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Interim Regulations for the National Norwegian Artistic Research Fellowships Programme

The regulations were adopted by the Steering Committee for the National Norwegian Artistic Research Fellowships Programme on 21 March 2003 and revised on 11 September 2006.

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§ 1 Objective of the Artistic Research Fellowships Programme

The Artistic Research Fellowships Programme shall qualify participants for work in the arts and for other work in the community that requires a high degree of artistic competence and insight.

The objective of the programme shall be to produce an independent work of art at a high international level. The research fellow shall also study theory and method in depth in order to acquire greater depth and breadth of knowledge in his/her own field, while at the same time putting the discipline in a broader context. Through the programme, the research fellow shall also receive training in communicating and teaching at a high level in his/her field. The programme shall build new networks for the development of knowledge and competence as well as promoting qualified and critical debate at art education institutions and in society at large.

The programme shall be open to applicants from all subject areas in education in the creative and practising arts.

Completion of the programme with a satisfactory result confers associate professor competence on the basis of the artistic qualifications for appointment to teaching and research positions at Norwegian universities and university colleges.

§ 2 Admission

§ 2.1 The applicant's formal qualifications

In order to be admitted to the programme the applicant must meet the requirements for assistant professors in art subjects.

These requirements have been stipulated as:

- Documented, recognised artistic work/ development work of a certain scope;

- Education at the highest level in the chosen artistic field, from Norway or equivalent education from abroad, or corresponding documented knowledge.

If such qualifications have not been formally confirmed when the application is sent, an assessment of whether an applicant meets the qualification requirements shall be included in the assessment of the application. The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application contains sufficient documentation of his/her artistic work for an assessment of his/her qualifications to be made.

Applicants may be required to take particular courses and/or pass particular examinations before admission.

§ 2.2 Requirements for applications

Applications for admission must contain a plan for completion of the programme. The plan must include:

• A project description

• Documentation of artistic work demonstrating the applicant's artistic qualifications for carrying out the project.

• Documentation of formal academic qualifications – or material confirming these, cf. section 2.1;

• Time schedule for the studies;

• Funding plan;

• Proposed supervisors, if applicable.

The project description shall describe the topic, the problems addressed and the choice of methods. The description should contain a progress plan for the different parts of the work, and indicate what forms of documentation are to be employed in connection with the final appraisal, cf. section 6, fifth paragraph.

In order to be admitted to the programme the research fellow must have established contact with one of the Norwegian institutions offering education in one or more of the creative and/or practising arts. The application should be drafted in consultation with the institution.

Together with the application, the institution in question must submit a separate appendix stating:

• that the institution will support the application in question;

• how the research fellow will be followed up during the implementation of the programme, cf. section 3.

If more than one application is submitted from the same institution, the institution shall not rank the applications in order of priority.

§ 2.3 Conditions for admission to the programme

The decision on admission will be based on an overall assessment of the project description, the applicant's qualifications and the plan for completion of the programme, including a time schedule, funding plan, supervisors and the applicant's access to other necessary academic and material resources at the institution to which the applicant in question will be attached.

Research fellows must accept that communication may partly take place in English and that an abstract of the project description will be drafted in English.

§ 2.4 Admission procedures

Applications for admission must be sent to the operator for the Artistic Research Fellowships Programme. The Steering Committee will issue more detailed rules for the assessment of applicants, including the appointment of expert consultants.

The Steering Committee decides admission to the programme on the basis of expert assessments.

Decisions may be made contingent on the satisfaction of specific requirements and/or that certain parts of the programme are clarified further, cf. also section 3 concerning the sharing of responsibility and section 4 on agreements. The Steering Committee may set a deadline for when such requirements must be met for the decision on admission to be upheld.

§ 3 Sharing of responsibility between the Artistic Research Fellowships Programme and the employing institution

§ 3.1 Research fellows

The programme's Steering Committee decides who is to be admitted on the basis of an assessment of the applications and the number of research fellowships for which funding has been allocated or which are vacant, cf. section 2.4. The Steering Committee shall notify the Ministry of its decision, and it in turn shall transfer the research fellowships to the respective institutions.

