Call Deadline: 15 April 2026, 13:00 (CET/Oslo Time)
Available Budget: up to 33 MNOK
Maximum amount of funding that may be sought: up to 1.5 MNOK
Background
Perspectives from the social sciences and humanities play a significant role in addressing the major sustainability challenges and societal transformations facing the Nordic region in the coming years. Social sciences develop knowledge about how individuals and societies interact in an increasingly complex world. In the Nordic context, close political ties, long-standing cooperation, shared institutions, and coordinated data collection create unique opportunities for collaborative social research that benefits the region’s communities. The humanities are particularly well suited to contributing Nordic added value, as their fields of inquiry are deeply intertwined with the shared cultural, historical, and linguistic heritage of the Nordic countries.
Organiser of the call, the Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS), is a co-operation between the research councils in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden responsible for research within the humanities and social sciences. The NOS-HS initiative operates under the auspices of NordForsk.
Aim of the call and thematic framework
By establishing a Nordic call for research networks within the humanities and social sciences, NOS-HS seeks to facilitate collaboration among researchers with strong potential for synergy across the Nordic countries. The call aims to encourage the next generation of Nordic scholars to build new or stronger cross-border research links, thereby strengthening the quality, innovative character, international competitiveness, and societal impact of Nordic research.
The NOS-HS exploratory network call is an open call for bottom-up, curiosity-driven research networks within the humanities and social sciences in the Nordic region. The call aims to provide an opportunity for early-career researchers (2–7 years after completion of their PhD) to build and lead Nordic networks, support novelty and creativity in research network activities, and promote Nordic added value in research.
Distributed Peer Review
Network proposals will be evaluated using a distributed peer review process (DPR). In DPR, applicants are also the reviewers and review other proposals submitted to the call. By submitting a network proposal, applicants agree to act as reviewers and to have their proposal reviewed by other applicants to the call.
Webinar
We hosted a webinar for researchers interested in the call on Monday 9 February 2026.
Contact list
Would you like to connect with other researchers interested in the call? If so, you can join our contact list. Sign up and complete a brief form before 15 March 2026, and you will be added to a list where your information will be shared with other researchers.
Questions & Answers
Do you have questions related to the call, please contact: NOSHS26-QA@nordforsk.org
Questions and answers will be anonymized and published on this call page. We update the Questions & answers section continuously, and you will shortly find a reply to your question below.
Budget
Is co-financing /in-kind contributions required?
There is no requirement for co-financing or in-kind contributions. These may be included as part of the network’s funding. In the application, we ask you to state both the amount of funding you are requesting, and the total cost of the project.
Can the grant be used to cover costs for overhead?
Yes, the Nordic partners can cover the costs for overhead from the grant. NordForsk does not apply any fixed rate or model for calculating overhead/( indirect) costs for research projects. Overhead (indirect) costs should be determined by the applicants own institutions according to their rules and models. The feasibility of the budgets will be assessed in stage two (the full proposal). Applicants are advised to consult their respective institutions for further guidelines.
I have a question regarding participation in projects from countries outside the Nordic region: could a researcher from Belgium be financed if we applied for them?
The basic principle is that Nordic funding must remain within the Nordic region and be spent in Nordic countries as defined in the call. In general, NordForsk can cover travel and work carried out in the Nordic countries, but not activities conducted outside them. For example, it is acceptable to fund a Belgian scholar to come and work in Reykjavik or Oslo, but it is not possible to support a Belgian scholar’s work carried out in Belgium. It is also acceptable to use project funds for travel from the Nordic countries to other destinations if the project requires it.
Eligibility requirements
Can I, as project participant be involved in several proposals to this call?
No.
Can one research organisation participate in several proposals?
Yes.
Can there be multiple project leaders in a single application for the NOS-HS call?
No. Only one project leader is allowed at the application stage. For well-justified reasons (e.g. illness or family leave), the project leader may be changed during the project period.
Does the PhD age requirement of 2–7 years apply only to the project leader, or does it apply to all participating researchers as well? Are there any minimum or maximum requirements for the number of early-career researchers included in the application, beyond the requirement that it involves researchers active in at least four Nordic countries?
The PhD age requirement applies only to the project leader. “The project leader must be a researcher with 2–7 years of experience since completion of the PhD.” There is no defined requirement for how many early-career (or more senior) researchers a network should include.
“The project leader must be a qualified researcher with a PhD and employed by the host organisation (Project Owner) during the duration of the project.”
Does this mean that the project leader must hold a confirmed employment contract with the host organisation covering the entire project duration?
No. It is sufficient that the project leader is employed at the start of the project, with an expectation that the employment will continue throughout the project period.
I´m currently collaborating with a NordForsk funded project, but I´m not personally funded by NordForsk. Am I eligible to apply in the call? Additionally, would it be possible to include a researcher who is currently funded by NordForsk in my proposal?
Yes, you are eligible for the call. Researchers who are currently working on a NordForsk-funded project can be included in the proposal.
Can the Baltic countries be part of the exploratory networks that the call aims to establish? For example, can a Lithuanian researcher be part of a project, or can a Lithuanian researcher be the lead applicant?
No. In many NordForsk calls, the Baltic countries are included, but the Nordic Exploratory Networks within the Humanities and Social Sciences call is intended for researchers working in the Nordic countries. However, researchers of Baltic nationality who are working in the Nordic countries are eligible to apply under this call.
Is it important to have as many countries as possible represented in the research consortium? Should these countries be represented by an equal number of researchers?
No. The quality of the network is what matters for the proposal, not the number of participating countries. There is no requirement that the participating countries should be represented by an equal number of researchers in the project.
Other questions
Would it be possible to access an example of a previously successful application (or an anonymised excerpt/template) from an earlier round, for reference regarding structure, level of detail, and alignment with the assessment criteria?
Unfortunately, such material cannot be shared due to confidentiality.
Decision
The application deadline is 15 April. When can we expect to hear about the decisions?
Funding decisions will be made at the NordForsk Board meeting in October, and the projects can start at the beginning of 2027.
Glossary
What is meant with Project Owner?
The Project Owner is the rganisation responsible vis-à-vis NordForsk for ensuring that the project is completed in accordance with the contract with NordForsk.
What is meant with Project Leader?
The project leader is an employee of the Project owner, and is the individual who is responsible for the professional progress, implementation and completion of the project.
What is meant with Host organization = project owner?
In this call the host organisation /institution is the same as the Project Owner.
What is meant with project participant?
Individuals participating in the project and is affiliated with a partner research organisation are project participants. One research organisation can have many project participants.
What are NordForsk standard terms and conditions?
Important: Please read the instructions in the application form as well as the call text to access all the necessary information to write your proposal. You can use the preview form function to see the instructions in the application form.
