External Funding Opportunities

- NEW: RAKEL AND OTTO-KRISTIAN BRUUNS ENDOWMENT: In 2019 the fund will provide six grants of NOK 200.000 for innovative projects. The endowment supports medical basic research within biochemistry, physiology, and pathology. Cancer-related projects are prioritized. Grants are awarded to qualified scientists who are licensed Medical Doctors. The grants may cover running expenses and small scientific equipment. Individuals may apply, but applications on behalf of institutes or research groups are preferred.  The application should be written on a form that is available from Jo-Ann Fabe Larsen, Institute for Experimental Medical Research, Oslo University Hospital Ullevål. E-mail: j.f.larsen@medisin.uio.no  Phone +47 23016800. Deadline: 15 September 2019.

- Familien Blix fond - the fund supports medical research in the field of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Priority is given to projects combining basic and clinical research, and to applications from younger researchers. Application process: inform about interest to apply by sending an email to goe@hjort.no. Fill out the received application form and send it to: Familien Blix' fonds styre v/advokat Erik Keiserud, Advokatfirmaet Hjort DA, postboks 471 Sentrum, 0105 Oslo. Deadline: 25 June 2019.   

- ERC Starting Grant and Consolidator Grant writing course in Bergen - Are you an early stage researcher (2-7 years since defending PhD for StG and 7-12 years for CoG)? Come to a workshop held by the experienced consultany company Enspire on how to prepare competetive proposals for these two ERC schemes. The workshop is divided into two main sections. First we will lay the foundations of the ERC grant. Then, we focus on conveying to the participants information which cannot be found in the ERC official documentation. You can also book 1:1 session to discuss your idea and project. Time and venue: 19 June 2019 - 09.00–15.00, Hotel Ørnen

- Research Stay Abroad - each funding source offers funding for research stays abroad for the candidates:

• The Faculty of Medicine - Postdoctoral fellows with UiB funding: granted for stays 3-12 months. Deadline: 1 March and 1 October.
• Helse Vest: granted for 6 or 12 months. Postdoctoral fellowship applicants are especially encouraged to apply for an overseas fellowship over the course of their fellowship period. Continuing deadline
• Research Council of Norway: granted for 3-12 months. Continuing deadline

- EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) Fellowships Research on the molecular mechanisms of life at all levels.

• Short-term Short-Term Fellowships fund research exchanges of up to three months between laboratories in eligible countries.
• Long-term The EMBO Long-Term Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years and support post-doctoral research visits to laboratories throughout Europe and the world. Deadline: throughout the year.

- Innovation Projects for the Public Sector: Elligable applicants are entities from the public sector, groups of such entities and organizations representing the public sector. One or more approved research organisations must participate as a partner in the project. The following programmes are involved in the call for proposals calls for Innovation Projects for the Public Sector: FINNUT, FORKOMMUNE, HELSEVEL, Transport 2025, FORSTAT and IKTPLUSS. Deadline: 25 September 2019 at 13:00.

- Commercialization projects: The objective of Commercialisation Projects is to increase the commercial utilisation of research results from publicly-funded Norwegian research organisations. Commercialisation Projects are to clarify uncertainties related to the commercial utilisation of high-potential R&D results, i.e. questions that will prevent the project from moving forward in the commercialisation process if they remain unanswered. Research organizations are elligible applicants together with technology transfer offices, in our case, VIS. Deadline: 25 September 2019 at 13:00.

Horizon2020 - several calls. Selected H2020 deadlines 2018:

1. European Research Council (ERC) Frontier research grants

- CALL IS OPEN: Advanced Grant - Applicants for the ERC Advanced Grants are expected to be active researchers who have a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years. The Principal Investigators should be exceptional leaders in terms of originality and significance of their research contributions. Deadline: 28 August 2019.

- Pre-announcement: ERC Starting Grant - for researchers of any nationality with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD (Extensions are possible under certain circumstances — see the latest ERC Work Programme), a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal who are ready to work independently and who show potential to be a research leader. Deadline: 16 October 2019.

- Pre-announcement: ERC Synergy Grant - for a group of two to maximum four Principal Investigators (PIs) working together and bringing different skills and resources to tackle ambitious research problems. No specific eligibility criteria regarding the academic training are foreseen for ERC Synergy Grants. PIs must present an early achievement track-record or a ten-year track-record, whichever is most appropriate. Proposals will be evaluated on the sole criterion of scientific excellence which, in the case the ERC Synergy Grants, takes on the additional meaning of outstanding intrinsic synergetic effect. Deadline: 5 November 2019

- Pre-announcement: ERC Consolidator Grant - for researchers of any nationality with 7-12 years of experience since completion of PhD (Extensions are possible under certain circumstances — see the latest ERC Work Programme), a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal who have established a research team and want to strengthen the team and their career in Europe. Deadline: 4 February 2019.

2. Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions: Individual fellowships (IF): support for experienced researchers undertaking mobility between countries, optionally to the non-academic sector    

- Individual Fellowship MSCA-IF-2019: Individual Fellowships support the mobility of researchers within and beyond Europe - as well as helping to attract the best foreign researchers to work in the EU. The grant usually covers two years' salary, a mobility allowance, research costs and overheads for the host institution. Individual researchers submit proposals for funding in liaison with their planned host organisation. Proposals are judged on their research quality, the researcher's future career prospects, and the support offered by the host organisation. Deadline: 11 September 2019 at 17:00 Brussels time.

- NEW: Co-funding of regional, national and international programmes: The COFUND scheme aims to stimulate regional, national or international programmes to foster excellence in researchers' training, mobility and career development, spreading the best practices of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions. This will be achieved by co-funding new or existing regional, national, and international programmes to open up to, and provide for, international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research training, as well as transnational and cross-sectoral mobility of researchers at all stages of their career. Deadline: 26 September 2019 at 17:00 Brussels time.

3. Societal Challenges (SC): Collaborative breakthrough research and radical innovation

NEW: The last update of the Work Programme now contains all the topics that have final deadline in 2020.  It will be published by end of June 2019. For more information and updates please visit the Commission website. To simplify the overview, here you can find a list of the relevant topics only with 2020 deadlines. Please note that 4 topics are two stage with first stage deadline already 24 September and 3 topics with final deadline in November 2019. Please contact MEDforsk@uib.no if you have any questions or would like to discuss relevant options within your field of research with faculty advisors.

- IMI’s next Calls for proposals, call 18 and 19, are currently planned for 26/06/2019. This date is indicative and may change. The following topics are under consideration for inclusion in the next calls. These topics are now at an advanced stage of development and we hope that these drafts will allow potential applicants to start working actively on proposals and forming consortia:

• Central repository of digital pathology slides to support the development of artificial intelligence tools
• Health Outcomes Observatories – empower patients with tools to measure their outcomes in a standardised manner creating transparency of health outcomes
• Improving patient access, understanding and adherence to healthcare information: an integrated digital health information project
• Establishing international standards in the analysis of patient reported outcomes and health-related quality of life data in cancer clinical trials
• Accelerating research & development for advanced therapy medicinal products
• Supporting the development of chimeric antigen receptor T cells
• Restricted call to maximise impact of IMI2 JU objectives and scientific priorities

Deadline for 1st stage proposal 26 September 2019.

- NEW: Call for proposals for interdisciplinary research projects - The aim of the Programme for Interdisciplinary Research is to promote high-quality bottom-up research that combines and integrate skills from multiple disciplines. The programme aims to strengthen the ability of Nordic research environments to meet the increasing international demand for truly interdisciplinary research that spurs new scientific approaches in pursuit of answers to novel research questions. The proposal must address at least two of the three areas of science as used by the European Research Council: Life science; Physical Sciences & Engineering; Social Sciences and Humanities. The research project must include partners from research-performing organisations in at least three Nordic countries. Nordic countries are defined here as Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland Islands. Deadline for applicants to submit the pre-proposal is 13.00 CET on 13 November 2019.

- NEW: The GRIEG call is part of the Basic Research Programme operated by the National Science Centre under the EEA and Norway Grants and is prepared in cooperation with the Research Council of Norway. The GRIEG call will be implemented through curiosity-driven joint research projects, enabling Polish-Norwegian research teams to bring together complementary skills, knowledge and resources to jointly address specific research challenges. Collaborative research project proposals are invited in all areas of the fundamental sciences. Based on the provisions of the MoU between Poland and Norway, research groups within polar research and social science research are particularly invited to submit proposals to this call. The deadline for submission is September 17, 2019, 24.00 CEST.

The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) provides funding for the creation of research networks, called COST Actions. These networks offer an open space for collaboration among scientists across Europe (and beyond) and thereby give impetus to research advancements and innovation. COST is bottom up, this means that researchers can create a network – based on their own research interests and ideas – by submitting a proposal to the COST Open Call.

Participants are invited to submit COST Action proposals contributing to the scientific, technological, economic, cultural or societal knowledge advancement and development of Europe. Multi- and interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged. The next collection date is 5 September 2019 at 12:00.

- Updated info on open calls! The EDCTP calls for proposals are supported through three distinct types of Horizon 2020 'actions':

* Research & Innovation Actions (RIA) are multicentre clinical trials conducted by research consortia involving both European and African research teams, with integrated capacity development and networking elements.

* Coordination & Support Actions (CSA) support activities that strengthen the enabling environment for conducting clinical trials and clinical research, including ethical review and regulatory capacity.

* Training & Mobility Actions (TMA) are fellowships that focus on the career development of individual researchers or research team members.

In 2019, EDCTP intends to launch 10 calls for proposals to support clinical research and related activities on poverty-related diseases. Details of the open and planned call texts are published on the website.

