Research on women's health

The purpose of this call is to promote research collaboration between Norwegian research groups and relevant societal and industry actors in order to develop new knowledge and build research expertise that is necessary to address important societal challenges.

The call is intended to strengthen the knowledge base on women's health throughout the life course, with a particular focus on menopausal symptoms in women.

Projects that receive funding must contribute to a knowledge boost that strengthens national women's health research and improves health and care services

Funding is available for research that increases understanding of biological, social and work-related factors that affect health and quality of life in a life-course perspective, with particular emphasis on transitional disorders. The research will support the development of more accurate, accessible and equal health services for women.

We are looking for projects that facilitate research that sheds light on variation and health inequalities in the population, including conditions that affect minorities and indigenous peoples.

We are looking for projects that:

• uses data from the health registries, biobanks and population surveys
• are aimed at ailments that are mainly treated in the primary health service, including the GP scheme. Interfaces between the primary health service and the specialist health service are included where relevant.

Up to NOK 15 million has been set aside to fund research on the health of the Sami and other indigenous peoples within the priorities set out in the call.

The call does not include:

• research that largely deals with frail older people (link in Norwegian only)
• research where sickness absence is the main topic. Sickness absence may nevertheless be included if it is relevant to women's health in adult life and clearly linked to the guidelines above.

• The research will be based on interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration that integrates medical, health, social sciences and working life-related perspectives.
• Projects must use relevant national data sources and research infrastructures, including biobanks, population surveys and health registries where appropriate.
• Collaboration in the health service will be included where it strengthens the project's professional orientation and opportunities for practical application.
• The projects will facilitate competence development and sharing in interdisciplinary environments, and contribute to increased knowledge about variations in health and health challenges in different population groups.
• The projects must highlight how kvinnehelseportalen.no is included in the work of dissemination and interaction.
• The projects must be rooted in the users' needs and involve end users in all phases of the project.

In the nomination process, priority will be given to high-quality projects that meet the guidelines set out in the call to the greatest possible extent, and that clearly demonstrate how they can contribute to increased knowledge about women's health.

This call is based on the Research Council's feedback to the Ministry of Health and Care Services in 2025 on the need to strengthen knowledge about diseases and conditions that particularly affect women, through targeted support for and development of relevant research environments. The investment is part of the Research Council's investment of NOK 90 million to boost women's health research. For more information: The Research Council is investing NOK 90 million in women's health. (Link in Norwegian only)

The Project Owner must be an approved Norwegian research organisation. You can find an overview of approved research organisations here.

The research organisation listed as the Project Owner in the application form must have approved the submission of the application.

If the application is a collaboration between several organisations, the Project Owner must submit the application on behalf of all the partners.

The project manager's expertise and suitability to carry out the project will be assessed by peers. There are no formal requirements for the project manager's qualifications.

In this call, you are required to include at least two Norwegian collaborating partners (hereinafter referred to as user partners) who are not research organisations, and all collaborating partners must have costs in the project. The user partners must contribute with costs that in total correspond to at least 10.0% of the amount that you seek from us for the project (hereinafter referred to as the participation requirement). Participation may consist of personnel and indirect expenses (e.g. hourly effort) and/or other project costs that are necessary to carry out the project. The costs must be entered in the project budget and be retrievable in the user partners' accounts. Thus, equipment, data sets, unpaid work or the like that are made available for the project without it being accounted for do not count as costs in the project.

Collaborating partners may fully finance their own costs without applying for support from us. Such own financing counts towards the participation requirement.

In addition, the following requirements apply:

• You are to carry out the project in effective collaboration. Read more under Article 25: Important definitions.
• The user partners must be societal or industrial actors who contribute expertise and experience, and who ensure that the project and the objectives of the project address real challenges in society and/or the industrial sector.
• Universities, university colleges and institutes whose main task is to conduct research cannot have the role of social or industrial actor.
• Sole proprietorships can be collaborating partners.
• Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) and Norwegian-registered foreign companies (NUF) do not count toward our requirements relating to collaborating partners.
• The application must be strategically supported by all collaborating partners.
• The Project Owner and collaborating partners must be independent of each other. This means that one cannot have a controlling influence over the other. This applies both between the Project Owner and the collaborating partner, and between all the collaborating partners. Any subcontractors and the Project Owner or collaborating partners must also be independent of each other. By controlling influence, we mean majority ownership or other specific legal or factual circumstances that mean that one actor can control the other. Read more about such dependencies here.
• The project should have a steering group or reference group in which the collaborating partners are represented.
• The project cannot be commissioned research.

You must describe how the expertise built up in the project can benefit larger user groups.

You cannot include R&D providers in the project.

Foreign organisations similar to Norwegian research organisations are eligible for funding under this call. Other foreign organisations may participate in the project, but are not eligible to receive funding.

Read about collaborating with foreign organisations here.

