Guidelines

Our guidelines govern the research and travel grants that we award. Please read the guidelines carefully before you apply a grant from NSfK. If you still have questions after having read the guidelines, please contact the NSfK Secretariat.

§ 1 – Objective

The aim of the Nordic Research Council for Criminology (NSfK) is to promote criminological research in the Nordic countries. NSfK can provide financial support for the following categories, further specified in these Guidelines:

  1. research projects
  2. working group meetings
  3. travel grants

Applications regarding support for research, working group meetings and travels are evaluated according to the frameworks and guidelines for funding approved by the Council.

§ 2 – Competence

Applications for research grants (see § 7) will normally be reviewed by the Council at its annual meeting, which usually is held beginning of March. The chairperson, however, may review those applications for research grants where the amount of funding requested does not exceed 8 200 NOK.

Applications for working group meetings (see § 8) will normally be reviewed by the Council at its annual meeting.

Applications for travel and for study trip grants (see § 9) are reviewed by the chairperson of NSfK twice a year. For deadlines for each year, see NSfK´s website.

There are various maximum limits for chairperson’s grants, depending on the purpose of the journey. Applications for travel grants, which exceed the maximum amounts must be reviewed by the Council.

§ 3 – Support limits

Financial support is awarded within the framework approved by the Council at its annual meeting.

No support is provided for already completed projects.

The research which the research grant is meant for must be carried out in one or more of the Nordic member countries.

§ 4 – Application form

Application forms are required for applications submitted to be processed by the Council and for the applications which are processed solely by the chairperson.

§ 5 – Application deadlines

The Council reviews applications for financial support once a year at its annual meeting. The submission deadline before the Council meeting can be found on the NSfK website. The chairperson reviews applications for research grants of max 8 200 NOK on an ongoing basis.

§ 6 – The applicant

Individual researchers as well as groups may apply for financial support from NSfK. The researcher must be based in a Nordic country. NSfK research grants will not be transferred outside the Nordics.

The research grants are not intended to finance Master’s degree studies. Under special circumstances, undergraduates writing their thesis may receive travel grants (see § 9).

§ 7 – Guidelines for awarding of research support

Financial support for a research project is termed “research grant”.

Research support may for instance include:

  • salary or grant to the applying researcher or researcher’s staff
  • expenses for purchase of research materials (e.g. study trips)
  • expenses for processing and analysis of research data
  • expenses for translation
  • publishing or language editing of research reports

The research projects can e.g. consist of replication of studies in other countries; Nordic literature studies; cooperation between researchers from at least three Nordic countries; comparison between at least three Nordic countries.

New research projects, including research projects not previously supported by the Nordic Research Council for Criminology will be regarded in the decision process.

The following guidelines apply to the awarding of research grants:

A) Salary or grant to the researcher:

  • It is expected that the researcher who is awarded a salary or grant and also has other work income will take full- or part-time leave during the period in which he or she receives research support from NSfK; the salary or grant may not exceed the amount lost due to leave.
  • Salary or grants are not awarded to persons whose ordinary work allows them the possibility to conduct the same kind of research as to which the application refers.

B) Support for overhead expenses:

  • Funds to cover overhead expenses may normally be awarded at a level not exceeding 20 % of the salary or grant.

C) Support for translation, publication or language editing of research reports, etc.:

  • The possibility to provide support to cover translation expenses, etc. is aimed especially at manuscripts written in Finnish, Icelandic or Greenlandic. The Council can also provide support for language editing of articles intended for publication in international journals.

D) Support for purchase of literature, computer equipment, software:

  • Support for purchase of literature, computer equipment, etc. is given only in exceptional cases.

§ 8 – Guidelines for awarding of support for working groups and contact seminars

Support may be awarded for the holding of working group meetings for researchers planning or initiating a joint research project, or who wish to establish research related cooperation in another form.

Contact seminars gather researchers, policy makers and practitioners from the Nordic countries. The Contact seminars serve as a cross-professional expert forum in various areas of common concern for the Nordic countries.

The Nordic Research Council for Criminology seeks to encourage researchers to hold working group meetings.

The following guidelines apply for working group and contact seminar grants:

  • The grant is meant for covering actual meeting expenses (flights, accommodation, meeting facilities, meals etc.) Max. 20 % of the grant received can be used for overhead costs (including salary costs of the organizers of the meeting).
  • The budget of the meeting should be at a reasonable level (i.e. average hotels, economy class flight tickets, no daily allowances, reasonable meal costs).
  • The working groups and contact seminars must involve researchers and practitioners from at least three of the Nordic countries.

§ 9 – Guidelines for awarding travel grants

Support for total or partial expenses for transport, living etc. in connection with shorter or extended travels for an individual or group of applicants is designated as “travel grant”. The grant can be awarded only once a year to one person

Travel grant is awarded on the basis of the cheapest possible means of transport (discount air tickets, etc.). Only in exceptional cases defined in the application can travel grant be used to cover costs for use of private vehicle.

