Funding for Coordination and Network Activities in Svalbard – Svalbard Strategic Grant

The application must be submitted by an approved Norwegian research organisation. This organisation will have the economic and scientific responsibility for the project.

Requirements relating to the Project Owner

The research organisation listed as the Project Owner in the grant application must have approved the submission of the grant application to the Research Council.

Requirements relating to the project manager

For applications initiating pilot studies and planning larger projects, the project manager must have an approved doctorate when submitting the application.

All projects that receive funding must register and tag Svalbard Strategic Grant (SSG) in the Research in Svalbard portal (RiS: www.researchinsvalbard.no, opens in new window) when accepting the contract.

Requirements relating to collaborating partners

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

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

Svalbard Strategic Grant provides seed money for cooperation/network projects and workshops. All workshops and network events must include a dedicated session focusing on how to achieve SSFs strategic objectives (About SSF, opens in new window) through the workshop. The SSF secretariat must be invited in due time and reserves the right to attend all funded workshops with one representative. The secretariat will also have the option of bringing a second representative at own cost.

The budget must be formulated correctly to clearly indicate what the funding will cover. You must remember to also attach the SSG 2023 Budget template. Please find more information about budgets here: What to enter in the project budget.

Cooperation/network projects

These projects should be designed to enhance international and inter-disciplinary cooperation and they should stimulate open sharing of data. Such activities can include the initiation of new collaborative research networks, initiation of pilot studies and planning of larger cooperation projects. The funding provides support for:

• travel expenses
• rooms and meals
• consumables
• operating costs for scientific equipment and research infrastructure necessary for the execution of the project (for example renting expensive equipment and running expenses during testing)
• salary costs limited to a maximum of 10% of the total amount sought

Workshops

The Svalbard Strategic Grant also provides funding for workshops as part of such collaborative efforts. The funding provides support for direct costs related to

• travel costs for workshop participants and organisers
• rooms and meals at the workshop for participants and organisers
• rent of venue for the workshop

The costs covered related to workshops do not include salary costs.

A maximum of NOK 250 000 can be sought to cover direct costs related to one single workshop. An application may include two workshops within a maximum of NOK 500 000. The second workshop should then be a follow-up of the first. The application must explain why the second workshop is necessary.

It is possible to seek funding for open workshops to be held immediately after or prior to the Svalbard Science Conference 2023 in Oslo (planned conference dates: 31 October - 1 November 2023). The workshops/meetings must be held at the same venue or a nearby location to the conference. Dates and invitations must be sent to the SSF secretariat within 1.8.2023.

Workshops must be related to research in Svalbard or contribute to setting Svalbard research into a pan-Arctic or global perspective. Representatives from all relevant research locations and institutions active in Svalbard should be invited. A preliminary programme and tentative list of invitees to the workshop must be included in the application.

Additional funding from SIOS

You can apply for up to 50 000 NOK for one additional day at your workshop or other collaborative activity. The day would be dedicated to “Data management as a tool for scientists". The aim is to help you make best use of your data and develop skills to efficiently format and publish them to increase the impact of your work. The content of the day will be developed in cooperation between the SIOS Data Management and the applicant to streamline the content to the needs of the participants.

Read more in the document Workshop module for “Data management as a tool for scientists” (PDF, opens in a new window).

You must submit a final academic report in accordance with the RCN Template for final report on My RCN web. At the same time, the academic report and possible meta data must also be uploaded/linked to the registered project in the Research in Svalbard Portal.

The funding can be distributed over two and a half years and can only be spent until 1 November 2025. The funding will be disbursed in accordance with the accrued costs.

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 project description must respond to the call.
• The amount sought, and any own financing must be in accordance with the requirements set out in this call.
• The budget must show in detail what the amount sought from the call will cover.
• The grant application must be completed in full.
• The grant application, including all attachments, must be submitted in English.
• All attachments must be uploaded in PDF format.

Mandatory attachments:

• Project description, maximum 5 pages, using the designated template to be found below. The applicant must fill in all relevant sections of the project description.
• Budget, using the SSG budget template to be found below (to be uploaded under Attachments/Other items in the application form).
• CVs for the project manager and core project group, maximum 4 pages, no more than 3 CVs in total. Use the CV template found below.
• For network events/workshops, you must also include a preliminary programme and tentative list of invitees.

All attachments must be submitted together with the grant application. We will not accept attachments submitted after the deadline for applications unless we have requested further information.

Attachments other than the mandatory and optional attachments specified above, as well as any links to websites in the grant application, will not be included in the application review process.

We assess applications in light of the objectives of the call and on the basis of 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. The final funding decision is made by the Research Council of Norway's administration.

Funding from SIOS will be processed administratively by SIOS.