Verification: Research Commercialisation from Publicly Funded Research Organisations 2026

The purpose of this call is to promote increased commercial exploitation and/or societal innovation from research carried out by publicly funded research organisations, by maturing and validating new technologies and innovations with clear novelty value and application potential. Projects must build on results from research carried out by publicly funded research organisations, where the innovation represents a technological breakthrough or significant improvements compared to existing knowledge or solutions, and has the potential to form the basis for new products, processes or services. A verification project must clarify the most critical questions and uncertainties based on the project's current maturity, thereby enabling the next step toward market uptake or other societal exploitation.

The call is open to all subject areas.

The research results on which the project is based cannot be openly available. This is to ensure that the possibility of commercialisation and rights protection is safeguarded.

The project must be in adevelopment and maturation phase during which the innovation is not yet available for commercial sale and/or societal use.

The project may be at TRL level 2–7 (Technology Readiness Level), in line with the scale used in the EU.

The call is aimed at approved research organisations, their technology transfer offices (TTOs) and start-up companies originating from approved research organisations, a limited group of applicants, and primarily new projects that have not previously received commercialisation funding from the Research Council. The following exceptions apply to this:

• projects that have received qualification funding
• projects that have received verification support and can demonstrate good progress, but where there is a need for further verification beyond the previous verification project.

Any new application will be assessed in relation to the previously granted verification project and whether further funding is considered justified.

Up to NOK 30 million of the call’s budget is reserved for projects based on research results from the Centres of Excellence (CoE), projects under the FRIPRO scheme and projects funded by the ERC (European Research Council) or MSCA (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions).

It is a general principle that projects funded by the Research Council must contribute to achieving Norway's commitments under the Paris Agreement and the transition to a low-emission society by 2050.

Qualification – commercialisation of research at publicly funded research organisations 2026

The path from research to innovation is often long and complex. To support the early phase of this process, the Research Council has the Qualification and Verification instruments, while Horizon Europe offers similar support through the Proof-of-Concept and Transition schemes. The aim of these instruments is to increase the commercial and societal value of publicly- funded research.

Through the Innovation portfolio, the Research Council supports projects that contribute to increased competitiveness and innovation capacity, and to solving major societal challenges in a climate-friendly, environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner. Research-driven innovation is important for achieving the necessary transition and is crucial for ensuring future value creation and meeting society's needs. The call is intended to facilitate commercialisation and new start-ups that can contribute to the emergence of new knowledge-intensive businesses in both established and new industries.

The Project Owner organisation must be one of the following:

Research organisation

Approved Norwegian research organisations. See the list of approved research organisations.

Technology Transfer Office (TTOs)

The research organisation(s) with intellectual property rights must be a partner in the project.

Start-up company

• A start-up company must originate from approved research organisations, i.e. the company has been established for the purpose of commercialising the research results on which the planned project is based, and the company must meet the criteria in Article 22 of the General Block Exemption Regulation.
• At the request of the Research Council, the start-up company must be able to submit a declaration of rights from the research organisation's management or its technology transfer office, confirming that the research originates from the said research organisation(s) and that the company has the necessary rights to further develop the research results for commercial exploitation.
• The start-up company must, upon request, submit a self-declaration confirming the size of the company and that it has no outstanding claims for repayment of illegal state aid.

Sole proprietorships are not eligible to apply.

If the research on which the project is based is partly funded by a private actor, and the Project Owner is a research organisation or TTO, the Project Owner organisation must, at the request of the Research Council, be able to submit a declaration of rights from the research organisation(s) confirming that the research organisation(s) have all rights to the research results.

There are no formal requirements for the project manager, but it will be assessed whether the person in question has relevant skills and experience.

• Only actors that meet the criteria under "Requirements relating to the Project Owner's organisation" may be partners.
• If the Project Owner shares ownership of the results on which the verification project is based with others who meet the criteria under 'Requirements relating to the Project Owner's organisation', these organisations must be partners.
• When a Technology Transfer Office (TTO) is the Project Owner, the research organisation(s) that owns the intellectual property rights must be the partner(s).
• If a start-up company is the Project Owner, the project cannot have partner(s).
• If the project has a partner(s), they must enter into an agreement that regulates rights and obligations in the event of an award.

Read more about cooperation agreements.

You cannot include R&D providers in the project.

