Seven tips for filling in your grant application

1. Read the call for proposals carefully.
2. Learn more about the application form.
3. Remember to save your work often.
4. Don't wait to submit your application.
5. Read the instructions in the application form and use the contact persons.
6. Call the hotline before the deadline if you have any questions.
7. Don't forget the deadline.

1. Read the call for proposals carefully

The call for proposals stipulates the scientific and formal requirements and guidelines for grant applications and the project for which you seek funding. You present the scientific content in the project description, which forms the basis for assessing your application. However, several formal elements must be corrected before you can submit your application and have it set.

Pay special attention to the following in the text of the call:

• Parameters for when the project is to start and conclude and how long it can last;
• parameters for the amount of funding you may seek and any requirements for own financing from the Project Owner or the partners;
• whether the funding granted can be used to cover costs for project partners, mainly when companies are to participate in the project;
• whether or not R&D suppliers may be included in the project
• the mandatory attachments to the grant application and any optional attachments that will be accepted;
• formal requirements for the format of the attachments.

2. Learn more about the application form

Learn more about the application form well before the application submission deadline.

Fill in all the required fields for the application form as early as possible. Use the "Save and check page" and "Check full application" buttons to ensure you have filled in all mandatory fields.

3. Remember to save your work often

If you stay in one section of the application form for two hours without saving, the form will close automatically without being stored. So remember to click the "Save and check page" button regularly.

Your application form will be saved automatically when you use the menu in the left-hand column to move to different sections of the form.

4. Don't wait to submit your application

You may submit your application once you have filled in all the mandatory fields and uploaded the attachments.

We recommend doing this as soon as possible, well before the application submission deadline. You may reopen, revise, and resubmit your grant application multiple times before the deadline expires. The Research Council does not have access to the grant application until the deadline has passed, so the last submitted version of the application is sent for processing.

Please note that the following types of grant applications may only be submitted once:

• project outlines;
• applications to calls for proposals with open-ended deadlines;
• applications to the SkatteFUNN Tax Incentive Scheme.

5. Read the instructions in the application form and use the contact persons

Read the guidelines for each field in the application form to avoid misunderstandings or shortcomings that must be corrected before the deadline.

If you have any questions about the call for proposals or the application form, please use the contact persons specified in the call.

6. Call the hotline before the deadline

The last few working days before the application deadline expires, you may call our hotline if you have questions or have encountered problems: +47 22 03 72 00.

You may also contact the people listed as contacts in the call for proposal or our switchboard at +47 22 03 70 00, where someone will connect you to a caseworker.

7. Pay attention to the deadline

The deadline stipulated in the call for proposals is final. After the deadline expires, the application receiving system is automatically closed to any more submissions. It is no longer possible to submit an application, revise one, or add information after the deadline.

It is up to you to make sure you submit your application on time

As the applicant, you ensure adequate time to complete the application.

Force majeure

In documented instances of force majeure, the Research Council may consider accepting an application after the submission deadline has expired.

Our definition of force majeure is:

Unforeseeable or exceptional circumstances beyond the applicant's control, which the applicant cannot have been expected to anticipate nor reasonably be expected to overcome or prevent the repercussions of, including war, fire, earthquake, or other natural disaster.

If you believe you were prevented from submitting your grant application by the deadline following our definition of force majeure, you must notify us as soon as possible and at the latest 24 hours after the deadline. You must email this notification to post@forskningsradet.no.

Your email must include:

• the date you created your application and its reference number (the number starting with ES in "My RCN Web");
• what the problem is, and why this made it impossible for you to submit your application by the deadline;
• why you could not have dealt with the problem beforehand;
• documentation of the situation that arose and prevented you from applying by the deadline.