How do we work

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How do we work

The Trond Mohn Research Foundation and the Tromsø Research Foundation collaborate on their own UiT initiative

The Tromsø Research Foundation (TFS) sister foundation in Bergen – the Trond Mohn Research Foundation (TMF) – has decided to implement a separate UiT initiative to support high-quality research projects at UiT. The Trond Mohn Research Foundation sets annual financial frameworks for the UiT initiative and TFS will identify and develop research projects worthy of support within this framework. The new projects can either be pure UiT projects or UiT-led collaborative projects with Bergen.

The foundation aims to provide funding and support for long-term research and research-promoting activities, including research-based recruitment at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. The foundation also supports comparable activities at other institutions in the country that are actively cooperating with UiT.

How to seek support from the foundation?

The foundation is a strategic partner for UiT and will have regular dialogue meetings with the university management and the faculties/units. The dialogue meetings will be used to identify new project ideas.

Plan for allocation activity

The TFS Starting Grant program has awards in even-numbered years, while thematic initiatives have awards in odd-numbered years.

UiT co-finances all projects with 50% and all projects must therefore be anchored in the faculties before they are submitted to TFS.

Priority applications are sent to TMS, which makes a final decision.

Thematic initiatives with allocation in 2025

The faculties/units at UiT was invited to submit sketches (on the attached SKETCH TEMPLATE) of thematic initiatives to TFS (deadline April 15th, 2024). The foundation has no guidelines on thematics. The sketch can either describe an interdisciplinary initiative (within a faculty or as a collaboration between several faculties), or the thematic initiative can come from a research environment in a faculty.

The board has assessed the submitted sketches together with other sketches. Four sketches has been invited to submit a full application within a specified financial framework (deadline November 1st, 2024). Awards will be announced in spring 2025.

General guidelines for allocations

  1. TFS aims at research projects of international top quality
  2. The projects are assessed by independent external experts (peer review)
  3. Allocations are made in partnership between TMS and UiT
  4. The research projects must make a clear difference
  5. No returns beyond visibility are required
    .

Principles and reasons for Trond Mohn Research Foundation allocations

The foundation must promote in all its activities

1. Competence and talent
2. Cooperation and sharing of knowledge
3. Healthy competition
4. Benefit for people and society

Allocations must be well justified

1. Support already excellent environment
2. Contribute to building an excellent environment
3. Strengthen the recipient institutions in the competition
4. National investment
5. Stimulate interdisciplinarity
6. Stimulate innovation
7. International investment
8. Cooperation between donors

All investments must make a difference that can be clearly seen in a few years: this would not have been possible without the Trond Mohn Research Foundation.

What role should the support of the foundation play?

TFS aims to explore well-founded topics that are firmly established at UiT. TFS support is therefore given exclusively as co-financing to subjects that the institution clearly prioritizes.

The support of TFS should make a clear difference in the outcome of the project, enabling actions that would have otherwise not been possible. The foundation prioritizes projects that have a positive effect on the community or region. TFS and its partners are responsible for identifying the effects that their support has on a project.

TFS intends to fund a limited number of large projects that are well-founded in UiT’s strategy. Projects should preferably contain themes of regional relevance based on high quality, impactful research that can be positively affected by TFS’s involvement.

Funding

TFS/TMF is a strategic partner with UiT. The projects that are supported must be strategically important ventures for UiT. It is expected that UiT will contribute some fresh funds in its own share. All expenses for the project must be shown in the budget.

Any TMF contribution has to be matched by resources from UiT at about the same level. Such matching resources may include salaries, consumables, equipment, overhead related to positions funded by TMF and “leiestedskostnader” (e.g., the use of labs / equipment).

TMF funding may be put towards:

  • PhD fellowships, postdoctoral fellowships, and technical personnel
  • TMF grants can be used for researcher time and administrative support beyond that which is included in overhead costs (e.g. administrative coordinator for a centre)
  • Other research expenses directly related to the project e.g., running cost and purchase of minor research equipment.

Funding from the foundation may not be put towards:

  • Other expenses not directly related to the project
  • Overhead costs
  • Note: From the 2026 call, overhead costs for UiT-funded positions can be used in calculating the % of the own contribution.

Please specify eventual source of other funding.

Reporting

All TFS-funded projects are required to submit an annual progress report. Deadline for progress report is 20 March. The project manager are responsible for the reports. The management of the host institute must approval the progress report before submission to TFS.

UiT shall submit project account reports for incurred costs in the previous year. The deadline for project accounting reporting is 20 March. The project financial report shall contain an overview of the funds from the foundation, deductibles from UiT and any other financing.

Progress report form and accounting report form (link to UiT’s intranet) can be downloaded here.