• Strategic actions supporting large-scale clinical trials (RIA): Deadline for application: 07 November 2019
• New drugs and vaccines for priority pathogens in antimicrobial resistance (RIA): Deadline for application: 07 November 2019
• Paediatric drugs formulations for poverty-related diseases (RIA): Deadline for application: 10 October 2019
• Strategic actions on product-related implementation research (RIA): Deadline for application: 10 October 2019

Planned calls:

• Ethics and regulatory capacities (CSA): Deadline for application: 21 November 2019
• Career development fellowships (TMA): Deadline for application: 27 November 2019
• EDCTP-AREF Preparatory fellowships (TMA) : Deadline for application: 27 November 2019
• Senior fellowships Plus (TMA): Deadline for application: 01 February 2020
• Clinical research & product development fellowships (TMA): Deadline for application: 28 February 2020
• Vaccines against Lassa virus - joint call with CEPI (RIA): Deadline for application: 07 April 2020

- NEW: Dementia - dementia researchers are invited to apply for running costs and/or networking activities related to ongoing research activities focusing on causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Researchers may apply for funding up to 300 000 NOK to strengthen ongoing research funded by the Norwegian Health Association or other sources, and/or to support network building activities in the field of dementia. Care research is outside the scope of this call. Deadline: 1 September 2019 at 13:00.

- NEW: Cardiovascular research - The Norwegian Health Association fund cardiovascular Research witin epidemiology, clinical research and basic research that contributes to increased knowledge of causation and mechanisms of disease, risk factors, diagnosing, preventing, treating and rehabilitation. Deadline: 1 September 2019 at 23:30.

- NEW: IdeaLab workshop "Managing Threats": the IdeaLab call is for ground-breaking, interdisciplinary research projects targeting social challenges facing European societies now and in the future. An idealab (also know as sandpit) is different type of call, where researchers and users of research with expertise in a given topic are selected and invited for a 5-day workshop where project ideas are developed. The best among those ideas are invited to submit full proposals for bilateral research projects and funded (2-3 years, budgets 500-1500 K EUR). Researchers and experts are invited to submit applications to participate in the workshop, consisting of a motivation letter, a confirmation from their institution, and a CV. The submission deadline is August 19, 2019, 24.00 CEST.

- Pre-announcement: Romania2nd Research Call: The last call for research cooperation with Romania under Norway Grants will open on July 15th 2019. Thematic areas will be similar to the Romania 2018 call. Projects within CCS are encoured to submit applications. Call information will be published on the webpage of UEFISCDI.

- Pre-announcement: Romania Mobility Call 2019: Support for finding partners and preparing a proposal in the Romania Research Call 2019 will be available through a dedicated call. The call is scheduled to open on July 15th 2019 and will offer lump sums for travel.

- RAKEL AND OTTO-KRISTIAN BRUUNS ENDOWMENT: In 2019 the fund will provide six grants of NOK 200.000 for innovative projects. The endowment supports medical basic research within biochemistry, physiology, and pathology. Cancer-related projects are prioritized. Grants are awarded to qualified scientists who are licensed Medical Doctors. The grants may cover running expenses and small scientific equipment. Individuals may apply, but applications on behalf of institutes or research groups are preferred.  The application should be written on a form that is available from Jo-Ann Fabe Larsen, Institute for Experimental Medical Research, Oslo University Hospital Ullevål. E-mail: j.f.larsen@medisin.uio.no  Phone +47 23016800. Deadline: 15 September 2019.

- The Nordic Cancer Union (NCU) provides funding to support and stimulate collaborative cancer research within the Nordic countries. Researchers working in two Nordic countries or more must be involved in the project. The research project must be cancer relevant and uniquely suited to be carried out within the Nordic countries, and the effect of collaboration should be synergistic.Funding is restricted to research that is in line with the NCU's research strategy. The research strategy was adopted by the NCU Board on May 26, 2014.NCU research grants are provided for one year. Further support for the project will require a new, yearly application. Deadline: 2 September 2019, 3 pm.

- Familien Blix fond - the fund supports medical research in the field of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Priority is given to projects combining basic and clinical research, and to applications from younger researchers. Application process: inform about interest to apply by sending an email to goe@hjort.no. Fill out the received application form and send it to: Familien Blix' fonds styre v/advokat Erik Keiserud, Advokatfirmaet Hjort DA, postboks 471 Sentrum, 0105 Oslo. Deadline: 25 June 2019. 

- The Olav Thon Foundation: For 2020, the Board of the Foundation has decided to invite applications for research on reparative medicine targeting diseases in the musculoskeletal and peripheral and central nervous system. Deadline: 15 September 2019.

On the following page the UiB's local contact points are listed where every call has a responsible research advisor. You can contact them or faculty advisors MEDforsk@uib.no.

Please visit our web page dedicated to innovation relevant funding possibilities.

- EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) Fellowships Research on the molecular mechanisms of life at all levels.

• Short-term Short-Term Fellowships fund research exchanges of up to three months between laboratories in eligible countries.
• Long-term The EMBO Long-Term Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years and support post-doctoral research visits to laboratories throughout Europe and the world. Deadline: throughout the year.