Institutions which are assigned a research fellow will have employer responsibility for the research fellow.

The institution shall employ the research fellow in accordance with normal appointment procedures. The person so employed is an ordinary state employee and is covered by section 30 of the Act concerning universities and university colleges. When expert assessment is required, cf. section 2.1, this will be done by the Steering Committee. Furthermore, the appointment procedure shall include both recommendation and appointment, and shall be carried out by the institution.

Institutions which are assigned a research fellow will be responsible for the research fellow and his/her project within the limits laid down in the regulations and the signed agreements.

The research fellowship shall revert to the programme once the research fellowship period expires, see however section 4.

The Steering Committee may decide to admit applicants who have obtained funding on their own initiative or through the institution to which the person in question is attached. The provisions of this section shall apply correspondingly insofar as appropriate.

§ 3.2 Working conditions, supervision, final appraisal etc.

The institution is responsible for organising a working situation for the research fellow that will enable him or her to complete the programme, cf. section 2.2, second last paragraph. The institution also has employer responsibility with respect to supervision, cf. section 5.3 and for a final appraisal of the research fellow, cf. section 8. The academic community at the institution at which the research fellow works must therefore assess the need for supervision, forms of assessment and final appraisal etc.

Supervisors shall be appointed after consultation between the institution and the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall approve those appointed as supervisors for the research fellow, either when a decision on admission to the programme is made or at a later date, cf. section 5.3. The institution is responsible for entering into an employment contract with the supervisors. The Steering Committee may issue guidelines for how the supervision is to be carried out.

The appointment of an expert appraisal committee for the final appraisal shall be made after consultation between the institution and the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall approve the members of the appraisal committee, cf. section 8. The institution is responsible for entering into an employment contract with the members. The Steering Committee may issue guidelines for how the appraisal is to be carried out.

§ 4 Agreements

Admission to the Artistic Research Fellowships Programme will be formalised in a written agreement which is based on these regulations and which stipulates the parties' mutual rights and obligations. The agreement will be between the research fellow, the institution to which the research fellow will be attached and the Artistic Research Fellowships Programme. The agreement shall stipulate the project topic, the agreement period, funding plan, supervision, workplace and participation in the compulsory part of the programme.

In addition to the above-mentioned agreement, separate agreements will be entered into between the institution and the Artistic Research Fellowships Programme concerning supervision and final appraisal. It is a precondition that supervisors undertake to take part in joint seminars and other measures aimed at furthering supervisor competence. The views of the research fellow shall be heard before the agreement on supervision is signed.

The Steering Committee will issue a template for the agreements. The programme operator is authorised to sign the agreements on behalf of the Artistic Research Fellowships Programme.

Any material changes to the conditions described in the agreements must be approved by all parties.

The participation of a research fellow in the programme may be terminated at the decision of the Steering Committee if the progress of the project is not satisfactory, cf. section 5.3. The Steering Committee is entitled to terminate a research fellow's participation in the programme if the institution fails to comply with the conditions applying to the distribution of labour, cf. section 3. In such cases, the research fellowship shall revert to the programme three months after the institution has received notification of the Steering Committee's decision.

§ 5 The Programme

§ 5.1 Prescribed time

The programme shall be organised in such a way that it will normally be possible to complete within a three-year period of full-time work. Approximately one sixth of this period shall be devoted to an organised, compulsory part of the programme. Normally, the compulsory part shall be completed within the first two years of the programme, and it must always be completed before final documentation can be submitted for approval.

During the first six months of the programme period, the research fellow shall – under supervision – delimit and refine the project description (revised project description). Before the end of this period, the supervisors shall submit a written report on progress, including an evaluation of the research fellow's possibility of completing the project as planned. The report will be sent to both the fellowship programme and the institution, with a copy given to the research fellow. The revised project description as well as any future adjustments of importance shall be approved by the Steering Committee.

The first six months of employment constitute a probationary period for the research fellow.

