- Before you apply – read this call text carefully
- How to apply and the application process
- Follow-up
- Reporting requirements
1. Before you apply – read this call text carefully
Who can apply
- This call is aimed at applicants (scientific and administrative staff, postdocs, and PhD candidates) who
(i) are employed at the University of Oslo (UiO), with a minimum 20% position (and searchable on UiO employee pages) and
(ii) have an innovative idea that can contribute to solving an important societal need, but need funding to further develop the idea. This can include ideas for new or significantly improved products, services, processes, organisational forms etc. that can add value to society. - The application including a detailed budget must be supported by the head of the department/centre.
- The applicant is employed at UiO for the entire project period.
- This call is aimed at technologies or services that have not yet been registered as a DOFI or project at UiO’s technology transfer office Inven2 AS. Rejected DOFI or terminated commercialisation projects may apply.
- Active projects in SPARK Norway or SPARK Social Innovation can only apply in their final year.
- Applicants with previous funding from UiO Growth House must submit a status report or a final report to be evaluated for new rounds of innovation funding.
Applications that do not meet these requirements will not be considered.
Available funding
- In 2026 the UiO Growth House dedicates NOK 1.5 million to this round of seed funding to support the development of innovative early-stage ideas.
- Each project team will work together with a UiO Growth House innovation adviser to help realise the full potential of the project.
Seed I – funding up to NOK 50 000
A total of up to 10 projects will be granted.
Seed II – funding up to NOK 200 000
A total of up to 5 projects will be granted.
What is funded?
- Consulting services: Costs related to the purchase of services from subcontractors or other development services, including external R&D and consulting services.
- Materials and equipment: Costs related to the purchase of materials and equipment to produce prototypes, and necessary equipment for laboratory tests and more that cannot be rented elsewhere at UiO (including “Leiested”) or externally.
- Other costs: All costs that do not fit under the above categories must be specified and must be directly linked to the project's development goals to be covered by the innovation funds.
What is not funded?
- Salary
- Basic research, development or marketing of existing products and services, or development costs for companies
- Patent costs
- Development of marketing material, website, logo and profiling products
Selection criteria
All applications received will be evaluated by an external panel of local innovation experts based on:
- Innovation potential – degree of innovation and to what extent your solution is significantly new and better than existing products or services.
- Social benefit – utility value for users of the new solution.
- Feasibility – ability to execute in the form of team composition, project plan, budget, financing and strategy for utilisation.
2. How to apply and the application process
Download the relevant Word template for project description and fill out. Some of the points may not apply to your project; you may leave those open.
Fill out the online application form and submit your application by 1 September. You upload your project description as a PDF document in the form.
- A review panel will evaluate the applications, and the results will be announced by end of October 2026.
3. Follow-up
All applicants will be offered follow-up from the UiO Growth House.
- Those who are granted funding, will receive an invitation to a meeting to discuss how to proceed, including what guidance they need from us in the UiO Growth House or external mentors so that they can further develop their innovation idea.
- Those who have not been granted funding, are also offered guidance on how they can work further with the project. This can include how to better explain what the project is about, why they need support from the UiO Growth House, or how the budget is set up.
4. Reporting requirements
Ideally seed funding should be used within one year on activities that truly move the early-stage technology further along the development path. At the end of the funding period, the main applicant must submit a short report to the UiO Growth House using our online reporting form.
Important dates 2026
- Call opens: 17 June 2026
- Application deadline: 1 September 2026 (23:59h)
- Result of call announced: End of October 2026
Contact
In case of questions or concerns, please send an email to innovation@growthhouse.uio.no.