Funding for Coordination and Networking/Support Activities in Svalbard (Svalbard Strategic Grant)

The grant application must be submitted by a Norwegian organisation that is on the RCN list of approved research organisations. This organisation will have the economic and scientific responsibility for the project.

All projects that receive funding must be registered in the Research in Svalbard portal (RiS).

Project responsible organisation
The project responsible organisation must be an approved Norwegian research organisation.

Project partners
Workshop(s) do not require project partners, but all Svalbard research parties relevant to the workshop(s) must be invited.

Network projects must include international collaboration with minimum two different partner institutions, of which one party is a Norwegian research organisation and one non-Norwegian party. The project must involve scientists from at least two of the four permanent research locations in Svalbard (Longyearbyen, Ny-Ålesund, Barentsburg, Hornsund), and should involve representatives from as many research organisations as relevant.

Svalbard Strategic Grant provides seed money for cooperation/network projects and workshops.

Network projects
The network projects should be designed to enhance international and inter-disciplinary cooperation. Such activities can include the initiation of pilot studies, planning of larger projects or projects that stimulate open sharing of data. The funding provides support for travel, living expenses, costs for installations and material, running expenses during testing and limited salary cost.

Workshops
Svalbard Strategic Grant also provides funding for workshops as part of such collaborative efforts. The funding provides support for direct costs related to travel (included travel costs for workshop participants), living expenses, rent of meeting venues, room and board, limited cost for installation and material and reporting/organisational costs related to networking, collaboration and/or workshops.

A maximum of NOK 250 000 can be applied for to cover direct costs related to one single workshop including organising and reporting. A grant application may include up to two workshops within a maximum of NOK 500 000. The second workshop should then be a follow-up of the first. The grant application must state why the second workshop is necessary.

Workshops must be related to research in Svalbard or contribute to connecting Svalbard research to a pan-Arctic perspective. Representatives from all relevant research locations and organisations active in Svalbard should be invited. Due to environmental concerns, Svalbard should only be chosen as a location for the workshop if it has direct relevance to the workshop and is essential for its outcome.

It is possible to apply for workshops/meetings to be held immediately post or prior to the Svalbard Science Conference in Oslo in November 2021. The workshops/meetings must be held at the same or a nearby location to the conference.

Additional funding from SIOS
Workshops and other activities that would benefit from a training module on data management, will be considered for additional funding from SIOS.

This support is up to NOK 50 000 for one additional day dedicated to the theme "Data management as a tool for scientists", at a funded Svalbard Strategic Grant workshop or other collaborative activity. The aim is to make scientists familiar with the concepts of data management, discuss opportunities and challenges and develop skills to plan, collect and prepare their data in such a way that they easily can be deposited in data centres and preserved for the future. The programme will be developed in cooperation between the SIOS Data Management and the applicant in order to streamline the content to the needs of the participants.

Download the SIOS-dokument Workshop module “Data management as a tool for scientists”.

All workshops/events must include a dedicated session focusing on how to achieve SSFs strategic objectives through the workshop.

The SSF secretariat has the right to attend all funded workshops with one representative and have the option of bringing a second representative from the RCN at its own cost.

The funding can be used over two and a half years and must be used by 1 October 2023.

All projects must be registered and updated in the Research in Svalbard (RiS) portal. When relevant: a description of the data (metadata) must be uploaded to the portal http://www.researchinsvalbard.no/ as part of the report. 

Research results are to be made accessible through sharing and publication in accordance with the Research Council's Policy on Open Science.

The funding will be disbursed in accordance with the accrued budget.

The project is required to submit a progress report annually.

The project owner must submit a final academic report in accordance with the RCN template for final report. The academic report will, after approval, be made available online at SSF's webpage.

The application must meet the following requirements, otherwise it might be rejected.:

• The Project Owner and the Project Manager must be within the categories set out in this call.
• The grant application must lie within the scope of this call.
• The amount sought, and any own financing must be in accordance with the requirements set out in this call.
• The budget must be filled in correctly so that it is clear what the amount sought will cover.
• The grant application must be completed in full.
• All attachments must be submitted, using the correct templates.
• The project description must respond to the call.
• The grant application, including all attachments, must be submitted in English.
• All attachments must be uploaded in PDF format.
• The applicant must fill in all relevant sections in the template for project description.

Mandatory templates

• Complete project description (the template at the end of the call must be used)
• CVs of the project manager and partners/members of the project group (the template at the end of the call must be used)

Grant applications will be assessed in relation to the following criteria:

Applications will be processed administratively by a panel composed of in-house staff plus external expert(s) with extensive experience from Svalbard. Regular allocation meetings will be held until the funding is distributed. The final funding decision is made by the Research Council of Norway's administration.

Funding from SIOS will be processed administratively by SIOS.  

The reporting deadline is three months after the project period has ended or after the (last) workshop/event.