The Project Owner or collaborating partners may engage subcontractors to deliver services and contribute to the implementation of certain tasks in the project. Subcontractors cannot be given rights to project results.

Organisations that are subject to the regulations for public procurement must carry out the selection of subcontractors in line with these regulations.

Read more about using subcontractors.

If doctoral and postdoctoral research fellows are included in the project and there are specific plans for them to stay abroad, this may be included in the application. We also have a separate call for proposals for research stays abroad for doctoral and post-doctoral research fellows. Here, the project manager can apply for funding for research stays abroad for research fellows who are part of the project during the project period.

If you have specific plans for visiting researchers or stays abroad for researchers in the project, this may be included in the application. The rules for such stays and information about rates can be found on the page about work packages and budgets under the section Other project expenses.

Funding of NOK 8–16 million per project is available under this call.

The following conditions apply to the allocation of funding:

• The funding to the research organisations goes to their non-economic activity in the form of independent research. It therefore does not constitute state aid. The Research Council assumes that the necessary accounting separation between the organisation's economic and non-economic activities is in place.
• The call for proposals has been notified as an aid scheme to the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) and has the reference GBER XX/2026/R&D&I. If an undertaking is to be reimbursed for part of its project costs as a collaborating partner in the project, this must be done in accordance with Article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation (Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014). See the Consolidated Block Exemption Regulation with amendments up to and including June 2023. In addition, the general conditions in Chapter I of the Regulation must be met. Terms and concepts shall be interpreted in accordance with the corresponding terms and concepts in the aid rules. In the event of any conflict between the announcement and the state aid rules, the latter shall take precedence. For the same reason, the call for proposals may also be adjusted.
• Aid may not be granted to undertakings that have not complied with the requirements for repayment following a previous decision by the ESA/EU Commission declaring the aid illegal and incompatible with the internal market. Nor may aid be granted to undertakings in difficulty within the meaning of EEA law.

The Research Council's conditions for granting and disbursing funding are set out in the General Terms and Conditions for R&D Projects (in Norwegian, English version will be available shortly).

The Research Council requires a high standard of research ethics in the projects we fund. You must provide a brief description of how ethical issues will be handled, to show the panel that you have an appropriate plan for this.

The responsibility for ensuring that the research ethics standard is followed lies with the individual researcher and research organisation (cf. the Research Ethics Act). The panel's assessment and the Research Council's decision regarding funding do not entail any approval of research ethics.

For more information, see the Research Council's page on ethical standards in research.

If your application is awarded funding, you must be aware of the following:

• The project manager and the Project Owner must have assessed and managed any issue of research security in the project. Research security refers to the risks related to undesirable transfer of knowledge and technology, malign influence on research and innovation or violations of research ethics or integrity, where knowledge and technology are used to undermine key societal values.
• Grant recipients in research organisations and the public sector (Project Owners and collaborating partners) must have action plans for gender equality (GEPs) available on their websites. The requirement does not apply to the private sector, interest groups or the voluntary sector.
• The Research Council requires full and immediate open access for scientific articles, see Plan S - open access to publications.
• For all projects that handle data, the Project Owner must prepare a data management plan. Here you will find more information about the requirements for data management plans in projects that receive funding from us.
• For medical and health studies involving humans, the Research Council sets special requirements and guidelines for prospective registration of studies and publication of results.

The panel will assess the application in light of the purpose of the call and the following criteria:

Excellence

• The extent to which the objectives are clear and relevant to the purpose of the call.
• The extent to which the project is ambitious and will challenge the state of the art.
• The extent to which interdisciplinary approaches are adequately addressed.
• The extent to which the gender perspectives in research and/or innovation are adequately addressed.
• The extent to which ethical issues are adequately addressed.
• The extent to which the theoretical approach, research design and choice of methods are credible and suitable.

Impact

• The extent to which the expected impact of the project underpins the purpose of the call.
• The extent to which the results from the project are likely to make significant and important contributions.
• The extent to which the planned results will contribute to achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
• The extent to which the plans to achieve the described impact are credible.
• The extent to which the plans and measures for dissemination and exploitation of the results are suitable for maximising the expected impact.
• The extent to which proper practice for open research is integrated, including the sharing and management of the research results.
• Where relevant, the extent to which the plans for cooperation with stakeholders, including citizens, end users and society in general, are suitable.

Implementation

• The extent to which the project participants’ expertise is complementary and that they as a whole have the necessary expertise.
• The extent to which the project manager has relevant expertise and experience.
• The extent to which the allocation of tasks ensures that all project participants have a clearly defined role and adequate resources to fulfil that role.
• The extent to which the plan for the implementation of the work is clear and realistic with defined milestones, work packages and deliverables.
• The extent to which the proposed management structures and governance are appropriate.
• The extent to which the project is strategically supported by the Project Owner and the collaborating partners.