Competition is getting harder
Norway, both here at home and through EU, spend more and more money on research. The fact that Norway spends more money on research is good, but there are also more researchers around and the competition is getting harder. Competition is also increasing since a larger and larger proportion of research funds are channelled through competition mechanisms outside universities.
Competition is here to stay, but…..
The fact that we need to compete in order to get funding for our research is healthy, but there are also many reasons for asking questions about this competition. This is a topic of huge interest to me, and a topic I have and will cover on my blog. However, in this newsletter I will invite every researcher at the Faculty to participate in the competition for research funding in Norway and Europe.
We are good, but could do better
When it comes to the open arenas (FRIPRO, SFF, YFF, ERC, etc.) we are doing very well. We are, with good margins, the most successful unit in Norway on these arenas. However, we must attract more of these open grants in order to reach the upper level in Europe. Within thematic areas we can do much better, even though we are doing well in some of them.
Get in touch with our EU-team
The funding mechanisms at the Research Council of Norway are always important, but right now we need more attention towards the opportunities in the EU-system. The size of Horizon2020 is approximately 75 billion Euros. About half of this will be granted over the next 3 years. I hope as many as possible take the time to investigate the opportunities in the EU-system, and that we develop many fruitful applications in the years to come. Our EU-team is available to anyone who wants advice on the EU-system and/or assistance with applications to the EU.