The purpose of this workshop in research skills is to provide PhD candidates, completion grant candidates and post-doctoral fellows the skills to write excellent project descriptions for research funding in Norway and Europe. The workshop is developed especially for completion grant holders, postdocs, and PhD candidates who are in the final phase of their PhD projects or who have recently handed in their thesis.
The morning session will begin with a short introduction followed by presentations by senior advisors in the research administration, experienced academics and young researchers who have received funding. The presentations will be followed by in-plenum Q&A session. This session may be audited by participants who have not submitted a project description draft.
The afternoon session will be devoted to a workshop in groups (3-4 participants and 1 experienced researcher in each group) focused on thorough reviews and feedbacks on the course participants’ application drafts. This session may not be audited by participants who have not submitted a project description draft.
| 09:00-09:10 | Introduction | Knut Ivar Austvoll Associate Professor IAKH |
| 09:10-10:10 | How to succeed with academic applications? A general introduction | Thora Petursdottir Professor IAKH |
| 10:10-10:30 | Practical information about funds in Norway and EU:
| Julianne Rustad Lisa Nordick |
| 10:30-10:45 | Break | |
| 10:45-12:00 | Young researchers talk about their experiences with applying for funds | Eleonora Cappuccilli Minjie Su |
| 12:00-13:00 | Lunch | |
| 13:00-16:00 | Workshop: Discussion and feedback on young researchers’ applications |
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Workshop preparations
Workshop participants will prepare and pre-circulate a (potential) project description draft (3-5 pages). The draft should be submitted to nora.birkeland@iakh.uio.no. Deadline: 7 April 2026
In class
The first part of the day will be dedicated to presentations and Q&A sessions where your reflections and questions will be part of the discussions. The second part of the day will be a more interactive workshop where it is expected that the course participants both receive and provide feedback on project description drafts.
Language
The course language is English, including reading responses and essays. We will switch to Norwegian in class if everyone is able to follow what is being said.
Lunch
Lunch will be served to full-day participants only.
Registration
Deadline: 30 March 2026