UiT Talent

UiT Aurora Outstanding

The talent development program UiT Aurora Outstanding is a part of UiT Talent. The program is designed to give selected young researchers at UiT the very best opportunities to qualify as international scientific leaders in their fields. The program aims at enhancing the participants career towards becoming a leader of an internationally recognized rsearch group, and to strenghten their opportunity to gain highly competitive external funding. The program is a collaboration betwenn UiT The Arctic University of Norway and Tromsø Research Foundation (TFS). 

The participants in the program are young researchers who have already proven themselves competitive in the following arenas: 

• Marie Skƚodowska-Curie Individual/Postdoctoral Fellowship​
• ERC Starting Grant​
• Tromsø Research Foundation Starting Grant​
• RCN's Young Research Talents
• NCMM- Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway

Participants are offered training in various transferable skills, and a local, interdiciplinary and social network for young, ambitious researchers at UiT. 

Arctic MSCA-PF Program

The Arctic MSCA-PF Program is a support program for postdoctoral candidates seeking funding through the EU's career and mobility program Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) with UiT The Arctic University of Norway as host. The Arctic MSCA-PF Program supports applicants for both European and Global Fellowships.

For more information about eligibility and program structure, visit the Arctic MSCA Program website.

Bridging the Gap MSCA-ERC

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellows (PFs) at UiT who have or will (within 1 year after the MSCA-PF period is ended) apply for ERC funding are eligible to apply for a transition grant (Bridging the Gap MSCA-ERC) to ensure funding in the period while waiting for the result of the ERC application.

The following guidelines apply to the application process and the implementation of the grant:

• Who can apply?  

Postdoctoral researchers/researchers at UiT who have or in the last 12 months (at the relevant application deadline for the transition grant) have had funding through the EU's MSCA-IF or MSCA-PF who have submitted or will submit an application for an ERC Starting or Consolidator grant.

•  What can be applied for?

You can apply for salary funds for up to one year. The ERC evaluation process is two-stage and the transition grant must at least cover the period up to the expected response to stage two.

• When can you apply?

Applications can be submitted during the period of project funding from MSCA-IF/PF and up to one year after the end of project funding from MSCA-IF /PF.

• Application requirements

The application is filled in by the applicant and sent to the dean/director with a copy to the research administration at the relevant faculty/unit by the deadline. Application form is available in the Teams ares for Aurora Outstanding Fellows.

• Application deadlines

There are 2 annual deadlines: 1 April and 1 October.

• Processing procedure and assessment criteria

The application is processed in a two-stage process. The faculties/units v/dean/director make the first assessment based on strategic assessments. In the case of several applications, a ranking is made. The applications are then sent to level 1 v/rector who makes the final assessment of support based on funds available in the strategic fund. If not all applications can be supported, applications are selected based on a lottery model.

ERC Mentoring Program

The European Research Council's grants are aimed at Europe's most outstanding researchers with high-risk projects that can potentially move the research front. ERC grants are divided into 4 main categories: Starting Grant (2-7 years after PhD), Consolidator Grant (7-12 years after PhD), Advanced Grant (10 years track record), as well as Synergy Grant (2-4 PIs from the mentioned categories apply together). Applying for these funds requires good planning and an understanding of what the main features of an ERC project are.

The ERC Mentoring Program offers

- open courses to all researchers at UiT interested in ERC grants. For more information, sign up for Forskernytt (see bottom of this page).

- pre-assessment of applicants' CV and project

- support in the application phase, including internal review of project proposals, assistance from external consultants, PES funds upto 100 000 NOK (for language cleaning, graphic illustrations, etc.), interview training if the proposal reaches Stage 2

For more information and to enrol in the program, contact Theresa Mikalsen at theresa.mikalsen@uit.no.

Priority Program

The Priority Program supports researchers who are developing project proposals for international cooperative projects in Horizon Europe's Pillar 2 (Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness). The instrument includes support tailored to the coordinating researcher's needs during the project development phase.

• Who can apply?

The Priority Program supports researchers who are developing projects proposals for Pillar 2 as coordinators, work-package leaders, or as partners. 

• What kind of support is available?

The Priority Program offers flexible support tailored to the researchers' role in the project and their needs. Regardless of their role in the project, all researchers can apply for Project Establishment Support (PES), which provides them with financial means that they can freely use to support project development, consortium building, project meetings, etc. The amount of PES varies based on the role in the project (coordinator, WP-leader, or partner).

