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GrantLAB – what is it?

This autumn, research advisors at INN are inviting you to a seminar series if you are interested in applying for external funds. How does your idea fit into the landscape? And how can you make a successful proposal?

Several of INN's R&D advisors have collaborated to expand GrantLAB. Now, the initiative has become reality! This is the logo you will see on all our events.

By Guro Hagen

Published Sep. 16, 2024 12:14 PM - Last modified Sep. 16, 2024 1:14 PM

GrantLAB is a series of seminars and workshops designed to prepare INN's researchers to write competitive proposals for the Research Council of Norway and Horizon Europe. The main focus is on the aforementioned funding sources, but the skills can also be transferred to writing proposals for other sources of funding for research and education projects. In autumn 2023, Inland School of Business and Social Sciences (HHS) at INN launched the first version of GrantLAB. The concept has since been developed further and is now available to all staff across the institution.

– We can finally offer GrantLAB to the entire institution! HHS deserves praise for initiating this in autumn 2023. And now it is proof that we are indeed stronger together. Our talented research advisors have continued to work collaboratively on the concept, and we hope GrantLAB can become a platform that stimulates collaboration across research environments, says Pro-Rector for Research, Marit Sletmoen.

En gruppe mennesker sitter utenfor en hytte i sola. De smiler og er glade — It was a cheerful group of R&D advisors who met in August to work together on GrantLAB. Photo: Guro Hagen/Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Pick-and-mix in both content and level

The various seminars are categorised into three groups: A = I am a beginner, B = I have some experience with proposal writing or have participated in GrantLAB level A, C = I have a specific idea for a research project and a call I intend to apply for. Therefore, it should be possible to pick and mix the activities you need the most, depending on how much experience you have, or how developed your proposal is.

There is also a variety of formats and locations. Some are short, digital, webinars that can also be recorded and posted online so that researchers can watch them when they have a spare moment. There will also be longer physical workshops where you can work more specifically with a project idea in depth, such as how to write about the project's impacts and effects, or the project's implementation. It is open for all INN employees to sign up, and it is also possible for research groups to 'order' some of the seminars.

En gruppe mennesker går tur i skogen. Det er grønne omgivelser med trær, gress og lyng. — Folldal provided an inspiring work environment for the R&D group from INN who came together to create good initiatives for our researchers. Photo: Johanne Kielland Servoll/Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Stronger (proposals) together

– We advisors have many years of experience with application work collectively, and we each have our areas of specialisation that are now being utilised for the benefit of INN as a whole. Through GrantLAB, we get to know more researchers at INN, and the researchers get to know each other, not just in their own faculty or department. The path between researchers, and from the researchers to the advisors and vice versa, thus becomes shorter. Our research administrative community has also become stronger by working together on GrantLAB. It is quite simply a win-win-win situation, which is very fun, says senior advisor at HHS and GrantLAB initiator Johanne Kielland Servoll.

The goal is that it results in even more and, most importantly, better proposals from INN to the Research Council and Horizon Europe.