An important aim of UTFORSK is to strengthen higher education for a sustainable future. The programme supports the establishment of long-term partnerships between Norway and Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and the USA.
Changes have been made to the call published in 2021. Russian project partners may not be included in this call.
Based on the guidelines from the Norwegian Government, HK-dir adheres to the following principles:
Norwegian accredited higher educational institutions together with at least one similar institution from one of the partner countries can apply.
Other partners may be universities, research institutes, private or public companies, hospitals, schools, NGO's etc. in Norway or in one of the partner countries.
Projects awarded funding should lead to:
Please note that changes have been made to the call published in 2021. Russian project partners may not be included in this call.
The Norwegian main partner must submit an application through the application and reporting system, Espresso.
See application form in Espresso for information on what applications should contain.
Diku offers individual guidance for applicants upon request until the application deadline. We will answer questions, but will not be able to read through application drafts. Guidance can be done by email, phone or face-to-face. Contact the contact person for the program for an appointment.
Reporting will take place through the application and reporting system, Espresso. Projects that have received funds must provide progress reports, accounts for the project, and a final report upon completion of the project.
Reporting deadlines are stated in our standard terms and conditions for project grants. Project coordinators will be notified by email when reporting deadlines are approaching.
Right of appeal
If you are of the opinion that an administrative decision regarding dismissal ("avvisning") or rejection ("avslag") suffers from procedural errors or significant flaws or deficiencies, you may appeal the decision. Below you will find more information about which administrative decisions and errors may be the object of an appeal, how to proceed in order to submit an appeal, and how such an appeal will be handled by Diku.
Which administrative decisions may be appealed?
Diku’s decisions regarding dismissal or rejection of applications for funding may be appealed. The same applies to decisions regarding dismissal/rejection of requests for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act (Act of 19 June 1970, No. 69).
Decisions dismissing an application/request are decisions by Diku to reject an application/request based on formal grounds, e.g. that it has been submitted after the application deadline, or that it is in breach of other formal/absolute requirements applicable to the application/request in question. Decisions rejecting an application/request are decisions which, pursuant to an assessment of the application, result in a partial or complete rejection of the application, e.g. due to the application being assessed as weaker than other competing applications (grant applications) or lacking a legal basis (requests for access to documents).
On which grounds may an appeal be based?
An appeal of a decision regarding an application for funding may only be based on an argument that the decision suffers from formal procedural errors, or that Diku’s discretionary assessment of the application suffers from significant flaws or deficiencies.
The phrase ‘formal procedural errors’ include breach of the applicable provisions in the Public Administration Act (Act of 10 February 1967), and of Diku’s internal rules for processing applications as set out in the information provided in connection with a call for applications.
The term ‘Diku’s discretionary assessment’ means Diku’s concrete professional assessment of the quality of an application, carried out on basis of the academic, strategic, geographic and political priorities reflected in the applicable selection criteria/priorities in the relevant call, and of the application’s relative strength as judged against other applications competing for the same funds/public goods.
The term ‘significant flaws or deficiencies’ (in Diku’s discretionary assessment) refers to instances where the decision is based on clearly irrelevant grounds/erroneous factual basis, is made on an arbitrary basis, is discriminatory or must be regarded highly unreasonable.
We underscore that appellants may not supply new information or otherwise elaborate the information given in the original application when submitting an appeal (e.g. regarding the description/scope of the project, activities, qualifications, relevance to the objectives, etc.). If submitted, such additional information will be disregarded by Diku in processing the appeal.
How does one proceed in order to submit an appeal?
An appeal must be submitted to Diku within the appeal deadline, and be signed by a person authorised to represent the person/institution named in the relevant administrative decision. The appeal must identify the decision which is appealed, and specify the changes sought achieved through the appeal. The appellant should also clarify the ground(s) on which the appeal is based, cf. the Public Administration Act, Section 32.
The deadline for appealing decisions is three weeks, calculated from the business day when the applicant received the decision, cf. the Public Administration Act, Section 29. The deadline expires on the same business day in the third following week. If that day is a public holiday, the deadline will expire on the next business day.
How are appeals processed by Diku?
After Diku has confirmed receipt of an appeal, Diku will as soon as possible assess whether the grounds for the appeal may warrant a reversal of the decision. If the appeal is found to be of merit, Diku may reverse its initial decision in whole or in part.