In addition, the following guidelines have to be followed when applying for a travel grant:

A) Individual travel support for participation in conferences:

  • Individual travel grants for up 8 200 NOK may be awarded by the chairperson to cover travel and living costs connected to a researcher’s participation in a conference within or outside the Nordic countries.
  • The applicant must normally present a paper at the conference describing his or her own criminological project which is of Nordic relevance. When applying a travel grant, the applicant must enclose a letter of acceptance from the conference organizers regarding the paper to be presented.
  • An undergraduate student applicant, however, can in connection with work on a larger criminological project be granted up to 8 200 NOK by the chairperson for participation in a conference or similar event which is especially relevant for his or her topic, and without being required to present a paper. The student’s application for participation in the conference must be accompanied by a recommendation from the student’s advisor. The student applicant must also enclose a letter of admission from the conference organizers together with his/her travel grant application.
  • In cases where there are several applicants to the same conference, not all the applications can be expected to receive funding. Priority will be given to support that reaches out beyond the established milieus.

B) Travel stipends to Nordic representation for board meetings, conferences, etc.:

  • An individual travel grant of up to 8 200 NOK may be awarded by the chairperson to the Nordic representation in connection with travel to, for example, board meetings of international criminological organizations or conferences.
  • Support is normally not given to the same person’s participation in several board meetings within the same year.
  • In cases where there are several applicants seeking to represent Nordic criminology at the same board meeting or conference, not all the applications of support can be expected to receive funding. Priority in awarding funds is given to support reaching beyond the established milieus.

C) Travel grant for research trips:

  • Support up to 16 400 NOK may be awarded by the chairperson to cover full or partial expenses for trips of 1-3 months in one or more Nordic countries when the trip is undertaken for research purposes.
  • Priority is given to early career researchers and/or researchers without possibilities for institutional funding.

D) Individual travel grant for research stay abroad:

  • Travel and living expenses up to 16 400 NOK may be awarded by the chairperson for carrying out research related travel of a specified period in foreign criminological centers.
  • Applications for research related travel to Nordic criminological centers are prioritized.
  • Priority is given to early career researchers and/or researchers without possibilities for institutional funding.
  • An individual travel grant of max. 8 200 NOK can be given to a PhD student for participation in an academic course in a foreign university.

E) Group travel grants:

  • The chairperson may award up to 16 400 NOK to cover travel and living costs in connection with group study trips. The group may also receive support for participation in conferences within or outside the Nordic region. The applicants must as a rule present a paper at the conference.
  • Study trips undertaken by Nordic criminology students to criminological research centers receive priority.

F) Support for foreign guest lecturers:

  • Financial support up to 8 200 NOK may be awarded by the chairperson to invite foreign (non-Nordic) guest lecturers.

§ 10 – Payment of grants and reporting

The recipient of a research grant or a support for working group meetings signs an agreement with the Nordic Research Council for Criminology before the funds are disbursed. The agreement is drafted by the Council’s Secretariat which has the mandate to define the administrative and economic procedures for disbursing the grant.

The agreement includes detailed conditions that apply to the grant, including:

  • That the recipient is obligated to submit a financial and a scientific report to the Secretariat as to how the grant has been used. The deadline for financial and scientific reporting is usually three months after the date by which the project will be completed. The report should include an extract from the grant administrator’s bookkeeping / scanned original receipts to confirm the costs of the project.
  • That possible grant leftover has to be returned.
  • When funds are administered by the researcher´s Nordic home institution, its accounting department may draft the financial report which is to be sent to the NSfK Secretariat.
  • The recipient of a travel grant receives a message in the application portal on the NSfK Chairperson’s decision and terms of use of the grant. If the terms are being met and the expense and travel reports have been sent to the Secretariat within a month from completion of the trip, NSfK will pay the grant to the researcher in question.
  • NSFK may choose to publish the reports on its website and share in its other communication channels, such as the monthly newsletter Nordisk Kriminologi, Facebook and Twitter.
  • Any previously received travel- or research grants must be completed and reported. The person given a research/travel/study grant earlier cannot apply or receive new grant before the previous ones have been duly reported (if the previous project has already ended).

§ 11 – Exceptional provisions

The Council, on the basis of a concrete assessment, may review applications for research grants which have been submitted after the application deadline has passed.

The Council, insofar as the budget permits, may review applications for financial support to working group meetings during the course of the year. In this connection, the Council may deviate from the requirement that the application form be used.

The Council, insofar as special circumstances dictate, may decide to deviate from the existing guidelines.

§ 12 – Commencement

These guidelines for grants for the Nordic Research Council for Criminology have been revised in accordance with the Council’s decisions in September 2017, October 2019 as well as up-dated according to Council decisions during spring 2020. The guidelines take effect with their publication at NSfK website.