§ 5.2 The compulsory part of the programme

The compulsory part of the programme shall contain such academic and theoretical training as is desirable with respect to the work on the artistic project. This part of the programme aims to stimulate participants to engage in artistic reflection and to develop insight, to train their communicative abilities and to encourage critical debate about artistic issues. In each project, the compulsory programme shall contribute to focusing on the broader context and to steering the project towards relevant academic discussion. Throughout the compulsory programme, emphasis shall be placed on adopting an interdisciplinary artistic approach and on putting the artistic development work in a broader context.

The study content offered in the compulsory part shall be decided/ approved by the Steering Committee. Tuition can be partly in the form of regular lectures/ seminars, partly in the form of short, intensive sessions or in some other form. Individual adaptations may be approved as part of the programme.

During the programme period the research fellow shall present his/her project work and have it discussed at project seminars.

As part of the compulsory programme, the research fellow shall hold seminars or teach/ lecture on topics related to his/her own project, thereby gaining training in academic communication.

Everyone who is admitted to the programme must complete the compulsory part. Documentation is required that the research fellow has acquired the necessary specialist knowledge.

§ 5.3 Supervision

The work on the artistic project shall be carried out under individual supervision, normally of two supervisors, at least one of whom must be a specialist in the field and issues involved and on the methods employed.

One of the supervisors shall be the main supervisor. The supervisors are required to work closely together and it is assumed that the research fellow is familiar with the division of labour between the supervisors.

The research fellow and the supervisors must submit separate reports on the progress of the work every year.

§ 6 The Artistic Project

The artistic project must be an independent work of art at a high international level with respect to the problems addressed, methods, documentation, form of communication and result. The work must contribute to producing new insight, knowledge and/or experience.

The work of art must be a free-standing piece of work, or consist of several parts, or be a collection of pieces that together make up a whole. Normally, only work produced during the programme period will be included, but an exception may be made to allow inclusion in the documentation of work produced before admission if this was an assumption in the project description.

Part of a joint work of art – or the artistic part of a joint work that is a combination of artistic and scientific work – may be accepted for appraisal provided that it represents an independent contribution that can be identified to the extent necessary for appraisal. In such cases, declarations must be obtained from the other contributors and others who have followed the work to enable the research fellow's contribution to be identified.

The work of art shall be presented in public as part of the final appraisal of the research fellow. If the project is presented in public in the form of concert(s), exhibition(s), performance(s) or similar documentation of a non-permanent nature, documentation of a permanent nature must be produced, such as audio/ video recordings, photographic documentation, instructions for reconstruction (for instance of exhibitions) etc.

The forms of documentation to be employed shall be indicated in the project description, see however the regulations, section 5.1, second paragraph and section 2.4, final paragraph.

In addition to the artistic result of the work, the research fellow must submit documentation/ a presentation of his/her work process and comment on the process and result seen in relation to the artistic project, the problems described in the project description and relevant academic discourse, cf. section 7, letter b. This part of the documentation shall normally be in writing and shall be publicly available.

§ 7 Appraisal

Approval of the completion of the programme shall be based on:

a) Artistic documentation;

b) Documentation/presentation of the work process and comments on the work process and results, evaluated in relation to the revised project description; see however the regulations, section 5.1, second paragraph.

c) An oral review of the project by the candidate and the appraisal committee.

Applications to present oneself for appraisal shall be addressed to the Steering Committee six months at the latest before the appraisal is to take place. Applications must contain a list of all planned documentation, documentation that the compulsory part of the programme has been completed and a written recommendation from the supervisors.

§ 8 Appointment of an appraisal committee

An expert appraisal committee consisting of at least three members shall be appointed, cf. 3.2. No more than one of the committee members may be attached to the institution at which the research fellow is employed. One of the committee members should, if possible, be from a foreign educational institution. If possible, both genders should be represented. Members must have qualifications corresponding to associate professor level, or equivalent.

