description into the application form, you will need to convert it to PDF format.

Working in the grant application form

Saving information and automatic logout

The application form is divided into several pages. Each time you navigate to a new page, the information you have entered on the previous page will automatically be saved.

If you close your browser without storing your application, you will lose all changes to the last page you were working on.
Note that you will be logged out of the system automatically after a period of inactivity (i.e. not switching pages or saving your information). The automatic log off time is given at the top of the screen, and updates automatically each time you store your application. If you are working on the same page over an extended period of time, you should use the “Save and check page” button frequently.

Navigating in the application form

You can navigate between the various pages of the application form by clicking on the “Previous” and “Next” buttons at the top and bottom of the screen, or by using the menu in the left-hand column.

Note that you should not use the “Back” function on your browser when you are working in eSøknad, as it will cause you to lose all changes that have not been saved in the section you are working in.

Error detection

The “Save and check page” and “Check full application” buttons help you to find logical errors and missing information in your application and provide a supplement to your own ongoing quality control.

The function “Save and check page” will only check the current page you are on. Use “Check full application” to check the entire application form.

All fields marked with an asterisk (*) must be filled in. If the application contains errors or is incomplete, an error message will appear and the relevant parts of the application will be marked in red. It is not possible to submit an application that contains logical errors.

When the application is complete

Signatures

The project administrator must tick the box for “Confirmation” in the application form to confirm that the Project Owner (institution/company) has approved the grant application.

Confirmation of receipt of the grant application will be sent by email both to the user who created and submitted the grant application and to the email address specified for the project administrator as soon as the application has been received by the Research Council.

Submitting grant applications

All application deadlines are final. It is possible to open, revise and resubmit a submitted application multiple times all the way up to the submission deadline. It is not possible to submit an application after the submission deadline has expired.

It is always the most recently submitted version of the grant application that will be registered and assessed by the Research Council.

Please note that it is not possible to revise and resubmit grant applications multiple times for programmes and activities operating with open-ended submission deadlines.

Grant applications may only be submitted if all fields in the application form have been completed correctly and all mandatory attachments have been provided.

Archiving documents

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that relevant applications, letters/contracts and reports are stored in a separate archiving system.

Deleting applications

You may delete applications that have been created but not submitted under the menu heading “Applications in eSøknad” by clicking on the “Delete” icon.

Once your application has been submitted

The project manager and project administrator will be notified by email once your application has been received and registered by the Research Council. Your application will be assigned an individual project number.

The Research Council publishes a list of all the grant applications currently under processing. The following information from each application is made publicly available: