Pre-projects on Global Health
Download the call
Download templates
Important dates
15 Oct 2024
Earliest permitted project start
15 Jan 2025
Latest permitted project start
31 Mar 2025
Latest permitted project completion date
Important dates
Purpose
Funding is available for research groups that wish to further develop or establish new equitable partnerships with partners in low- and lower-middle income countries, with a view to applying for funding through the call for Collaborative and Knowledge-building Projects on global health in 2025. The pre-projects must also seek collaboration with partners outside the research sector.
About the call for proposals
This call gives you the opportunity to apply for funding to prepare an application for the call for Collaborative and Knowledge-building Projects on global health, which has an application deadline in March 2025. In the pre-project, you will develop equitable collaboration with existing and/or new partners from low- and lower-middle income countries (LLMICs). You should also include relevant partners from outside the research sector.
Funding is available for activities to develop ideas and concepts, to clarify user needs, strategic support, utility and knowledge and research needs, and to develop principles for equitable partnership in the collaboration constellation. The funds must not be used for research.
We will support activities such as travel, workshops, meetings and writing. You can apply for up to NOK 300,000 per pre-project.
About the main call for proposals in 2025
In 2025, the application deadline for Collaborative and Knowledge-building Projects is 5 March. The main objective of the funding announced on global health will be to support research on better health for vulnerable populations in low- and lower-middle income countries (LLMICs). The research must be relevant to Sustainable Development Goal 3 "Good health for all" and one or more of the sub-goals.
In the collaborative project, you must have partners from low- and lower-middle income countries (LLMICs) defined in the OECD DAC list as "least developed countries, low-income countries, and lower middle-income countries and territories which are not LDCs". We count partners from Colombia as partners from low- and lower-middle income countries (LLMICs), as Colombia is a partner country for long-term development in Norwegian development policy.
The project will be required to include at least one research organisation from LLMICs as a partner. In addition, the project must include at least two relevant actors outside the research sector, of which at least one must be from LLMICs.
The collaboration will be based on principles for equitable partnerships, and the call will have the following requirements for equitable partnerships:
- The project must have equitable distribution of funds and institutional costs with partner institutions in LLMICs. The distribution of funds and costs to partners in LLMICs must be proportionate to their expected roles, involvement and responsibilities in the project.
- The project must have equitable sharing of credits, e.g. scientific analyses, authorship, intellectual property rights and dissemination.
- The project must contribute to strengthening individual competence and institutional capacity of partner institutions in LLMICs. The project must include at least one PhD or postdoctoral candidate at a partner institution in LLMIC.
- You must ensure co-leadership of the proposed scientific agenda with investigators from LLMIC institutions.
We will not require that you have completed and received funding for a pre-project in order to apply for funding for a Collaborative and Knowledge-building Project on global health in 2025.
More information about the requirements for equitable partnerships can be found in section 4.4. "Structural priorities" in the Portfolio Plan for Global Development and International Relations and in the Guidelines for Responsible International Cooperation ("Hvordan få til likeverdighet i et partnerskap?" in Norwegian only).
This call is available in both Norwegian and English. The text of the Norwegian call for proposals is legally binding.
Who is eligible to apply?
Only approved Norwegian research organisations are eligible to apply. See our list of approved research organisations.
Who can participate in the project?
Requirements relating to the Project Owner
The Project Owner organisation must be a research organisation.
The research organisation listed as the Project Owner in the application form must have approved the submission of the application.
If the application is a collaboration between several organisations, the Project Owner must submit the application on behalf of all partners.
Requirements relating to the project manager
You must have an approved doctoral degree or equivalent before the application deadline.
For the purposes of this call, being or having been employed as researcher 1, researcher 2 or senior researcher in the institute sector is considered to be associate professor competence.
Requirements relating to partners
It is not an absolute requirement that you include partners in the pre-project application, but the purpose of the call is to provide support and time to develop equitable collaboration with existing and new partners from low- and lower-middle income countries, and to include relevant actors from outside the research sector. Relevant partners may be research organisations and/or actors in the public sector, non-governmental organisations and/or other private organisations. You cannot apply for support for partners from the industry sector under this call.