Foreign actors who provide specific and limited services on behalf of the project may participate as subcontractors. The Project Owner and any partners may have their costs covered for such services.

• Suppliers to the project, i.e. consultancy, development or other services, are considered subcontractors.
• A subcontractor assists with the implementation of specific and limited tasks in the project, and cannot hold or be given rights to project results.
• Subcontractors must not be registered in the application form, but assignments of a larger scope must be described in the application (budget specification and project description).

Read more about the use of subcontractors.

You can apply for up to 100 per cent of the budgeted project costs to be covered.

Research organizations and technology transfer offices

Approved research organisations, the technology transfer offices that represent them and any partners that are to receive funding must fall under the definition of an organisation for research and knowledge dissemination in the state aid rules. Any other partners are not eligible for funding from the Research Council in these projects.

Funding to a research organisation or its Technology Transfer Office may only be used for their non-economic activity in the form of knowledge transfer activities, as described in Section 20(b) of the ESA Guidelines on State Aid for R&D&I. You must ensure that no indirect support goes to collaborating companies, in the form of, for example, favourably priced rights to results. The cooperation agreement must ensure that rights to results are distributed in a manner that is in accordance with Section 29 of the ESA Guidelines on Aid for Research, Development and Innovation.

What is non-financial knowledge transfer activity?

In order to be considered part of the research organisation's non-economic activity, so that the support for the activity does not constitute state aid, the knowledge transfer activity must, in accordance with ESA's guidelines, either be carried out by the research organisation itself, or in collaboration with or on behalf of other such entities. A definition of the term knowledge transfer as defined in ESA's guidelines for state aid for R&D&I can be found here: Specific information on aid to research organisations

In addition, all profits from knowledge transfer activities must be reinvested in the primary activities of the research organisation. The activities do not lose their non-economic character by outsourcing them to third parties through open tenders. We assume that the necessary accounting separation between the research organisation's/TTO's economic and non-economic activity is in place. See more on our information page: Conditions for granting state aid.

Start-up companies

Start-up companies must be aware that the aid is awarded as state aid on the basis of Article 22 of the EU Block Exemption Regulation (Commission Regulation 651/2014 of 17 June 2014).

The allocation of funds must be practised in accordance with the state aid rules. Terms and concepts shall be interpreted in accordance with the corresponding terms and concepts in the aid rules. If there is a 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.

We cannot grant aid to companies that have not complied with the repayment requirements following a previous decision by the ESA/EU Commission, where the aid has been declared illegal and incompatible with the internal market.

Article 22 of the EU Block Exemption Regulation states, among other things,

• that the companymust be unlisted
• must be registered less than five years agocannot have taken over the activities of another undertaking, subject to the exceptions set out in Article 22 (2) a)
• cannot have distributed dividends
• cannot have acquired another company or been formed through a merger, with the exceptions set out in Article 22 (2) c) or Article 22 (2) third paragraph

In addition to the requirements above, the Research Council has the following additional requirements:

• the company must have fewer than ten employees
• the company may have a maximum annual turnover of NOK 2 million and/or an annual balance sheet

When assessing the size of the enterprise, you must take into account the number of employees and turnover/balance sheet also in companies that have an ownership interest of 25 per cent or more in the company, or in which the company itself has an ownership interest of 25 per cent or more. See the definition of an SME in Annex I of the Block Exemption Regulation and the EU's guide to the SME definition.

The call for proposals has been notified as an aid scheme to the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) with the reference: GBER xx/2026/SME.

The Research Council requires a high standard of research ethics in the projects we fund. You must therefore 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 on the award do not entail any approval of research ethics.

For more information, see the Research Council's research ethics requirements website.We will publish more information as it becomes available.

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

• The earliest permitted project start is the date the funding is awarded.
• The latest date for the start of the project will be six months after you are notified of the award. Projects that have not started by this time may lose the award.
• If you receive state aid from us that is equivalent to EUR 100,000 or more, we will make it known in the Register for State Aid (link opens in a new window).
• The Project Manager and the Project Owner must have assessed and managed the consideration of research security in the project. Research security refers to risks associated with unwanted transfer of knowledge and technology, impact on research and innovation, or breaches of research ethics/integrity where knowledge and technology are used to undermine key societal values.
• 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 in connection with the revised application, where 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.

Projects that receive funding must establish a steering group that covers all the most important risk factors associated with the project in terms of expertise.