NORF 2022 Open Research Fund

On this page you will find details about the closed 2022 Open Research Fund call, designed to progress actions in Ireland’s National Action Plan for Open Research, 2022-2030.

Funding Call Pre-Announcement (25 May 2022)

Pre-announcement (pdf)

Stage One: Expressions of Interest (15 June 2022): deadline 15 July

EOI Call Specification Document (pdf)

EOI Application Form (Word doc)

Budget Template (Excel sheet)

Stage Two: Full Proposal (10 August 2022): deadline 15 September

Proposal Application Form (Word doc)

Budget Template (Excel sheet)

Note that in order to optimise synergies and increase the impact of the projects, all projects selected for funding under the NORF 2022 Open Research Fund will form a ‘cluster’ and may be required to participate in common networking and joint activities. Depending on the scope of proposals selected for funding, these activities may include:

• Attendance at joint meetings (e.g., common kick-off and annual meetings)
• Reporting on any joint cross-project activities (delivered at each reporting period)
• Common dissemination and communication activities (which may include common visual identity, brochure, newsletters)
• Participation in thematic workshops on issues of common interest

Frequently Asked Questions

Clarifications regarding eligible costs

The budget template outlines potential costs under the subcategories of personnel costs, other direct costs, and overheads. Please note that the areas identified within these subcategories are suggestions; please remove any that are not applicable and add other areas as needed. In relation to personnel, costs for both existing staff and/or newly hired staff for the project are eligible. Buy out costs for permanent existing staff are allowed (to support existing staff participation in a project through buy out of teaching or other duties), and must be clearly justified as with other costs. Equipment costs needed to implement the proposed project are eligible (i.e., infrastructure and associated services). FAIR data management costs refer to data management costs for data generated by the project and incurred within the lifetime of the project (i.e., necessary to manage, store, and archive data produced by, during and about the project).

Do lead applicant and partners need to be named individuals?

Yes, persons leading organisational involvement and responsible for delivery are required for the lead applicant and any partners. It is understood that contributing personnel or persons executing the project may be subject to change.

Do (maximum) budget ranges include overhead costs?

Yes, budget ranges in the call include overhead costs (to be calculated as 25% of full salary costs).

Are in kind contributions or co-funding permitted?

Yes, in kind contributions or co-funding by the lead applicant and/or project partners is permissible. Such contributions must be clearly indicated and itemised within the proposed budget.

Are co-leads allowed or must there be a single lead applicant?

The inclusion of co-leads is permissible, however an administrative lead should be identified for the purposes of administration of the scheme, such as for communication, progress reporting, and financial transfers.

Is an all-island approach permitted by the funding?

The inclusion of partners in support of an all-island approach is permissible, however proposers should ensure that appropriate governance and oversight arrangements will be in place between partners (e.g. through a grant agreement) for management of funding and reporting processes.

Is it permitted to include a table or chart (as an image) in the project description?

Yes, but text in any such tables should be included in the word count.

Can the list of partners include those supporting or contributing to the project who will not receive grant funding?

Yes, partners are defined broadly and can include collaborators not funded by the grant. The nature of the collaboration and contribution of all partners should be noted within the application.

The National Open Research Forum is a Government of Ireland initiative, funded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, through the Higher Education Authority