Canada-G7-Nordic call for proposals on quantum technologies
The Nordic participation in this international call is a collaborative effort between Innovation Fund Denmark, the Research Council of Finland, the Research Council of Norway and the Swedish Research Council.
The NSERC call text and the supporting documents and guidelines describe the general requirements and criteria that apply to all applicants and international consortium partners. The following text describes the additional criteria that apply to the Nordic partners of a consortium, and the terms and conditions for applying for funding from NordForsk via this call.
Applicants must carefully read the NSERC call text and all supporting documents and ensure that they fulfil the general requirements and criteria, and that the proposal is eligible. The Nordic partners must in addition ensure that they fulfil the requirements and criteria described in the following and that are specific to the Nordic partners that apply for funding from NordForsk.
Funding from NordForsk requires Nordic research collaboration, and the Nordic part of the international consortium must therefore include eligible partners from minimum two different Nordic countries.
Available Nordic budget: Up to NOK 84 mill.
Maximum amount of funding that may be sought: The Nordic partners of one project proposal can together apply for a maximum of NOK 7 mill. in total.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for funding from NordForsk via this call, the following criteria must be met:
- The research consortium must include research performing organisations1 in at least two different Nordic countries. Nordic countries are defined here as Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland Islands.
- One of the Nordic partners must be the host institution for the Nordic part of the consortium. The host institution of a funded project will enter the financial agreement with NordForsk on behalf of the Nordic part of the consortium and manage the funds on behalf of the Nordic partners.
- The host institution for the Nordic part of the project must be an established research performing organisation based in one of the Nordic countries co-funding the call: Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
- The principal investigator (i.e., the leader of the Nordic part of the project and the Nordic contact person) must be a qualified researcher with a PhD and employed by the host institution throughout the duration of the project.
- Nordic project partners that apply for funding from NordForsk must be research performing organisations.
- NordForsk cannot co-fund projects that collaborate with the Russian Federation or Belarus under this call.
NordForsk funding may not be used to support economic activity, which is defined as all activity where goods or services are offered on an open market. Organisations with both economic and non-economic activity must have in place a formal separation between these two kinds of activities. This may be achieved by either organising the economic activities as a separate legal entity or by keeping separate accounts for economic and non-economic activities. Support to an undertaking will be awarded as de minimis aid.
Applications that do not fulfil the above eligibility criteria will not be considered for funding from NordForsk.
Financial framework
Nordic partners of an international project team that submit a proposal to the call are invited to apply for funding for their participation in the proposed research project with a budget of maximum NOK 7 million of funding sought in total among the Nordic partners. The intention is to fund Nordic participation in 12 research projects under this call.
Funding may be used for costs that are necessary for the implementation of the Nordic activities in the project, such as:
- Salaries of researchers corresponding to the person’s activity level in the project.
- PhD and post-doctoral positions corresponding to the person’s activity level in the project and not covering salary during teaching or other departmental duties.
- Running costs (data collection and analysis, consumables, minor equipment, premises).
- Mobility and research stays, travels.
- Dissemination, outreach, and knowledge exchange activities (including open access charges).
- Stakeholder involvement/activities.
- Indirect costs and overhead.
Costs can be allocated to procure services that are necessary for the implementation of certain tasks in the project. A service provider is a third-party that is not a collaboration partner and that cannot be granted rights to project results.
Indirect costs and overhead may be included. All salaries should be calculated in gross (person-months) and include social costs, overhead etc. NordForsk does not apply any fixed rate or model for calculating indirect costs for research projects. Such costs should be determined by the participating institutions according to their own rules and models, and applicants are advised to consult these for further guidelines. The rate for overhead should be explained. The feasibility of the budget will be assessed.
Salaries for applicants not affiliated to an eligible research institution in a Nordic country cannot be claimed as part of the funding sought from NordForsk. However, travel and accommodation costs may be covered for external collaborators (also non-Nordic), provided that they are not eligible to apply for funding from any of the non-Nordic funding organisations that support the international call for proposals.
Management and monitoring of projects that are granted funding from NordForsk
Grant contract
NordForsk will sign a contract with the Nordic host institution, and this contract will set out the specific funding rates in accordance with NordForsk Standard Terms and Conditions of Contract. The Nordic host institution will be responsible for managing the Nordic grant on behalf of the Nordic project partners.
Consortium agreement
A consortium agreement regulating the rights and obligations of the Nordic institutions/partners involved in the project must be signed by the Nordic project partners before any funding will be disbursed, but projects can start earlier. NordForsk encourages such an agreement to be entered between all partners in the international consortium, but an agreement between the Nordic partners is required as a minimum.
Research security
The Nordic host institution is responsible for the research security related to the project. NordForsk expects the Nordic host institution and the principal investigator in collaboration with the Nordic partners to assess the research security risks and vulnerabilities for the Nordic part of the project. Risk mitigation measures must be proposed for any identified risks of significance.
After the funding decision has been made and prior to entering the grant agreement with NordForsk, NordForsk will ask the Nordic host institution to submit a security risk assessment to NordForsk. The risk assessment must be approved by all Nordic project partners and attached to the consortium agreement that is to be signed by the Nordic project partners.
The Nordic project participants in a project that is granted funding from NordForsk must adhere to the respective national rules regarding responsible international cooperation and follow national research security guidelines. Assessment and management of risk in projects must be carried out in accordance with each of the Nordic partner institutions’ security work.
After the funding decision, NordForsk will contact the Nordic host institution of the projects selected for funding regarding the guidelines for the requested security risk assessment.
Reporting
The Nordic principal investigator will be responsible for submitting annual reports to NordForsk regarding the NordForsk grant and the Nordic part of the project. The annual report includes a scientific progress report, a financial report and an impact report. A final report regarding the Nordic part of the project must be submitted to NordForsk at the end of the funding period.
NordForsk contact
Bjørnar Komissar
Special adviser
bjornar.komissar@nordforsk.org
NordForsk