Funding of research stays at foreign institution

1 Eligibility
The scheme is primarily intended for university research fellows and post-doctoral fellows funded by The Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Bergen.

The scheme is intended for travels to be made during the subsequent calendar year. The scheme is intended for stays over two months.

The scheme is intended for research stays at foreign institutions. Regarding stays that combine field work/data gathering and research stays at foreign institutions, the part of the stay at foreign institution is eligible for application. 

To be entitled to financial support, the following criteria must then be met: 

• the stay must have a clear academic rationale 
• the applicants main funding in the position is from the faculty 
• the application concerns residence at a research institution and not fieldwork/data collection 
• the stay is between 2 and 6 months 

Should there be remaining funds when the applications from university research fellows and post-doctoral fellows have been assessed, applications from those with different sources of funding might be considered.

2 Allotment Criteria
The funds will be awarded according to the academic rationale for the stay abroad, the supervisor’s statement (not a requirement for post-doctoral fellows) and other sources of funding if any. Applicants who have not previously obtained funds from the scheme, will be given priority

The total sum to be awarded is limited and the size of the award is calculated based on the following criteria: 

• duration of the stay 
• cost level at the destination 
• whether support is given to accompanying family 
• the support that has been given to other applicants for similar residence in the past 
• whether the applicant has received similar support from the faculty in the past 
• the total number of applicants for the support scheme in the relevant award year

 
3 What can you apply for?
It is possible to apply for the following costs to be covered:

• Costs incurred when staying away from the regular place of residence, according to set rates (the rates for singles are NOK 10.000 per month). Funds for accompanying family members may be granted. (NOK 10.000 per month)
• Round trip travel by means of the least expensive means of transportation
• Travel costs (transportation only) during the research stay
• Fees, if any, to the host institution
• Any other costs (e.g. interpreter). As a general rule, equipment purchases will not be covered

Funding may be applied for the portion of funding which will not be met through the fellow’s running costs for the time period in question and/or other sources of funding. Costs for stays over six months will normally not be covered.

Please note that the total allocation for the scheme is limited. The size of each recipient’s support depends partly on the total number of successful applicants.

4 Application Requirements
Write the application on the appropriate application form, and include the following information:

• A description of the proposed travel’s relevance for the research project and its significance for the project time schedule
• A budget of the proposed travel and visit abroad where the regular funding for the proposed period, and any other funds, have been included
• A letter of invitation from the research institution
• The supervisor’s recommendation (not a requirement for post-doctoral fellows)

5 Application Deadline
The deadline for submitting applications for travel funds is 15 September. The application is to be sent to the faculty.

Should there be remaining funds, an additional 15 March deadline may be announced.

6 Reports
Fund recipients are requested to hand in a short report (maximum one page) to the Faculty no later than one month after the completion of the travel. The report must contain information about the host institution visited, a statement regarding the outcome of the travel and whether the expectations were met. Please include an overview of possible new contacts, and any other information which might be beneficial to the doctoral education and future research fellows in the Faculty.