On top of the PES funds, project coordinators are also provided with external consultation throughout the whole project development phase and project development support from level 1.

For more details, visit the støtteportalen on UiT's intranet (requires login with Feide).

• How to apply?

To enrol in the Priority Program, contact Kata Bohus at kata.bohus@uit.no.

UiT High Score

This instrument supports researchers whose research project proposals received good evaluations in applications for external funding (EU-Horizon Europe and the Research Council of Norway) but were not awarded the grants. The purpose is to encourage and partly facilitate for these researchers to reapply for external funding. UiT High Score will be introduced in Fall 2023. 

UiT High Score is divided into five categories depending on the type of call for proposals the original application was submitted as coordinator or as Principal Investigator:

1) thematic projects: Pillar 2: Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness in Horizon Europe and Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal (NOT FRIPRO) at the Norwegian Research Council;

2) basic research projects: ERC grants in Horizon Europe, Ground-breaking Research and Centre for Excellence (SFF) at the Norwegian Research Council; 

3) Young research talents: Researcher Project for Young Talents (FRIPRO) at the Norwegian Research Council;

4) Innovation: EIC Grants, EIT KIC Actions and Innovative Europe Projects (in Pillar 3) in Horizon Europe and Verification Project, Centre for Research-based Innovation (SFI) and Centre for Environment-friendly Energy Research (FME) at the Norwegian Research Council; and

5) network activity: MSCA Doctoral Network, COST Action in Horizon Europe.

Different funding instruments may be applied for depending on which category one falls into, but the same for all categories is that the researcher has identified and plans to apply for a new call for proposals within the same category as the original application (which was given a "high score") and hosted by UiT. Researchers can apply for a UiT High Score within two years of the evaluation of the original application and only once per project idea.

Good evaluation ("high score") is defined as

In the EU's Horizon Europe: ≥ 80 % or ≥ 13 points, or have progressed to step 2 of the two-stage application process; At the Research Council of Norway: grade point ≥ 6. For CoE/SFI, evaluation in step 2 applies (applicants who have not reached step 2 do not have access to apply for this tool).

Award for EU evaluators

The European Commission is constantly in need for experts to evaluate proposals. This is an excellent opportunity to get an insight in how the EU system works, learn how to write succesful proposals and get insights in the state of the art within your research field.

Learn more about how to works as an expert and find link to registration here.

UiT researchers working as EU experts will be rewarded with 10 000,- per panel participation (funding available for research activities). To release the funding, please send an email to euresearch@uit.no including the following:

• Your name
• Your faculty affiliation
• Name of EU call you served as evaluator
• Attach the contract with the European Commission

Complementary financing of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellows and PhD candidates

UiT ensures equal pay for all postdoctoral fellows and PhD candidates regardless of the original funding source (internal, Norwegian Research Council, EU, etc) and thus complements the salaries of MSCA financed postdoctoral fellows and PhDs when necessary to match those of internally funded postdocs.

Financial room in negotiation of ERC contracts

Additional funding available to ensure flexibility in contract agreements between UiT and ERC grantees.

1/3 strengthening of SFF/SFI, SFU, FME and KGJ

Additional funding of already approved centers totaling 1/3 of the project funding. This is an established practice at all Norwegian universities and is expected from both the applicant (UiT researcher) and the funder (The Research Council and KGJ). This additional funding is split 50:50 between levels 1 and 2.

Research Environment Stimulation (RES)

This support program aims at strengthening research environments (research groups) that currently have limited experience in applying for external research funding and/or during the last five years have received low scores in evaluations of applications for external funding. The goal of this intrument is to help selected research groups become more competitive in order to secure external funding for their own research. The funding instrument will have a test phase between 2024 and 2027. During this period, RES will be announced for two faculties per year who will have the opportunity to select a research group each to submit an application. The instrument will be announced for the first time in early autumn 2023, with an application deadline of February 1, 2024.

The duration of an RES instrument is three years. During this period, UiT covers from the institutional level:

• one recruitment position for a mentor: the selected faculty administers a mentoring scheme consisting of an experienced research group leader, preferably from another faculty at UiT who helps the selected research group develop a project application and guides them in establishing career development plans. The mentor is awarded one recruitment position after an applicaion is submitted for external funding by the mentored research group;
• NOK 200 000 in operating funds for the supported research group;
• and opportunity for funding of a new recruitment position at the supported research group for up to three years.

