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 is aimed at UiT researchers who have already applied for external funding and received a good evaluation ("high score"), but their project has not been funded. The instrument is part of the UIT Talent and aims to encourage these researchers to apply for external funding again.

There will be two annual calls for UiT High Score, one in April and one in October. The announcements (with details of the exact application deadline and procedure) will be announced on this page, through Forskernytt (subscribe to this newsletter here), as well as through letters to all faculties/units.

The application deadline for the next call is April 22^nd 2024.

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. For the year of 2023, BFE and HSL were invited to suggest groups to develop proposal for this instrument. For the year 2024, groups at the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Health are invited to develop projects within this category.

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.

HAVNÆR

Program for Educational Quality 2024

UiT prioritizes strengthening the quality of teaching and education at its own institution. An important source of funding for the academic communities has been, and continues to be, the "Program for Educational Quality" (PUK), under the auspices of the Strategic Education Committee. This year, the instrument will finance educational development projects of up to two years. The goal is to stimulate the development of new teaching and assessment methods at UiT to increase the quality and relevance of the education.

The program is now open for applications for 2024, and we encourage all academic communities to take the opportunity to develop applications that can contribute to making the teaching even better. The setup for PUK 2024 is described below.

The application deadline is set for April 14, 2024. Applications should be sent to the Section for Learning Environment and Educational Quality via Nettskjema. If you have any questions, they can be directed to Ingfrid Osen Fossbakk or Kristina Svensen.

Welcome as an applicant!

Budget avalable

In 2024, project funds totaling NOK 5,000,000 will be announced, to be distributed to internal projects at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Applications can be made for amounts between NOK 200,000 and NOK 600,000.

The projects may be structured as projects or pilots with ambitions for (further) external funding if such opportunities exist. This could, for example, occur through the development of courses and educational programs that can subsequently be proposed for and financed by the EUGLOH alliance, or Erasmus+ grants and programs.

Eligible applicants

Any academic community at UiT The Arctic University of Norway may apply for project funding under this call for proposals. Applications may come from a single academic community, or from several different communities that have a shared idea that is not confined to a particular field of study. Collaboration across academic communities is encouraged where it can strengthen the project, but it is not a requirement. For projects falling under thematic focus 1, it is also considered beneficial if contact has been established and collaboration set up with partners from the labor and business sectors.

Criteria

Thematic directions

As last year, the Programme for Educational Quality is closely linked to UiT's strategy towards 2030 Eallju – Developing the High North, and therefore funding is being made available for educational projects related to one of three thematic directions:

1. Development of education adapted to the business and community life in the north
2. Development of teaching and assessment methods for the digital transformation
3. Development of education with a focus on diversity, tolerance, and an inclusive learning environment

Project Requirements

• The content and results of the project must be shareable, reusable, and further developed.
• The content and results of the project must be able to be incorporated into education programs and sustained beyond the end of the project period. This means that one-time events, such as the hiring of external lecturers or excursions for students, will not be covered by the PUK 2024 funds. Conference participation will also not be covered unless the project for which funds are being applied is to be presented.
• Student participation and involvement must be ensured, and the application must detail how this will be achieved.
• Funds allocated to the project must not be used to cover general operating expenses or adjustments required by legislation or regulation changes. They should be used for specific initiatives and projects that contribute targeted to a substantial improvement in education quality.
• The project's outcomes must be communicated externally afterward, for example by participating in UiT's annual Conference on Education Quality MOKTA. Participation in other local, national, or international forums and arenas is also encouraged.
• A final report to the Section for Learning Environment and Educational Quality (maximum 4 pages) must be submitted no later than 6 months after the project's completion.
• A project financial statement must be presented at the end of the project.

