4. Requirements for applications
The regulations stipulate requirements for the contents of applications.
4.1. The project description
The application shall contain a thorough description of the project it is planned to carry out. Remember that it is necessary for the Steering Committee, which will decide who is to be admitted to the programme, to understand and assess the project based on this presentation.
The project description should be between three and five typewritten A4 pages – maximum 17.500 characters including spacing. The project description must contain:
- The topic of the project and the area for artistic exploration;
- The academic contexts in which the project will be included – with references to other parties/projects in the same professional field;
- Which relevance the project has and how the project can contribute to the professional/academic environment nationally and internationally;
- The applicant’s motivation and basis for carrying out the project;
- How the applicant envisages presenting and documenting the project, and his/her critical reflections relating to the work, to the assessment committee and the public.
The project description must indicate the forms of presentation that may be used in connection with the final assessment. It may also be relevant to point out whether there are any special forms of competence, which the candidate will need to acquire in order to carry out the project.
4.2. Documentation of the applicant’s artistic qualifications
It will be important to the Steering Committee and to the experts, which the committee wishes to use to assess the applications that it is possible for them to obtain a good impression of the applicant's artistic qualifications for carrying out the project.
It will therefore be decisive that emphasis is placed on good documentation of these qualifications through the presentation of previous artistic activity and other relevant material.
4.3. Documentation of formal academic qualifications
Applications must either document recognised competence at assistant professor level in the artistic field in question through a confirmed transcript of an expert opinion, or alternatively, documentation material must be enclosed that can form the basis for carrying out such an assessment in connection with the assessment of other aspects of the application. Such documentation will have many similarities with that required in the section above.
In both cases, applicants will themselves be responsible for ensuring that their competence is adequately documented.
4.4. Time schedule for the project
The Steering Committee places great emphasis on the ability of the candidates admitted to the programme to complete their projects within the stipulated time limit of three years.
Whether the project has a realistic time frame and appears to be feasible will be an important part of the assessment. Applications should therefore describe as well as possible a time schedule for the various parts of the work, including time for the concluding presentation for the final assessment.
4.5. Finance plan
Most artistic projects require equipment and materials of various kinds if they are to be realised. In principle, this is a matter that must be clarified by the candidate and the institution in question. The institution is allocated a fixed amount per year by the Ministry to cover the salary and supervision expenses and other expenses relating to the implementation of the research fellow’s project, see section 3 above. In the event of particularly costly projects, the Steering Committee can allocate funds for implementation over and above the funds at the institution’s disposal - see also section 6 below.
Clarification of project costs will be an important and necessary part of the contact with the institution up until submission of the application. In this context, both the research fellow and the institution must focus on arriving at a cost level that is both down-to-earth and realistic. Costs related to salary, payroll taxes, supervision in normal scope, office cost etc. should not be includes in the budget, as these costs are known both to the Steering Committee and the institution.
The application must describe what is required to enable this specific project to be carried out (production costs) and how much of this the institution will be able to cover. Applicants should be careful not to include financial support from uncertain sources, such as the Norwegian Cultural Foundation etc.
We recommend drawing up both a minimum and a maximum budget/finance plan, where the minimum budget indicates what would represent the lowest cost frame to execute the project.
4.6. Proposed supervisors, if applicable
Relevant supervisor competence at a high academic level will be a prerequisite for the success of a project. The main supervisor will normally have competence corresponding to professor or associate professor level in the relevant artistic field. One of the supervisors must be attached to the institution. Once approval of a project has been granted, the research fellowship programme will have to discuss who is to be appointed as supervisors together with the institution, which is to be employer, and with the research fellow. The Steering Committee recommends that one of the supervisors be recruited internationally.
It is not a requirement that applications contain proposals for supervisors, but it will be useful if relevant alternatives are discussed and considered in consultation with the institution.