Program for Educational Quality

UiT prioritizes strengthening the teaching and educational quality at its own institution. An important funding source for academic communities has been and is the "Program for Educational Quality", previously "Program for Teaching Quality", under the auspices of the Strategic Education Committee. The instrument will finance one-year development projects in education, with the aim of stimulating the development of new teaching and assessment methods at UiT to provide increased quality in education and better and relevant learning for students.

The funds will be announced annually during the spring semester, with an application deadline in April, and will have different criteria and thematic directions each year. The call for 2023 is added underneath as an example, but please note that the application deadline was the 14^th of April 2023, and is now closed for further applications. 

Project Establishment Support (PES) - Education

If you are planning to apply for external funding for development of projects in the field of education, you can apply for a project establishment grant. The support scheme is run by internal funds from UiT and is administered by SEFU. The application form is filled out and submitted via Nettskjema.

If your goal is to establish a project under one of the centralized measures in Erasmus+, it is recommended that you instead apply for the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skill`s (HK-dir) support scheme specifically aimed at this.

Application deadline

Open-ended

Purpose

The PES funds on the education side are intended to increase the proportion of applications from UiT for funding from HK-dir. and other external actors. The scheme also aims to motivate UiT teachers to develop good educational projects and stimulate the development of new and innovative teaching and assessment methods, courses and programs at UiT to provide increased quality in education and better and relevant learning for students. PES Education should also help relieve applicants from UiT in connection with the design of project proposals and application writing, both in terms of costs and time spent, as well as contribute to improving the quality of submitted applications for external funding.

About the announcement

The support from PES Education should contribute to improving the quality of submitted applications for external funding. If you want access to PES funds, you must therefore apply as early as possible, preferably as soon as a planned project begins to take shape, and at the latest on the same day as the deadline for the external funds being applied for expires. If you submit the PES application to SEFU after this deadline, the application will be rejected. The support is only paid out if the work results in a concrete project proposal within the relevant deadline. The allocation is triggered retrospectively. A financial report is submitted before the funds are paid out. If the application is not submitted, or is invalid, the department must be prepared to cover 100% of the support amount.

Who can apply?

All academic staff and academic communities at UiT who plan to apply for external funding to develop education can apply for project establishment support. Applications can be prepared from a single academic community or from several different academic communities that have a common idea that is not limited to a specific field of study. Approval from all involved department heads must be attached to the application for PES funds to be granted.

Eligibility for Support

• Salary and release time (“frikjøp”) for employees at the university who are awarded PES in connection with, for example, application writing or other tasks related to the establishment of the project.
• Travel and meeting costs for both the applicant and other partners in the project.
• And so on.

Innovation grant for master and PhD students 

Much of the research that are carried out in connection with master's/PhD work has an innovation potential that can be followed up by providing additional resources. UiT's innovation grants will give the candidate time and opportunity to develop the idea further into a potential innovation. The innovation grant will be important for increasing UiT's innovation and entrepreneurship activity, as well as educating students who contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. The scheme can also be used to strengthen R&D cooperation with private business and the public sector. The innovation grant should not be seen as an extension of master's/PhD work, but something that comes in addition to this. The research group is responsible for following up the candidate during the project period. Two scholarships are awarded per year.

The application deadline for 2023 was 14^th of April 2023.  A new announcement will come in 2024. The 2023 call is included below as an example. If you have any questions, these can be addressed to Inger Lin U. Ræder, Senior Adviser Research and Innovation, SEFU.

Call 2023 (application deadline closed)

For 2023, funding totaling NOK 1 000 000 will be allocated to two grants of up to NOK 500,000 in total (up to 6 months' salary) from central level associated with follow-up of innovation and commercialization work. The faculty/department contributes with coverage of other costs, including laboratories/office space to the candidate.

