132 million NOK allocated annually for defence research – The Research Council (Forskningsrådet) will distribute 132 million kroner each year for at least five years to a new initiative covering defence, security and preparedness, funded by the Defence and Education ministries, with a possible three‑year extension by the government [1].
14‑member portfolio board launched to steer the program – Chaired by Cecilie Daae, director of the National Knowledge Centre on Violence and Traumatic Stress, the board held its inaugural meeting on Wednesday to define allocation rules and oversee centre and project calls [1].
400 million NOK earmarked for new defence research centres – The board set aside 400 million kroner for a competition to establish research centres that can start operations in 2027, each receiving roughly 60–80 million kroner from the Research Council over five years and must align with Norway’s three strategic security priorities: defence capability, societal resilience, and economic security [1].
81.8 million NOK for data‑driven defence research in 2026 – The Defence Ministry, via the Research Council, will award 81.8 million kroner this year to projects exploiting large‑scale data from sensors, monitoring, exercises and logistics, requiring collaboration with academia, industry and civil actors and inclusion of at least four PhD candidates or postdocs per project [1].
11.5 million NOK allocated to public‑sector and industry PhDs – The council’s public‑sector‑PhD and industry‑PhD schemes will receive 11.5 million kroner in 2026—three industry PhDs and two public‑sector PhDs—to support civil‑military research cooperation, as highlighted in the government’s 2024 defence‑industry capacity roadmap [1].
Calls open early 2026, final decisions by March 2027 – Preliminary centre calls are expected by February or March 2026, with non‑binding project sketches due in June, a final application deadline in November or December, and funding decisions scheduled for March 2027; the board may also consider extra financing from the Justice and Preparedness Ministry and coordination with the portfolio board for democracy and global development [1].