100 million NOK to attract international researchers

– We are now giving our leading research groups the opportunity to connect more closely with established researchers from abroad. It is important for Norway to be proactive in a demanding situation for academic freedom. We can make a difference for outstanding researchers and important knowledge, and we want to do that as quickly as possible," says Minister of Research and Higher Education Sigrun Aasland (Labour).

The grant funding scheme will be open to researchers from all over the world. 

The minister has followed the recent developments in the United States closely:

"Academic freedom is under pressure in the United States, and it is an unpredictable situation for many researchers in what has been the world's leading research nation for many decades. We have had close dialogue with the Norwegian knowledge communities and my Nordic colleagues about the development. It has been important for me to find good measures that we can put in place quickly, and therefore I have asked the Research Council to prioritize grant funding schemes that we can implement rapidly," says Aasland.

The new scheme is part of the Government's long-term efforts to attract international researchers to Norway. The scheme will be open to researchers from all over the world and is not limited to American researchers.. The scheme will run over several years and initially NOK 100 million has been set aside for 2026.

The call will be published in May and will initially be linked to the Research Council's research and innovation centre funding schemes, (e.g Centres of Excellence, Centre for Research-based Innovation, Centre for Environment-friendly Energy Research, Research Centres for Artificial Intelligence)  says Mari Sundli Tveit, CEO of the Research Council of Norway. 

The Research Council is currently finalizing the details of the funding scheme before the call is launched. In parallel, the Research Council is working on other funding schemes to be announced in due course.