The Research Council of Norway

The Research Council works to promote research and innovation of high quality and relevance and to generate knowledge in priority areas to enable Norway to deal with key challenges to society and the business sector. The Research Council’s task is to make the best research and innovation possible. Our aim is to promote a society where research is created, used and shared, and thus contributes to restructuring and enhanced sustainability.

We invest NOK 10 billion in research and innovation annually on behalf of the Norwegian government. It is our task to ensure that this funding goes to the best research and innovation projects. Over 2 000 international peer reviewers assess and rank the grant proposals submitted to us. Funding decisions are taken by our portfolio boards, which are comprised of nearly 200 independent board members from across all sectors.

We are at the forefront in developing research of the highest quality and relevance. We are the key advisory body to the authorities on research policy issues and carry out tasks commissioned by 15 ministries. Our activities play an important role in the Government’s long-term plan for research and higher education.

The Research Council has 450 employees working to address societal challenges and create jobs for the future.