If Diku does not find the appeal to be of merit, Diku will send a letter to the appellant setting out the reasons why the appeal has not led to a reversal of the initial decision. If the appellant wishes to uphold the appeal after receiving this letter, the appellant may request that the appeal be forwarded to the relevant body of appeal. Upon such requests, Diku will without undue delay forward the appeal. The appellant will then also be at liberty to supply the grounds for the appeal in light of the letter from Diku.
The governmental entity responsible for the relevant programme will normally also be responsible for handling appeals received in connection with the programme. For most internationalisation programmes, this is either the Ministry of Education and Research or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
All appeals will be sought processed as soon as possible, and Diku aims to send its written reply to all appellants within three weeks from receipt of the appeal.
See further:
Public information and rights of access
Diku administer considerable public funds for quality enhancement in the Norwegian education sector. Administration of public funds carries with it a high responsibility, both with regard to correct and transparent use of the funds, and for ensuring a high return-on-investment ratio through efficient and goal-oriented use of the funds. This is a responsibility we take very seriously, and we invite the public to verify that we meet this responsibility in a proper manner.
Rights of access vis-à-vis Diku
Apart from proactively publishing important information about the different parts of our organisation, we put high emphasis on providing every interested person with such rights of access as they are legally entitled to. The rules regarding rights of access for the general public is first and foremost laid down in the Freedom of Information Act (FIA), whereas persons who are party to a particular administrative case may also be entitled to access documents in the relevant case under the Public Administration Act (PAA).
The starting point of these legal acts is openness and access. In particular cases, it may nevertheless be that exceptions apply for certain documents and information, temporarily (postponement of access) or permanently (no access). Such exceptions may e.g. be grounded in legal confidentiality obligations, privacy rights or administrative rules put in place in order to secure a correct and efficient handling of cases.
Whether such exceptions apply will be considered upon our receipt of a petition for access. It is Dikus goal to provide as much access with regard to our work as possible, and that exceptions from the rights of access only shall be applied where they have sound legal basis and are considered strictly necessary.
The right of parties to acquaint themselves with case documents
As party to an administrative case, one will normally be entitled to acquaint oneself with the documents pertaining to that particular case, cf. the PAA, Section 18. Exceptions may however apply, cf. the PAA, Sections 18a-c, 19 og 20.
In order to ensure an efficient and secure handling of petitions for such access, we advise that such petitions are sent to us via e-mail to the case handler stated to be in charge. In the petition, you must provide the case reference number or other information enabling us to identify the correct case, state what role you have with regard to the case (party/party representative), and which case document you request access to. If you should have any questions relating to such matters, we kindly ask that you contact the case handler stated to be in charge of the relevant case.
Petitions for such access will be handled as soon as possible. In some instances, we may nevertheless need more time to process petitions. If so, we will provide you with a preliminary answer where we set out the reasons for the delay and when you may expect to hear from us.
If any documents or information are subjected to access restrictions, our administrative decision letter will set out which documents/information is withheld and on what basis. If particular pieces of information are restricted, these will be censored.
Administrative decisions that reject your request in part or in whole may be appealed, cf. the PAA, Section 21 and Chapter IV. For more information on how to proceed to appeal an administrative decision, and on how such appeal will be handled by Diku, please see the section on Right of appeal..
Rights of access for the general public
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, all natural and legal persons will as a starting point have a right to access documents produced and processed by Diku, cf. the FIA, Section 3. Denial of access may nevertheless occur in instances where there exists specific legal basis for this, cf. the FIA, Chapter 3. Such exceptions may apply for one or more documents in their entirety, or for particular pieces of information included in documents forming part of one’s request for access.
In order to ensure an efficient and secure handling of petitions for public access, we advise that such petitions are sent to us either via our mailing list on eInnsyn, or via e-mail (diku@postmottak.no). When submitting a petition, it is important to clarify which documents/cases the request for access concern, cf. the FIA, Section 28. If you should have any questions relating to such matters, we kindly ask that you contact our archive personnel.
Petitions for public access will be handled as soon as possible. In some instances, we may nevertheless need more time to process petitions. If so, we will provide you with a preliminary answer where we set out the reasons for the delay and when you may expect to hear from us.
If any documents or information are subjected to access restrictions, our administrative decision letter will set out which documents/information is withheld and on what basis. If particular pieces of information are restricted, these will be censored.