The scholarship

• The grant from the strategic fund of up to NOK 500 000 in total will be used to finance up to 6 months' salary for PhD/master’s candidates who have an idea they wish to further develop into a potential innovation.
• The application type is open for funding of various types of innovation (product innovation, process innovation, service innovation, social innovation). This must be ticked in the application template. For product innovations (and possibly process innovations), the application type is open to early-phase projects (Proof-of-concept) before submission of DOFI (Disclosure of invention). There is, however, an expectation that a DOFI can be submitted during the grant period for this type of innovation.
• It is assumed that the faculty/department contributes by covering all other costs and provide laboratories and office space for the candidate.
• It is assumed that the research group contributes with own time to assist the candidate during the project period.
• When an innovation grant is granted, the applicant will be employed at the department at UiT where the research group belongs. The current rules for IPR are the same as for academic staff at UiT.
• The application template must be used, and the application must be submitted via Nettskjema.

Criteria 

• The candidate must be affiliated with a department at UiT. For master's level, the candidate must have submitted their master's thesis by 1st of June 2023 or have completed their education up to 12 months before the application deadline. For PhD level, the candidate must be studying at the start of the scholarship.
• The idea must be based on research conducted at UiT and must have innovation potential. It is an advantage if the need/market for the innovation has been identified.
• The probability of realising the innovation must be high. The research group must provide guidance and mentoring for the candidate. Being part of a research group that can demonstrate good results in innovation or can document close and good cooperation with business/public enterprises will be positive.
• The grant is intended to contribute to the realisation of the innovation and give the candidate the opportunity to develop, concretise or develop the idea further.
• Necessary own contribution must be available from the department and/or faculty. Any additional contributions from the faculty/institute that contribute to an extension of the scholarship period beyond 6 months must be specified and will count positively in the assessment.
• The application itself must contain a description of the idea, an explanation of why the idea and the applicant should receive an innovation grant, a description of the academic environment and available support from the department/faculty, and which relevant sources of funding it intends to apply for after the grant period has expired.
• The application must be approved by the head of department.

Application template and attachments

The application must contain information about the applicant, supervisor and any others involved. Furthermore, it must contain a description of the idea with a tick for the type of innovation, a justification as to why the idea and the applicant should receive an innovation grant, specification of the academic environment and a description of available support from the department/faculty. The application template must be used and can be found here.

The application must also contain the candidate's CV, a budget, and a confirmation of contribution from the faculty/institute. If a DOFI has been submitted, confirmation of this must also be attached. Candidates who have not submitted their master's thesis at the time of application must attach a confirmation from the faculty/institute that they will submit by 31/05/2023.

The application is submitted via Nettskjema. Only applications submitted via Nettskjema will be approved. Application deadline 14.04.2023 at 13:00 (ECT). The result is expected in June 2023.

Application processing

All applications must be approved by department management before they are sent to SEFU for processing.

“Strategisk utvalg for Innovasjon” (SUI) ranks the applications and gives advice on which projects are to be funded, if necessary, in consultation with the relevant academic community at UiT and TTO. Allocated funding are transferred when the institute has accepted the grant and a project agreement has been made. SEFU is secretariat for the application process. A final report with a description of the results must be delivered to SEFU within 2 months after the end of the project.

Innovation fund for employees

An innovation fund is being established at UiT with the purpose of increasing the number of innovations among employees. The fund will provide support for innovation ideas at UiT and is now open for applications. You can apply for support within three different categories (pilot projects, main projects, and supplementary funding). The instrument is application-based.

The application must be delivered via Nettskjema. Application templates must be used.

Contact persons:  

Inger Lin U. Ræder, senior adviser research and innovation, SEFU  

Elisabeth Blix Bakkelund, senior adviser research and innovation, SEFU

Application templates

The template for main projects is based on the template from The Research Council of Norway for verification projects. The template for pilot projects is a simplified version of this. Applications for supplementary funding must attach the external application and evaluation report.  

Template pilot projects

Template main projects

Innovation positions

In 2019, UiT introduced an instrument with the allocation of 2-year innovation positions to further develop ideas that have great innovative potential. This instrument is continued under UiT Talent. The call for 2023 is published. Please see the complete call with eligibility- and evaluation criteria here.

Innovation laboratories

The instrument is under detailing, and will be introduced in 2024.

Student entrepreneurship fund

This instrument will be introduced in 2024. The purpose of the funding is to help advance ideas, and applicants must show concrete measures/activities they wish to carry out. These will often be related to idea development, prototyping, research and testing of marked needs, etc. The funding cannot go to wages.