EEA and Norway Grants and research

Go directly to:

• Which activities can receive support?
• Where can I find relevant calls for proposals?
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • the Czech Republic
  • other countries
• Template for partnership agreements
• Who has received support in the past?

Which activities can receive support?

The EEA research programmes cover research activities in both Norway and the partner country. The research programmes follow guidelines that are closely aligned with the EU's framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe. They will contribute to strengthening the participants' knowledge of the Framework Programme. 

The calls for proposals are administered by the Research Council's partner organisations. Relevant Norwegian partners are mainly research organisations, but the projects also involve the business sector, civil society and the public sector.

The project coordinator must be from the partner country, but there is a requirement for at least one Norwegian and/or Icelandic partner in each project.

Where can I find relevant calls for proposals?

Cooperation with Poland

The agreement with Poland, which was signed on 23 April 2025, provides for 140 million euro to be set aside for research collaboration with Norway and Iceland. The majority of these funds will be distributed in two calls for basic research (60 million euro) and one for applied research and innovation (80 million euro).

Read the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' fact sheet on the agreement with Poland. 

Programme agreements have now been signed and key information about planned calls is available via links here:

• Basic Research
• Applied Research and Innovation 

A call for proposals for research collaboration is scheduled to be published in June.

Information about the upcoming calls that are already available was shared at a webinar on 25 March 2026. We are planning a new webinar in May–June.

Preparations for research collaboration with Poland are on schedule, announcements are expected in the spring of 2026.

Applicants will be invited to prepare project proposals that address at least one of the EEA and Norway Grants’ thematic priorities:

• European green transition
• democracy, rule of law and human rights
• social inclusion and resilience

All calls will emphasize:

• interdisciplinarity
• co-creation with non-academic actors
• valorization of results and societal impact of research and innovation

Upcoming 2026 calls

From the Basic Research Programme operated by NCN National Science Centre:

• GRIEG BIS call for basic research, this call will be open for submission from mid-June to September
• LANGSPIL call for interdisciplinary basic research, this call will be launched in fourth quarter of 2026

From the Applied Research and Innovation Programme operated by The National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR):

• POLNORIS call for applied research and innovation: publication of call texts in June, submission from September to December 2026.

About the projects:

• Consortia shall include at least one partner entity from either Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.
• In the Basic Research Programme project consortia shall be led by a Polish research organisation:
• In the the POLNORIS call (Applied and Innovation Programme): both research organisations and enterprises established in Poland may lead the project consortia.
• NGOs, enterprises and public entities are welcome as partners.

The programmes will prioritise leadership roles and support for early-career researchers and female researchers.

Project type: Three-year, research or research and innovation collaborative project, budget range 800 K-1,5 million euros for basic research, and 1–1.75 million euros for applied research and innovation projects.

Cooperation with Portugal

In July 2025, an agreement was signed with Portugal stipulating that 25 million euro will go to research collaboration on topics related to the oceans in the "Blue Growth" programme. The first call for proposals will be published in autumn 2026 at the earliest.  

Read the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' fact sheet on the agreement with Portugal.

Network funding for cooperation between Portugal and Norway or Iceland in the fields of defence, security and foreign policy has now been announced. See the call on the EEA and Norway Grants website.  

Cooperation with the Czech Republic

On 4 November 2025, Norway signed a new EEA agreement with the Czech Republic. The agreement provides 225.2 million euros for cooperation between the two countries from 2021 to 2028. EUR 43 million has been set aside for research and innovation. Norwegian researchers and companies will have the opportunity to collaborate with Czech partners in joint projects. The first call for proposals will be published in autumn 2026 at the earliest.

Read more about the agreement here (eeagrants.org)

Cooperation with other countries

In the agreements with Estonia and Slovakia, no funding is set aside for research programmes. Norwegian partners who wish to cooperate with these countries in the EEA and Norway Grants are encouraged to explore opportunities in other types of programmes such as "Green Transition", "Local Development" or "Bilateral Funds". These programs are also under development and will be available from 2026.

Negotiations are now underway on the composition of programmes for a further 11 countries. Only when these agreements are in place will we know whether research and development will be part of the programme activities.

You can read more about this on the EEA and Norway Grants' website.

Template for partnership agreements

Here is the partnership agreement template which all partnership agreements under the research and innovation programmes shall be based on. 

The template will be updated continuously and minor adjustments or separate versions may be published for each research and innovation programme.

Download template (docx) 

Who has received support in the past?

To date, about 250 bilateral research projects have received funding from the EEA and Norway Grants.

In the period between 2018 and 2024, bilateral research programmes were carried out in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Portugal. There was also a joint programme for cooperation between the three Baltic states, and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

You can find information about these in the EEA and Norway Grants' results portal.