3. Contact with the educational institution
The other prerequisite is that applications must be submitted through one of the Norwegian institutions of higher education, which offer education in the creative, and/or performing arts. An overview of the relevant institutions is available on the programme’s website. Applications that are not submitted through one of the institutions involved will not be considered.
Applicants whom the Steering Committee admits to the programme as research fellows will be appointed by the institution, which has forwarded their applications. It is not necessary for candidates to be employed by or in some other way be attached to such an institution in advance, but it is a prerequisite that contact has been established with one of these institutions in good time before the application is submitted.
The positions as research fellows in the programme will normally be financed by the programme. The institutions can also use own funds to finance research fellow positions. Research fellows with external funding must also be approved by the Steering Committee.
The regulations of the artistic research fellowship programme stipulate a fundamental division of responsibility for research fellows between the programme and the institution:
- The research fellow’s participation in the programme is regulated by the regulations;
- The research fellow’s employment by the institution is regulated by the employment contract entered into by the employer and employee when the employment relationship is established.
As the institution is the fellow’s employer, a number of matters relating to the application must be clarified with the institution in advance. These include:
- The institution must commit itself to employing those applicants to whom the Steering Committee admits to the programme;
- The candidate and the institution must have a shared framework of understanding for the objective and completion of the project;
- The institution must be able to offer a relevant academic environment for completion of the project;
- The institution must be able to provide a suitable workplace during the employment period;
- The research fellow must be given access to the equipment and materials required for completion of the project.
The institution shall consider on an independent basis which applicants it wishes to recommend to the Steering Committee. There might be many reasons why an institution chooses not to forward an application. This might happen among others if an applicant's project is not relevant to the institution, if the quality of the application is not good enough, if the institution does not have the necessary capacity or the applicant seems unsuitable for appointment.