Call for UiO:Energy Thematic Research Groups 2022

UiO:Energy announces funding of Thematic Research Groups, TRGs. We aim to foster the the development of an interdisciplinary culture as well as partnerships between researchers at UiO within sustainable energy and/or the energy transition. It is also desirable that the TRGs involves collaborations with international research groups and external stakeholders from the industry, governmental bodies or the society at large. The Thematic Research Groups should enable the group of researchers to be more competitive in assuring relevant funding from external sources in the future, and may be seen as a step towards larger, interdisciplinary projects such as UiO:Energy Convergence Environments.

Funding and timeline

UiO:Energy funded three Thematic Research Groups in the first call. In this second call, we will fund up to a total of four TRGs. Each group will receive funding over a period of two years, with a total maximum funding of 4 MNOK from UiO:Energy. The TRGs for the second call, will be awarded in spring 2022.

Timeline for the second call of the Thematic Research Groups:

The call may be subject to minor adjustments, the final call will be published November 29th. 

Requirements

• The main applicant must have a permanent position at UiO
• The UiO:Energy Thematic Research Groups must be developed within one or several of UiO:Energy¡¯s four main research areas:
  • Energy Transition and Sustainable Societies
  • Energy Systems
  • Carbon Capture and Storage
  • Materials for Energy
• Must be in line with UiO:Energy¡¯s program platform (in Norwegian) and mandate
• The involved departments/centres are required to support the proposals of TRGs, and they should be in line with the participating units? internal priorities and strategies
• Research Groups involving several disciplines/units are highly encouraged
• Must involve several researchers at UiO. Interdisciplinarity is not strictly required, but highly encouraged. Each TRG must explore the possibilities for increased collaboration across faculties/departments/centres at UiO
• Active collaboration with relevant stakeholders and international research groups is encouraged
• At least one temporary recruitment position should be funded for the full two-year period
  • If you fund a Research Assistant you may use the UiO:Energy funding for the whole period (maximum 2 years appointment period)
  • If you fund a Phd position you must add additional years as own-funding 
  • If you fund a Post doc and/or researcher position/s you may use the resources from UiO:Energy for the entire funding period, or add additional years as own-funding, but this is not a prerequisite
• The TRGs will report to UiO:Energy annually

Funding

Funding from UiO:Energy may be used to for the following:

• Temporary positions 
  • Research assistants
  • Ph.Ds, postdoctoral/young researcher fellowships (see above)
  • Adjunct positions
• Activities related to promoting internal and external collaborations such as
  • Seminar series
  • Workshops
  • Public debates/events
  • Exchange/visits to/from existing or potential external research partners
• General running costs
• Development of new courses (see also the call for seed funding for development of courses)

Assesment criterias and application format

• Relevance to UiO:Energy mandate and program platform
• Academic quality and originality. Please describe how the TRG aims to develop knowledge beyond the state of art within its particular research field
  • The TRG description must be a maximum of 5 pages, included an abstract of maximum 300 words
  • Describe the Thematic Research Area and the main scientific questions to be addressed
• The track records of the principal investigators¡¯ and their documented experience in proposing and developing these type of research collaborations within UiO, nationally and internationally
  • Name each principal investigator and describe their role in the development of the TRG. CVs for the key members shall be submitted as separate attachments
  • Plan for participation in national and international networks
• The added value of this new research cooperation, including added value of interdisciplinary collaborations
  • Describe the contribution of the recruitment position/s
  • Added value of internal UiO, national and international collaborations
• Societal relevance, generously understood. Describe:
  • Involvement of relevant stakeholders
  • Plans for development of projects, including plans for further external funding
  • A clear dissemination plan.
• Description of the potential for teaching, including supervision and the development of relevant courses if relevant
• A two-year budget must be submitted, giving a description of the financial contribution to the TRG from UiO:Energy and from other sources if relevant. How the funds are allocated to different activities. Please do not include overhead in the costs to be covered by UiO:Energy funding as these funds are internal UiO funding (part of the basis governmental funding). You may include OH in the own contribution if relevant.
• The project description and all enclosed documents must be written in English
• Nominate at least 5 scientific experts to evaluate your proposal

Evaluations and award process

Each proposal shall be evaluated by at least 3 experts proposed by the applicants (to be appointed in February 2022).  Each expert will write an individual evaluation report, that will be compiled into a common evaluation feedback report for each application.

The applications, the individual expert reports, and the common feedback reports will be given to the UiO:Energy board. The UiO:Energy board makes their final decision and awards up to four new TRGs in April 2022. The new TRGs are expected to start their activities within spring 2023.

Application form

Application web form and word template

Application deadline: January 15, 2022