Doctoral Research Fellowships

The Research Council does not award funding for personal doctoral research grants and you may not apply to the Research Council for funding for a doctoral research fellowship yourself. 

Only research organisations are eligible to apply for funding for a PhD fellowship as part of a research project via one of our calls for proposals. The project's responsible research organization (applicant) or a collaborative partner is responsible for hiring doctoral candidates.

The exceptions are the Industrial PhD and Public Sector PhD scheme, where a public or private sector employer can apply for funding for the position in collaboration with a degree-conferring research institution.

We support payroll and indirect costs related to research fellowships in line with other payroll and indirect costs in projects. Read more about budgeting such costs on the page: What to enter in the project budget.

The Research Council funding up to three full-time equivalents of a doctoral position. Any costs related to mandatory work imposed by the degree-awarding organization must be covered by them. The Research Council funding only one doctoral research fellowship per candidate and only if the candidate does not already have a doctoral degree/PhD.

The Research Council allocates funding for doctoral positions primarily to Norwegian universities and colleges authorized to award doctoral degrees, cf.: the Regulations concerning, Forskrift til universitets- og høyskoleloven.  

What is a doctoral position?

The terms of employment for a doctoral research fellow position are described in the Regulations concerning, Forskrift til universitets- og høyskoleloven, § 3-19. All Research Council-funded projects must adhere to the regulations. 

Please note the following points:

• A professional development plan for the doctoral period must be prepared. See the separate section below.
• Research stays abroad into their fellowship period are expected. 
• The project's responsible research organization (applicant) or a collaborative partner hires the doctoral candidate.
• If the project's responsible organization does not award the PhD, the organization must enter into a written agreement with the university or scientific university college where the doctoral candidate will pursue the PhD.

For research fellows with a registered address in Norway who spend all or parts of their research fellowship period abroad, The Project Owner, which is a research organisation, can apply for funding for stays abroad for up to 12 months. This also applies to doctoral research fellows who are staying and taking their degree at a foreign degree-conferring institution.     

Requirements relating to professional development plans for doctoral research fellowships

The Research Council has made it mandatory for all doctoral fellows it funds to draw up and submit a professional development plan, see forskningsradets-plan-for-rekruttering-til-forskning-og-tidlig-karriere.pdf).

The Project Owner or the research institution where the doctoral research fellow is employed is required to draw up a professional development plan for the full duration of the doctoral research period.