Content of the application

• There must be a justification of the project's relevance in terms of how it relates to UiT's and the faculty's strategies and the academic and/or pedagogical challenges faced in the academic community/communities.
• There should be a clear concept about the project's objectives and expected outcomes.
• There must be a timeline for the project, that is, how the project will be realized within the planned time.
• A description of how students will be involved in the project must be included in the application.
• There must be a plan for the communication of the project.
• There must be a plan for the evaluation of the project.
• It should be outlined how the work will continue after the project period has ended, and how the results will be anchored in the applicant's academic community.
• Commitment/support of the applicant's own institute/faculty, including a 25% own effort in the form of finance/labour, must be detailed in the application. It is emphasized that this own effort is in addition to the allocated funds.
• A written confirmation from all institute leaders that the project is approved should be included.
• A cost estimate/budget must be uploaded using a rate of NOK 600 per working hour. The PUK2024 budget template should be used.

How to apply

The application form should be filled out and submitted via Nettskjema by April 14, 2024.

The process

All applications must be approved by the institute's management before being sent to SeLU (Section for Learning Environment and Quality) for case processing. This also applies to applications where several institutes/faculties are involved. The Strategic Education Committee at UiT will suggest who will ultimately be granted funds in the June meeting after a committee appointed by the Vice-Rector for Education has reviewed all applications. Allocated project funds will be disbursed once the institute has accepted the award and, if necessary, made the required changes to the budget and project content. SeLU acts as the secretariat for the application process and is responsible for the follow-up of the projects.

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 SeFI. 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. The funds are available in the project establishment phase until the EU application deadline. If you submit the PES application to SeFI 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 2024 is 19^th of April 2024.  If you have any questions, these can be addressed to Inger Lin U. Ræder, Senior Adviser Research and Innovation, SeFI.

Call 2024

For 2024, 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.
• The projects must start during 2024.

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 2024 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 31/05/2024.

The application is submitted via Nettskjema. Only applications submitted via Nettskjema will be approved. Application deadline 19.04.2024 at 13:00 (CET). The result is expected in June 2024.

Application processing

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

The applications are assessed by a committee and “Strategisk utvalg for Innovasjon” (SUI) gives advice on which projects are to be funded. Allocated funding are transferred when the institute has accepted the grant and a project agreement has been made. SeFI is secretariat for the application process. A final report with a description of the results must be delivered to SeFI within 2 months after the end of the project.

Innovation fund for employees

An innovation fund was established at UiT in 2023 with the purpose of increasing the number of innovations among employees. The fund provides support for innovation ideas at UiT. You can apply for support within three different categories (pilot projects, main projects, and supplementary funding). The instrument is application-based. The pilot projects has an open-ended call, the main projects has deadline 03.05.2024, while the supplementary funding has deadline 08.11.2024.  02.05.2024: Applications for pilot-projects is now closed for 2024.

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

Contact persons:  

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

Elisabeth Blix Bakkelund, senior adviser research and innovation, SeFI

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 closed. Please see the complete call with eligibility- and evaluation criteria here.

A new call is planned autumn 2024.

Innovation laboratories

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

Start-up grant 

This instrument has staunet as the target group.  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.

Guidelines and application form exits, but unfortunatly only in norwegian. Guidelines in norwegian.

Please do contact me;  mette.r.midtgard@uit.no and I will help you through the process. 

Category I

Call for proposals: UiT Talent – Research infrastructure Category I

The Research infrastructure tool has two components: Scientific equipment category I and scientific equipment category II. Category I is a continuation of the scheme Infrastructure in the Strategic Fund, with some adjustments. Category II has been developed in connection with UiT Talent. Both categories have annual calls for proposals.

Category I is intended for scientific equipment that has a total cost (investment) of more than NOK 1.5 million in purchases. The guidelines for the instrument require a 50:50 distribution of the cost between the institution and faculty level, i.e. that up to 50% is covered by UiT Talent (institution level). There is in principle no upper financial limit for the investment. Available funds from UiT Talent  in this  category are NOK 20 million for 2024, and an total investments of up to NOK 40 million can thus be made under this call.

The funding instrument UiT Talent infrastructure will support externally funded research projects and at the same time help form the basis for new project proposals for competitive arenas for project funding.

Both categories (I and II) are based on calls for proposals for new or upgrading existing research infrastructure. The proposals are ranked and prioritized by the Research Strategy Committee (FSU), which advises the rector on funding. Proposal processing is done by the secretariat of FSU. The faculties/units will submit a list of their proposals, in a priority order. If necessary, FSU will engage a separate UiT internal group to assist in the selection.