Administrative decisions that reject your request in part or in whole may be appealed, cf. the FIA, Section 32. For more information on how to proceed to appeal an administrative decision, and on how such appeal will be handled by Diku, please see the section on Right of appeal.
See further:
Conflicts of interest
The rules regarding conflicts of interest are put in place to ensure that public administrative decisions are made on an objective basis, and that they are not influenced by illegitimate interests and personal bias.
The rules shall secure that persons with ties to a particular case which may be questioned by those affected by the decision, shall refrain from partaking in the decision process. That a person declares himself, or are declared unfit due to conflicts of interest, will thus not mean that that person is worthy of blame. As such, the rules are a preventive measure, aimed at avoiding that the objectivity of administrative decision-making may be subjected to doubt. The rules regarding conflicts of interest are set out in the Public Administration Act (the PAA), Chapter II.
Procedures for avoiding conflicts of interest in Diku
As a public agency tasked with administration of the management of considerable grant funds, it is a high priority for Diku to ensure that our decision-making is solely based on relevant and correct facts, and reflecting sound professional judgements. In this vein, Diku require all persons asked to take part in our administrative decision-making processes to assess their own impartiality prior to commencement of their work, cf. the PAA, Section 8.
This requirement applies regardless of whether the person is an employee of Diku, or an externally sourced experts partaking in our administrative decision-making processes, and whether the decisions are made on an individual or collegial basis (committees, programme boards, expert panels, a.o.). All external experts are required to adhere to the same procedures as internal employees with regard to impartiality/conflicts of interest.
In cases of doubt, questions regarding conflicts of interest are resolved by a Head of Section, or if necessary, by our legal department.
Ties which amount to conflicting interests
The primary rules for assessing impartiality is the PAA, Section 6. The provision separates between ties/interests which are automatically deemed conflicting, (Section 6, first paragraph), and ties/interests which, depending on the circumstances in the particular case, may be held to constitute such conflicts (Section 6, second paragraph).
The ties/interests automatically deemed conflicting, are all related to the connection between the person partaking in the decision-making and one or more parties privy to that decision (for more information on who is regarded privy, please see the PAA Section 2, letter e). This is normally easy to establish, as the ties/interest concern relationships such as kinship and the like.
Although no such ties/interest exist, a person may nevertheless be deemed partial/conflicted if there exist «special circumstances» which are «apt to impair confidence in his impartiality». Diku apply a strict line when assessing whether such special circumstances shall be deemed present.
A person will also be held partial if his or her closest superior is deemed impartial (so called «derived impartiality», cf. Section 6, third paragraph).
Consequences of impartiality
Section 6 of the PAA makes it plain that all involvement in administrative decision-making is unlawful for a person deemed impartial (“shall be disqualified from …»).
In cases information resulting in impartiality come to surface when a person already is involved, that person must immediately remove himself from the task and hand the matter over to a person is impartial. The new case-handler must then assess the case anew so that any biases are in the partial persons assessments are properly neutralized.
If someone with conflicts of interest has partaken in a decision-making process resulting in an individual administrative decision (cf. the PAA, Section 2, letters a) and b)), such as e.g. a decision regarding grant allocation, this will constitute a ground for appeal over the decision. Partiality/conflicts may result in the decision being held to be invalid, cf. the PAA, Section 41. For more information regarding the appealing decision, please see right to appeal.
See further
UTFORSK is a central measure under the Panorama Strategy, the Norwegian government's strategy for cooperation on higher education and research with Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and the U.S (2021-2027).
Please see the programme document for the theory of change, results framework, and a tentative plan for calls for UTFORSK.
The overall aim of UTFORSK is to strengthen higher education for a sustainable future.
The programme has the following main objectives:
Important elements in the programme are the priorities stated in the Panorama strategy: constructive interaction between higher education and research, productive connections to the labor market, mutual student exchange, and constructive interaction between bilateral and multilateral cooperation, with special emphasis on the EU programmes for education and research.
UTFORSK aims to foster knowledge and competences relevant for implementation of Agenda 2030.
UTFORSK is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research and administered by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.
See roadmaps for cooperation with prioritised countries from the Research Council of Norway.
Please find a complete list of allocated projects, May 2021.
Email: utforsk@hkdir.no
Phone
Unni Mjelde Birkeland: (+47) 90 59 57 53
Synne Lysberg: (+47) 92 22 42 38
Laila Linde Lossius: (+47) 45 29 48 40