The rules in section 6ff of the Public Administration Act concerning impartiality apply to the committee's members, cf. section 10 of the Act. Neither a member of the Steering Committee nor an appointed supervisor may be a member of the appraisal committee, but, if desirable, a supervisor can be called on to attend meetings of the appraisal committee in order to give an account of the supervision and the work on the project. The research fellow shall be informed of the composition of the appraisal committee.

§ 9 The committee's recommendation and how the recommendation will be dealt with

The full committee shall meet with the secretary immediately after (in prolongation of) the public presentation of the artistic result. On the basis of the presentation’s artistic quality, cf. section 6, compared with the candidate’s revised project description, the committee may decide that the project is not approved and that the process shall not proceed. Such decision must be unanimous. In such case, the grounds for the decision must be stated in a recommendation in which the project is appraised pursuant to the stipulated appraisal criteria for the artistic project. This recommendation must be available six days after the public presentation. The following provisions relating to procedures for considering the committee’s recommendation apply correspondingly in such cases

Within a time limit stipulated by the Steering Committee, the appraisal committee shall deliver a reasoned recommendation, if applicable with individual statements enclosed, as to whether the documentation can be approved.

In the event of dissent from the recommendation, grounds must be stated. The committee may demand supplementary or clarifying additional information. The committee's recommendation shall conclude with its decision on whether or not it approves the documentation and the project seen as a whole.

The appraisal committee's recommendation shall be addressed to the Artistic Research Fellowships Programme, and shall be sent as soon as possible to the research fellow, who will be given a deadline of at least one week to submit his/her written comments on the recommendation.

If the research fellow's comments can have a bearing on whether or not the project is approved, the comments should be presented to the appraisal committee before the programme board makes its final decision in the matter. The Steering Committee is responsible for approving the appraisal committee's conclusion, or alternatively for appointing a new appraisal committee. The institution and the research fellow shall be notified of the Steering Committee's decision as soon as possible.

In cases where a project fails to gain approval, the research fellow can present him/herself for reappraisal six months at the earliest after the final decision denying approval was made. Only one reappraisal is permitted.

§ 10 Formal complaint

Refusal of applications according to § 2 can be contested in accordance with the regulations in the Bill of Public Administration on formal grounds according to § 28 onwards. The professional evaluation of the application, and of the applicant’s artistic qualifications for completing the project and the internal ranking of applicants cannot be contested. Individual formal complaints must be submitted to the Board of Complaints at Bergen National Academy of the Arts.

Refusal of the mandatory section of the programme cannot be contested according to regulations set in the Bill of Public Administration § 28 onwards. Refusals can be contested through the Board of Complaints at Bergen National Academy of the Arts. The Bill of Universities and University Colleges continue to apply with regard to complaints about exams or evaluations performed at Norwegian educational institutions. According to §§ 5-2 and 5-3, the official recipient of the complaint will be the local institution responsible for the exam in question.

A decision to exclude a Fellow from the programme due to unsatisfactory progress, § 4, section five, can be contested according to regulations set in the Bill of Public Administration § 28 onwards. The official recipient of the complaint is the Board of Complaints at Bergen National Academy of the Arts.

According to the regulations of the Bill of Public Administration § 28 onwards in cases of formal errors, the assessment committee’s evaluation of the project and subsequent evaluation of the assessment committee’s recommendation, can be contested. The evaluation of artistic work and oral presentation of projects cannot be contested. The official body of complaints will be the institution’s local Complaints Committee.

In cases of formal errors, the Steering Committee’s recommendation etc. can be contested according to the regulations of the Bill of Public Administration § 28 onwards. Institutional evaluation, sufficient for approval, cannot be contested. The official body of complaints is Bergen National Academy of the Arts.

§ 11 Enquiries

All enquiries to the Artistic Research Fellowships Programme from applicants, research fellows, supervisors, participating institutions etc. must be addressed to the operator, Bergen National Academy of the Arts (KHiB).

§ 12 Supplementary provisions

The Steering Committee may issue provisions supplementing these regulations.

Siri Meyer (s.)

Chairperson of the Steering Committee

Johan A. Haarberg

Director General, KHiB