Through these seed funding grants, UiO:Energy and Environment strives to stimulate activities that can strengthen and support UiO’s research within sustainable energy, climate and environment in relation to major international and national calls (including relevant SFI centres and Horizon Europe). In order to strengthen the development of relevant academic environments at UiO, UiO:Energy and Environment also supports measures aimed at increased collaboration internally and externally. Priority will be given to initiatives that support international cooperation and participation in larger research collaborations.
1 MNOK is set aside for this call
Application deadline: June 21, 2024
What can you apply for
Maximum funding per application is 400 000 NOK
Seed funding may cover the following activities:
- Workshops and/or travels for development and positioning of scientific projects/groups
- Open seminar series where units at UiO are main organizers
- Expenses in relation to strengthening the research group and or applications for external funding including running costs and e.g. preliminary experiments
- Expenses in relation to writing an application for UiO researchers or external collaborators/consultants
- Temporary appointment of researchers, mainly as Prof II’s, from other national and international academic partners to strengthen the research group and long-term collaborations
- PhD/Post.Doc/Researcher positions. This is a measure for strengthening more mature projects/research collaborations. UiO:Energy and Environment does not generally have the funding for full financing of such temporary positions, but we may cover shorter periods e.g. at the start/end of a given position provided by a home institution. You may also ask for partial coverage of temporary positions.
Requirements for the application
The proposed projects should thematically cover one or more of the four main research areas identified by UiO:Energy and Environment and lie within the scope of our mandate.
UiO:Energy and Environment should fund coordination, initiation of new initiatives and/or strengthening of ongoing activities. The funds awarded by UiO:Energy and Environment are given to support the home institution of the applicants, and require their approval. (In order for the activities to be supported in the long run, it generally requires that the home institution/s also contribute by own funding or that other external funding is secured).
If relevant, please describe which calls for external funding that are relevant for the applied project (from RCN, EU or others). You may also apply for funding to strengthen a research area/group that will strengthen the development of the main research areas, without planning to apply for external funding during the see funding period. The application should describe how the different activities will help develop and strengthen the research area/s involved in the project.
The activities must commence no later than the first half of 2024.
Who can apply
Permanent scientific staff at UiO. The application may involve external partners, but to be considered, the responsible applicant must be from UiO.
Funding decisions and further process
We aim for an efficient application processing. All applications will be evaluated and awarded by the Director of UiO:Energy and Environment in cooperation with the head of the host institutions involved. The evaluation will be done based on scientific quality and relevance for the host dept/centre as well as for the overall profile for UiO:Energy and Environment. Applications that involve researchers covering several academic disciplines, involve external partner, internationalization and/or promote gender equality and diversity will be prioritized.
When there are applications within the same area from different units, UiO:Energy and Environment may consider merging the evaluation of the applications and subsequently allocation of funding. Decision on funding is taken in consultation with leaders from all involved entities. Applications involving activities falling under category 5) and 6) above, will be evaluated by external referees. When relevant, applicants are therefore kindly asked to nominate at least two impartial referees. UiO:Energy and Environment may also choose to use referees that are not proposed by the applicants. The Director of UiO:Energy and Environment as well as members of the board will not be used as referees.
Contact
For information about the call, contact Director Vebjørn Bakken
(vebjornb@energi.uio.no, tlf 45458107)