A record 139 grant applications were submitted to the SFF scheme for the June 2011 deadline. The competition to become a third-generation SFF centre is keener than ever.
The research institutions that survived the tough scrutiny of the prequalification round must submit their complete applications by 22 August 2012. The decision regarding which of the 29 applicants will be awarded SFF status beginning in 2013 will be taken in the course of the autumn.
Develop research groups
The SFF scheme is designed to encourage Norwegian research institutions to conduct basic research at a top international level. The objective is to develop strong research groups with good management and organisation that produce high-calibre results.
The first 13 Norwegian Centres of Excellence (SFF centres) were established in 2003. This year’s competition is the third time funding for SFF centres has been announced.
Detailed process
The grant applications were first sent to international referee panels for review, after which they went to one of the three international scientific committees established in the natural sciences and technology, the biosciences, and the humanities and social sciences for further assessment. Each committee was asked to select five to ten applicants in its respective area to be invited to submit complete applications.
The Research Council approved the recommendations of the scientific committees on 16 May 2012.
The applicants selected to continue
(project number in parentheses)
University of Oslo (UiO)
Centre for Viking-Age Studies (213341)
Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan – MultiLing (213358)
Paradoxes of Gender Equality – PAGE (213368)
Centre for Mind and Motion in Music and Machines (fourMs) (213384)
PluriCourts - The Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order (213400)
Healthy Brain Aging Centre (HBAC) (212955)
NORMENT: A Norwegian Centre for Research in Mental Disorders (213363)
Centre for Human and Aquatic Nanomedicine (213372)
Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (213338)
InfraGlobe (Global Health Information Infrastructures) (213409)
University of Bergen (UiB)
Centre for Humanistic Legal Studies (213272)
Centre for Intervention Science in International Maternal and Child Health (213281)
Centre for Cancer Biomarkers (213425)
Birkeland Center for Space Science (213429)
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (213526)
Centre for Conservation Biology: predicting the dynamics of biological diversity (213544)
Centre for Neural Microcircuits (213555)
Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems (213532)
University of Tromsø (UiT)
Centre of Excellence in Indigenous Resilience (213433)
Centre for Radar Remote Sensing (CeRReS) (213424)
Centre for Arctic Gas hydrate, Environment and Climate (213435)
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB)
Centre for Environmental Radioactivity (CERAD) (213200)
The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO)
Nordic Architectural Culture 1800-2050 (213142)
Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NVH)
Centre for Fish Virology (212982)
Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (NIH)
Oslo Musculoskeletal Research Center (213111)
The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Transforming Political Violence (212946)
Christian Michelsen Research (CMR)
Norwegian Centre for Energy-related Safety and Security (212933)
Simula Research Laboratory
FIDUS - Research Centre for a Reliable Internet (213128)
Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC)
Centre for Innovative Research in the Arctic Ocean (213134)