Guidelines for Clinical Career Fellowships
The purpose of the research funds is to contribute to ensuring research activity in health trusts and to increase the productivity, quality, and benefits of the research. The clinical career scholarship is intended to facilitate researchers who have combined research activity with clinical practice to build their own research environment. The clinical career scholarship is the next step on the career ladder after postdoctoral and/or research periods and sets high demands for independence.
The national plan of action for clinical studies (2021-2025) has a vision that clinical research should be an integrated part of all patient treatment. Clinical Career Fellowships could be a tool to reach the goals of the plan of action.
Who can apply- requirements at the time of application
The applicant researcher must be under 50 years old (born 1975 or later). The applicant must be employed (min. 20 percent position) by a health trust in the region or by a private, non-profit institution that has an agreement with Helse Vest. Clinical career scholarships cannot be transferred to others.
Clinical career felloships are awarded to researchers who aim to build a research environment. Therefore, applications in this category will be subject to particularly stringent requirements. The applicant must have demonstrated independence, and it will be emphasized whether the applicant will be able to establish their own research environment during the project period. This must be clearly stated in the application. The applicant's research output will be assessed in relation to the extent of clinical activity.
What can be applied for
The total cost for the clinical career fellowship is currently up to NOK 2,35 million per year for 4 years. The fellowship rates includes salary with social expenses and operating costs.
The Career Fellowship is to cover the salary of one's own position, an appurtenant position (research fellow, research support, coordinator), and additional operating funds. The Career Fellowship can be used as a 50% position for the whole period or parts of it, in combination with clinical service, and so the length of the fellowship might vary based on the vacancy rate. This is not required to be settled at the time of application.
Separate applications must be submitted if the applicant wishes to be assessed for the category of a postdoctoral fellowship or an ordinary multi-year project, in case the application for a career fellowship is not successful in the competition. The budget and project description must be adapted to the individual application category.
If funds are awarded
The positions financed by the research funds are to be employed by the applicant institution (health trust or private, non-profit institutions).
It should be possible for the research fellow to change employers during the fellowship as long as this is another health trust or private, non-profit institution in the region. It is nevertheless, the applicants institution that has the final word on whether the institutional responsibility for the project should also be changed. Conditions for any such potential change must be clarified by agreements between the institutions in question.
Researchers who receive Helse Vest’s research funds must complete a course in user involvement. Employees of the health trust will receive a course certificate if they complete the course through the "Læringsportalen".
Project description and other attachments
The application requires two attachments:
Page updated: June 2024