Funding: To be worthy of support, the investment must have a total cost of over NOK 1.5 million, of which up to 50% is covered by UiT Talent (institution level).

Overall financial framework for the call: NOK 40 mill.

Application is submitted by use of  Nettskjema.  An application form must be used (Max 30 MB).

The application form and the assessment criteria is based on is based on the Research Council's national investment in research infrastructure-  INFRA 2023

Contact: Steinar.paulsen@uit.no, Office of Reseaerch and Innovation.

Application deadline: 06.12.2024, 13:00 CEST.

The call is made public by the Newsletter (requires registration) and on the website www.uit.no/talent.

Who can apply? The applicant must hold a faculty position at UiT. The application must be supported by the faculty's management, i.e. the faculty must both prioritize and financially support the investment.

What can be supported by the funding program? The program context, research infrastructure is identified as advanced scientific equipment and equipment facilities, data infrastructure for FAIR data, as well as scientific databases and collections.

Funds from research infrastructure Category I can be used for investments in new and or upgrading of existing research infrastructures. The infrastructure's operating shall, in principle, be covered by externally funded projects that utilizes the research infrastructure. Thus, allocated funds cannot be used for the infrastructure's operation, nor for establishing the infrastructure.

The operation of the infrastructure must be planned within a business model where projects that use the infrastructure must contribute to financing the operating costs. The business model must therefore contain a model for how the capacity in the infrastructure will be utilized by making the infrastructure available to users both internally across faculty borders as well as outside UiT including public or private sector.

Assessment criteria

Grant applications will be assessed in light of the objective of the call and the following criteria (as for INFRA 2023):

Category II

Call for proposals: UiT Talent – Research infrastructure Category II

The Research infrastructure tool has two components: Scientific equipment category I and Scientific equipment category II. Category I is a continuation of the scheme Infrastructure in the Strategic Fund, with some adjustments. Category II has been developed in connection with UiT Talent. Both categories have annual calls for proposals.

Category II is designed for research infrastructures that exceed investments that can be covered via category I and which thus require long-term planning for funding. The purchase of the infrastructure in category II can have a total cost between 15-35 MNOK. Here, it is planned that allocated funds will be set aside in a dedicated fund, to achieve co-funding with external funds and other internal funds. Available funds from UiT Talent in this category 27,8 MNOK for 2024, and a total investment of up to 55,6 MNOK can be made under this call.

The funding instrument UiT Talent infrastructure will support externally funded research projects and at the same time help form the basis for new project proposals for competitive arenas for project funding.

Both categories (I and II) are based on calls for proposals for new or upgrading existing research infrastructure. The proposals are ranked and prioritized by the Research Strategy Committee (FSU), which advises the rector on funding. Proposal processing is done by the secretariat of FSU. The faculties/units will submit a list of their proposals, in a priority order. If necessary, FSU will engage a separate UiT internal group to assist in the selection.

Funding: To be worthy of support, the investment must have a total cost in the 15-35 MNOK interval, of which up to 50% is covered by UiT Talent (institution level).

Overall financial framework for the call: 2 x 27,8 MNOK.

Application is submitted by use of  Nettskjema.  An application form must be used (Max 30 MB).

The application form and the assessment criteria is based on is based on the Research Council's national investment in research infrastructure-  INFRA 2023

Contact: Steinar.paulsen@uit.no, Office of Reseaerch and Innovation.

Application deadline: 06.12.2024, 13:00 CEST.

The call is made public by the Newsletter (requires registration) and on the website www.uit.no/talent.

Who can apply? The applicant must hold a faculty position at UiT. The application must be supported by the faculty's management, i.e. the faculty must both prioritize and financially support the investment.

What can be supported by the funding program? The program context, research infrastructure is identified as advanced scientific equipment and equipment facilities, data infrastructure for FAIR data, as well as scientific databases and collections.

Funds from research infrastructure Category II can be used for investments in new and or upgrading of existing research infrastructures. The infrastructure's operating shall, in principle, be covered by externally funded projects that utilizes the research infrastructure. Thus, allocated funds cannot be used for the infrastructure's operation, nor for establishing the infrastructure.

