Under the Money Follows Cooperation agreement, project co-lead (international)s (PcL (I)s) based in Norway can be included in applications submitted by a UK-based project lead to eligible UKRI funding opportunities published by the participating research councils. The contribution and added value of the international participants to the research must be clearly explained and justified in the application.
The inclusion of a PcL (I) based in Norway is permitted in funding opportunities open to the inclusion of PcL (I)s that:
- do not expressly forbid international collaboration
- do not provide alternative support for PcL (I)s
Collaborative research applications led by UK researchers, involving PcL (I)s based in Norway, may be submitted in any disciplinary or interdisciplinary area which falls within the remit of the participating research councils.
Conditions will vary depending on research council and funding opportunity to which an application is being submitted. You should refer to the ‘Contact details’ section for key contact details to the research councils.
Funding limits
UKRI will pay the award directly to the lead UK organisation under its standard terms and conditions for research grants. Justified costs for PcL (I)s based in Norway will be funded at 100% of the direct costs.
The total costs claimed for the PcL (I)’s contribution to a project must not exceed 30% of the overall cost of the project, calculated at 100% full economic cost (FEC).
More than one PcL (I) based in Norway may be involved in an application to an eligible funding opportunity. Depending on the research council and funding opportunity guidance, other PcL (I)s may also be eligible for inclusion in an application. Where this is the case, the combined total costs requested for the PcL (I)’s (including those incurred by the PcL (I) based in Norway) must not exceed 30% of the overall cost of the project, calculated at 100% FEC.
Applications which include PcL (I)s must provide full justification on all associated costs within the ‘Resources and costs’ section of the application, explaining why such costs are required to achieve the aims of the project, with an appropriate explanation of which costs relate to the PcL (I) based in Norway. Each budget line requested for PcL (I) should be itemised within the ‘Resources and costs’ section.
Eligible costs
Directly incurred costs
For example, travel and subsistence costs, conference attendance.
This component will be assessed in the context of the application as a whole and the ‘Resources and costs’ section. Travel and subsistence costs for PcL (I)s based in Norway are required to be reasonable and fully justified in accordance with the applicable research council guidelines.
Applicants may apply for funds to cover other directly incurred costs (for example, consumables, consultancy fees, survey costs and equipment costing less than £10,000), provided they are fully justified. You should include costs associated with the PcL (I) including any locally employed staff, travel, and any other costs directly incurred by the project under exceptions.
Research and innovation associates based in Norway
For example, salary costs for research and innovation (R&I) associates – previously named research assistants – employed at a Norwegian research organisation (RO) or seconded from a UK RO.
Applicants may apply for funds to cover the cost of R&I associates based in Norway to support research activities in Norway. Where the R&I associate is recruited and employed by a Norwegian RO to support the PcL (I) based in Norway, direct costs will be paid at 100%. These costs should be included under exceptions.
In cases where a R&I associate is employed by a UK RO but seconded to the Norway based RO, costs will be paid at 80%.
Salary costs
UKRI covers salary costs for PcL (I)s based in Norway, provided that these costs are justified, and it is demonstrated that the funding of project lead salaries within research grants is the standard practice of the PcL (I)’s RO.
Alternative arrangements to secure researcher time, such as teaching replacement costs, will be considered where these are required by the PcL (I)’s RO.
UK ROs preparing applications for submission are strongly advised to liaise closely with the PcL (I) based in Norway to ascertain any requirement for salary costs. Salary costs requested for the PcL (I) based in Norway must be justified within the ‘Resources and costs’ section of the application.
Infrastructure and facilities
UK applicants budgeting for the use of large infrastructure or facilities, should, where possible, use UK large infrastructure or facilities when applying to UKRI funding.
Costs we do not cover
Estates and other indirect costs
Since institutions outside the UK do not use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) methodology, it is not possible for UKRI to check and monitor the calculation of estates, overheads and indirect costs in Norway based RO’s. For these reasons UKRI will not consider any estates, overheads or indirect costs pertaining to PcL (I)s.
Equipment
Any individual item, or components combined to make an item, with a value greater than £10,000.
Award payments
UKRI will pay the award directly to the lead UK organisation under its standard terms and conditions. The UK organisation where the UK project lead is based will then be responsible for disbursing the funds to the PcL (I)’s RO.
