Call for proposals: Interdisciplinary research projects within NTNU’s strategic research area Community 

NTNU’s strategic research area Community will fund new interdisciplinary research projects (including artistic research) that address important challenges and knowledge needs within the area.  

Application deadline  20.01.2025 (kl. 23.59)

Who can apply?

Permanent scientific staff can apply. The project must involve at least two participants from different disciplines and different faculties/VM at NTNU. We encourage applications involving both experienced and early-career employees. 

What can you apply for? 

The projects will receive funding for two 3-year RSO positions; either two PhD-positions or one PhD- and one postdoc-position (preferred positions must be specified). Two postdoc- and up to six PhD-positions will be awarded in total. The positions will come with funds for operational costs at faculty standard levels and costs for language training in Norwegian (when applicable) will be covered. The need for additional funding related to salaries and operational expenses must be covered by the involved departments/faculties or other funds. The department of the project leader and/or deputy project leader will host the positions and be responsible for the recruitment process. 

We are open to research proposals involving only 1 position from NTNU Community in cases where an interdisciplinary collaboration already exists, and this involves a PhD- or postdoc-position started in 2024 or about to start in 2025. The proposal must involve at least two participants from different disciplines and different faculties/VM at NTNU. It must be described how 1 position from NTNU Community will represent a substantially new contribution to the existing collaboration. 

The projects granted funding from NTNU Community will receive 100 000 NOK earmarked for common activities for the research team (for example workshops, external speakers at a seminar etc). 

Requirements for the proposal 

Through interdisciplinary research, NTNU Community aims to contribute to a viable democracy, strengthen trust and cohesion across different groups, and reduce alienation and polarization. In this call we ask for project proposals that address important knowledge gaps with high relevance for at least one of the following societal challenges NTNU Community departs from: 

• Trust and democracy 
• Social inequality and exclusion 
• Restructuring of the welfare state 
• Climate change and the environment 

See https://www.ntnu.no/fellesskap for description of the societal challenges. 

The project must represent a novel and interdisciplinary approach to the research questions asked, and the proposal must show how the results from the project will contribute to fill knowledge gaps. 

It is expected that the projects will contribute to building strong interdisciplinary research teams at NTNU that will continue research- and innovation activities within their area of expertise through attracting external funding. We encourage formation of new interdisciplinary collaborations and to include external national and international collaboration partners, such as universities, NGOs, public and private actors, in the projects.  

The division of labor between the two funded positions in the project must ensure synergy and a common contribution towards the overarching objectives and research questions defined. How this is solved and organized must be clearly described in the implementation section of the proposal. Any relation to other ongoing projects and coordination with these should be described. The project’s ability to be carried out within the given timeframe and available resources will be emphasized.  

The project proposal must be written using our template: 

Download English Template
Download Norwegian Template
 

The proposal must be limited to max 5 pages + front page (Times New Roman, 11 points, 2 cm margins) and must be written in English or Norwegian. The template includes all elements of the proposals that will be evaluated, it is therefore important that all parts are completed in the given order. The project proposal shall consist of the following parts: 

1. State of the art, knowledge needs, objectives and relevance to the call 
2. Research questions, hypotheses, methodology and approach 
3. Potential impact  
4. Implementation  
5. Budget 
6. References 
7. Attachments: Project proposal (use template), CVs 

The proposal must describe all resources necessary for a successful completion of the project. The budget must be specified using the table included in the template. Running costs, including travels and the use of labs and infrastructure, must be specified. It must be clarified which costs are running costs related to the positions and which are costs related to common activities (covered by the earmarked 100 000 NOK). If additional sources of funding are available this must be specified.    

The project proposal must be uploaded as a pdf through our online form within January 20th 2025. CVs (max 4 pages per person) for the involved project partners must be uploaded as a single, separate pdf in the form. 

Apply Here
 

Evaluation  

The project proposals will be evaluated by an external committee based on Relevance, Excellence, Potential impact, and Implementation in accordance with the criteria described below. In case of a large number of proposals, only the proposals deemed most relevant to the call will be selected for external evaluation by the leader group of NTNU Community. Prioritization will be based on results from the external evaluation, but a need for diversity in topics related to the societal challenges outlined for NTNU Community as well as a diversity in participating disciplines will influence the final prioritization of awarded projects.  

We expect a decision on awarded projects within March 31st 2025. Projects must commence within the fall of 2025. The deadline for filling the awarded positions will be no later than 31.12.2025. 

Contact: Frode Nystuen, coordinator NTNU Community: Frode.nystuen@ntnu.no / 452 777 59 

Evaluation criterias 

• Relevance 
• Is the project proposal relevant for NTNU Community? 
• To what extent does the project proposal align with one or more of the societal challenges? 
• How is interdisciplinarity represented in the project? 
• How is the project embedded in the involved research environments? 
• Excellence/Research quality 
• How original, novel, and ambitious is the project?  
• How good is the quality of the research questions and project objectives? 
• To what extent is the approach, choice of methods, and planned execution credible and well suited for reaching the project objectives? 
• To what extent have the risks, uncertainties, and ethical issues been addressed? 

Potential impact  

• To what extent is the project suited to address important scientific and societal challenges? 
• How good are the plans for communicating project results and create potential impact? 

Implementation 

To what extent do the project participants have the required competence, experience, and ability to carry out the project with high quality? 

Is the implementation of the project realistic within the given resources and timeframe? 
 

Previous annoncements

See results from previous annoncements.