The operation of the infrastructure must be planned within a business model where projects that use the infrastructure must contribute to financing the operating costs. The business model must therefore contain a model for how the capacity in the infrastructure will be utilized by making the infrastructure available to users both internally across faculty borders as well as outside UiT including public or private sector.

Assessment criteria

Grant applications will be assessed in light of the objective of the call and the following criteria (as for INFRA 2023):

Excellence

The extent to which the infrastructure will contribute to scientific renewal and/or scope
• The extent to which the infrastructure will help to elevate UiT led research to a top international level;
• The extent to which the infrastructure provides services that meet the needs of relevant research communities or research areas.

The quality and uniqueness of the infrastructure
• The extent to which the infrastructure is "state-of-the-art" – the best technological solutions are being chosen;
• How the infrastructure is aligned with the landscape of existing, relevant infrastructures, and the extent to which the proposal has been coordinated with these.

Impact

Potential impacts
•The extent to which the infrastructure will have a potential impact on:
- the research system;
- innovation;
- society.

Accessibility and utilization
• The extent to which:
- the infrastructure will be made accessible to all relevant users;
- there will be dissemination and communication activities targeted towards all relevant stakeholders/users;
- the infrastructure facilitates user participation from research communities, the business sector, public administration, and other relevant contributors.

Implementation

Quality of project management and organization
• The extent to which:
- the project manager has the necessary qualifications to lead the project;
- the project group has the relevant expertise and resources needed to establish, operate and offer services to relevant user groups;
- the project organization is suitable for the infrastructure.

Plans for establishment/upgrade and operation of the infrastructure
• The extent to which:
- there is a carefully weighed, realistic plan for establishing/upgrading the infrastructure, including breakdown into work packages/sub-projects, milestones, deliverables, costs and resource needs;
- there are plans for how to make optimal use of the infrastructure;
- there are well thought out plans for how the data that the infrastructure generates/manages are to be structured, stored and published or otherwise made accessible;
- there is a risk assessment and proposed measures for dealing with any high-risk incidents.


Assessment of technical solutions
• The extent to which the proposed technical solutions are sufficiently mature to warrant establishment of the infrastructure;
• Projects involving independent development of equipment and technical solutions will also be assessed as to:
- whether it is documented that no available solutions exist in the market, which justify the independent development;
- whether the underlying methodology/technology has been demonstrated as functional in a relevant environment (TRL 6 as defined in the European Commission).

National importance

• Assessment of the extent to which the infrastructure:
  - is of widespread national interest;
  - will be available in only one or a few locations in Norway;
  - supports national priority research areas and strategies.

Cooperation and task-sharing

• Assessment of the extent to which the project:
  - contributes to the constructive distribution of tasks and responsibilities at the national level;
  - will make use of national research expertise;
  - promotes national cooperation on investments in and operation of research infrastructures.
  
  • When relevant, assessment of the extent to which the project:
  - cooperates with other relevant national and/or international infrastructures.

Strategic basis within the institution

• Assessment of the extent to which the project reflects the strategic basis of UiT, and its role in relation to UiT’s and its partners’ strategic objectives and plans.

Benefits to society

• The extent to which the infrastructure will promote:
  - innovation and/or value creation in the business and/or the public sector, when relevant;
  - increased knowledge/expertise of importance to society.

Implementation and organization

• The extent to which:
  - the project has a financially robust operational model for the infrastructure;
  - the funding plan for establishing/upgrading the infrastructure is well thought out and realistic;
  - good plans are in place to make the infrastructure accessible to users outside the host institutions;
  - the project incorporates adequate coordination and an appropriate distribution of tasks and obligations regarding the establishment/upgrade and operation of the infrastructure;
  o For applications for upgrades/further development of an existing infrastructure, the achievement of targets in previous phases funded by the Research Council will be assessed.
  o For applications for long-term basic funding for operation, the need for support will be based on the information provided by the applicant in a special attachment.
  - the project is sufficiently mature for implementation;
  - it is possible to plan for phase-by-phase implementation and whether the budgetary framework can be reduced while maintaining the project’s objectives.