Deadline: 27-May-25
The NordForsk launches a joint Nordic-Baltic call for proposals on sustainable futures of forest.
The Joint Nordic-Baltic Initiative on Sustainable Futures of Forests is an important collaboration that addresses the pressing challenges facing forests in the Nordic and Baltic regions. Forests cover vast areas of these landscapes and are vital not only for local economies but also for the social and cultural fabric of the region. They provide multiple benefits, including supporting biodiversity, supplying raw materials, and delivering essential ecosystem services like carbon sequestration, which helps mitigate climate change on a global scale.
Aim
- This initiative is particularly important as it brings together the collective expertise and resources of the Nordic and Baltic countries. By promoting cross-border cooperation, the initiative encourages a holistic approach to sustainable forestry, integrating scientific research, innovative technology, and sustainable management practices. It creates a platform for sharing knowledge, addressing common challenges, and developing solutions that are tailored to the region’s unique ecological and economic contexts.
- One of the key benefits of the initiative is its ability to foster collaboration among researchers, stakeholders, and governments. This collaboration strengthens the region’s capacity to tackle critical issues such as forest resilience, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable wood production. By working together, the Nordic and Baltic countries can lead the way in developing innovative approaches to forestry that not only preserve ecosystems but also enhance the long-term sustainability of forest resources.
Funding Information
- Available budget: up to 80 million NOK
- Applicants are invited to apply for funding to establish a Nordic-Baltic research project with a maximum budget of NOK 11 million and a duration of up to four years. The intention is to provide funding for up to seven research projects within this call.
Eligible Funding
- Funding may be used for costs that are necessary for the implementation of the project, such as:
- Salaries of researchers corresponding to the person’s activity level in the project
- PhD and post-doctoral positions corresponding to the person’s activity level in the project, and not covering salary during teaching or other departmental duties
- Running costs (data collection and analysis, consumables, minor equipment, premises)
- Mobility and research stays, travel
- Dissemination, outreach, and knowledge exchange activities (including open access charges)
- Stakeholder involvement/activities
- Indirect costs and overheads
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible for funding, the following conditions must be met:
- Proposals must be submitted electronically using the NordForsk Call and Application Portal by the call deadline.
- All proposals must be written in English.
- The consortium must include research-performing organisations from at least four Nordic or Baltic countries of which two must be Nordic countries. Nordic countries are defined here as Åland, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
- The host institution (project owner) for the research project must be an established research-performing organization such as a university, university college, or research institute based in one of the countries co-funding the call: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.
- If the project owner is a research-performing organization in Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania, the project must also have a co-host institution in Finland or Norway which NordForsk enters into a contract with concerning the Nordic part of the budget. A contact person must be appointed from the co-host institution and will serve as NordForsk’s administrative contact point. This implies that the Nordic part of the project budget will be transferred to the Nordic co-host institution, which will be responsible for distributing the allocated funds to the Nordic co-operation partners in the project consortium.
- The project leader must be a qualified early-career researcher (PhD) with at least 2 but not more than 7 years of experience since completing their PhD.
- The project leader must be employed by the host institution (project owner) for the duration of the project.
- Each research partner must be represented by at least one researcher with a PhD.
- A researcher may only serve as project leader for one application under this call. However, research institutions may be affiliated with more than one application.
- The proposal must include a signed letter of commitment from each partner institution. Letters of commitment must be signed by a person authorized to take on financial commitments on behalf of the institution for the entire duration of the project.
- Organizations based in the Russian Federation or Belarus or Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine may not participate in projects funded by this call.
For more information, visit NordForsk.