The main project
In the Collaboration and Knowledge-building Project that the pre-projects are to prepare, the project must include at least two partners that are not research organisations. At least one of these partners must be from a low-or lower middle-income country. These may be relevant actors in the public sector, non-governmental organisations and/or other private organisations. Inclusion of end-users will strengthen the relevance and usefulness of the project. Partners from the industry sector may not be partners in the main call but may participate as R&D providers if necessary.
What can you seek funding for?
You can apply for up to NOK 300,000 in support to cover costs necessary to carry out the pre-project. Costs covered are:
- Personnel and indirect expenses of the organisations participating in the project. Please note that research fellowship positions cannot be included in the pre-project. Rules for calculating payroll and indirect costs in applications to the Research Council can be found here.
- Other operating expenses, including support for travel costs, writing work, and other project-related costs for seminars/workshops and other measures to build networks and establish collaborative relationships.
Procurement of R&D services and Equipment are not approved project costs in the pre-project.
Enterprises may not have their costs covered by funding from the Research Council, as no state aid or de minimis aid will be awarded under this call.
You can find detailed and important information about what to enter in the project budget on the website.
Prerequisites for the award of funding
Projects must start between 15.10.24 and 01.01.25. The latest permitted project end is 31.03.25.
The Research Council's conditions for funding can be found in our general terms and conditions for R&D projects on the information page What the contract involves.
In addition, you must be aware of the following if you should receive funding from us:
- From 2022, grant recipients in research organisations and the public sector (Project Owners and partners) must have action plans for gender equality (GEPs) available on their websites. This must be in place before the contract is signed for projects with grants from us. The requirement does not apply to the private sector, interest groups or the voluntary sector.
Reporting and disbursement of support
The project will have a simplified contract with the Research Council. We pay the support in arrears based on an approved final report and itemised invoice. You will only be reimbursed for actual costs that have been entered in the institution's accounts.
In the final report, you must describe the activities you have carried out and the results you have achieved.
You must keep an account of all costs in the project, including personnel and indirect costs. The project accounts may be subject to control and must be able to be shown to us upon request.
Relevant thematic areas for this call
Democracy and global development
Practical information
Requirements for this application type
The application must be created and submitted via My RCN Web.
This call has ongoing application reception, with a deadline for submission on 20 December 2024. Please note that you can only submit the application once. If you submit the application and shortly afterwards see that it still needs to be changed, you can create a new application, e.g. as a copy of the one you have already submitted.
- The application and all attachments must be written in Norwegian or English.
- All attachments must be in PDF format.
Mandatory attachments
- Project description of maximum 3 pages. Use the default template that you can download at the bottom of the page.
- CV for project manager. Use the default template that you can download at the bottom of the page.
Applications that do not meet the requirements above will be rejected.
All attachments to the application must be submitted with the application. We do not accept attachments submitted after you have submitted your application unless we have asked for additional documentation.
We will not consider documents and websites linked to in the application, or attachments other than those specified above. Be careful to upload the correct attachment type, as there are no technical restrictions on what kind of templates it is possible to upload in the application form.
Assessment
Applications will be assessed according to the following:
The applicant/Project Owner must be in the right category
The amount sought, type of costs and the project period must be within the framework stipulated in the call
The requested attachments must be attached, in the correct template
The application must meet the thematic and structural requirements set out in the call
Administrative procedures
Applications are processed administratively and on an ongoing basis by the Research Council's administration.
If we receive more applications than we are able to fund, those who submitted the application first will be awarded funding. Applications that are processed after the funds have been awarded, will not receive funding.
We expect to announce the result of the assessment of each application within four weeks after the application has been submitted.
Create application
Applications for Pre-projects on Global Health should be created on My RCN Web. Application templates should be filled and uploaded in the application.
Create application