Memoranda of Understanding and Regulations on the implementation of EEA and Norway Grants for 2014-2021 as well as guidelines of the Financial Mechanism Office and the National Contact Point can be found here.

Detailed scope and rules of the “Basic Research” Programme implementation are set in the Programme Agreement concluded by and between the Financial Mechanism Committee, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the former Ministry of Investment and Development (currently the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy), performing the function of the National Focal Point.

Project contract and partnership agreement

In case of changes to the data of the entity’s authorised representative, contact information, the headquarters and correspondence address of the entity, contact information and the Researcher’s Electronic Identifier of the principal investigator and leaders of research groups of project partners as well as the residence and correspondence addresses of the principal investigator, the application editor should introduce changes to the OSF system. An update or change must be entered in the system, before creating an annex or report to which new data will be uploaded. W Annexes to the partnership agreement concluded in the GRIEG and IdeaLab calls should also be included in the OSF. Changes should be made in the Updates/changes/annexes/agreements module in OSF in accordance with the instruction concerning implementation of changes available here.

If it is necessary to make changes in the project, which have to be done through an annex to the contract, the Project Promoter is obliged to submit to the NCN an application for acceptance of the changes together with the scope of the changes and their rationale, as well as a draft annex, saved in .pdf format. The application and draft annex signed with a qualified signature in the PAdES standard by the person(s) representing the Project Promoter and the Principal Investigator have to be sent electronically to the Electronic Mail Box of the National Science Centre: /ncn/SkrytkaESP, within a maximum of 14 days from the date of occurrence of the reason justifying the change, however, not later than 3 months before the Project completion date. Before submitting your application please, read article 15 of the contract concerning procedure and scope of amendments to the contract.

If the project implementation period is changed, any project end date no later than 30 April 2024 may be specified. The number of months has to be rounded up to full months when the project implementation time in months is indicated.

If it is necessary to change the Principal Investigator, the academic and research track record of the proposed, new Principal Investigator should be enclosed to the application for acceptance of the changes. The change of the principal investigator in the partner’s research team in GRIEG and IdeaLab calls does not require a change of the contract, but is requires the consent of the NCN. The consent may be granted based on an application for acceptance of the change containing a justification. The academic and research track record of the new principal investigator in the partner’s research team has to join the application.

The annex concerning changes in the budget breakdown can be generated automatically from the OSF system. The annex should be introduced in the Updates/changes/annexes/agreements module in OSF in accordance with the instruction concerning implementation of annexes available here. If changes in the budget breakdown result in changes to other elements of the contract, a change in the budget breakdown must be created separately in OSF. First, create a budget breakdown annex in OSF, and then create an annex outside of the system with the consecutive number. Annexes should be signed separately and submitted with the application via ePUAP.

Pursuant to Article 8.2.4 of the Regulation, in the event of purchase of new or second hand equipment, only the portion of depreciation corresponding to the project’s duration and the rate of actual use for the project’s purposes may be considered eligible expenditure. Equipment where the entire purchase price will be eligible by the way of exception from the rule in Article 8.2.4 has to be specified in Appendix 6 to the contract in the GRIEG and IdeaLab call or Appendix 5 in the POLS call. Please, indicate in the application if you are planning depreciation or if you request, for the entire purchase price to be eligible.

Any change in the text of the Appendix which requires the form of an annex to the contract entails the need to add to the proposed annex an appendix, which is not limited to the proposed change but contains the full new text of the Appendix. The annex and appendices should form one document in .pdf format.

Reporting

The Project Promoter submits the annual report within 60 days from end of the reporting period, and the final report within 60 days from the project completion date. Reports have to be prepared in the OSF system . Scope of data needed to complete reports in the OSF system is available in the templates for annual, final and sustainability reports in appendix 2 to the Project Contract.

We would like to inform you that access to the report module in the OSF system is planned to be given at the end of January 2022. We will inform you of the exact date by e-mail.

The subject matter report and information concerning dissemination of project outcomes should be uploaded in the OSF system as a .pdf file and a file containing project indicators as an Excel file. Documents have to be prepared according to templetes available below. For Projects, which due to the start date were implemented for fewer than 6 months in the first reporting year, the Project Promoter is not obliged to complete the subject matter report.

In the GRIEG and IdeaLab calls, the Project Promoter and each of the partners prepare an individual financial statement in accordance with the template constituting appendix 2c to the contract. Individual financial statements in the form of a PDF file, a scan of a document signed by hand by the authorized person/persons with the Project Promoter or partner or documents signed electronically should be uploaded in the OSF system.

Reports are evaluated according to the contract for the implementation and funding of the research project and detailed evaluation procedure introduced by the order of the NCN Director.

Detailed procedure for evaluating annual reports on the implementation of research projects funded under the Norway and EEA Grants 2014-2021 within the framework of the “Basic Research” Programme, which are submitted for 2020 and cover the first reporting period

Project audit

Guidelines for entities carrying out implementation audits of research projects financed by the National Science Centre and in the frames of the programme Basic research funded from the EEA Financial Mechanism for 2014-2021 and Norwegian Financial Mechanism for 2014-2021 defined in the Regulation no 13/2020 of the Director of the National Science Centre of 28 February 2020, changed by the Regulation no 51/2020 of the Director of the National Science Centre of 18 June 2020 shall be used by entities carrying out implementation audits of research projects financed in the frames of the programme Basic research funded from the EEA Financial Mechanism for 2014-2021 and Norwegian Financial Mechanism for 2014-2021 implemented by entities established as a legal person in Poland.

Norwegian entities subject to obligatory audit (total grant from programme above 325 000 Euro) are audited by entities authorized in Norway. A certificate by an independent auditor qualified to carry out statutory audits of accounting documents, certifying that the claimed costs are incurred in accordance with the Guideline for research programmes, the Regulation on the implementation of EEA and Norway Grants for 2014-2021, the national law and relevant national accounting practices, shall be submitted. A certificate issued by a competent and independent public officer recognised by the relevant national authorities as having a budget and financial control capacity over the entity incurring the costs and who has not been involved in the preparation of the financial statements, certifying that the claimed costs are incurred in accordance with this guideline, this Regulation, the relevant law and national accounting practices, will also be accepted as sufficient proof of expenditure incurred.

Call for applications for increasing funding for the implementation of projects, which where allocated funding in the GRIEG, IDEALAB or POLS calls