NTNU’s strategic research area of Health and Life Science will fund three new interdisciplinary research projects that address important challenges and knowledge needs within the area. 

Application deadline 

08.12.2025 (at 23:59)

Submit your application here

Who can apply?

The call is open for any multidisciplinary project team at NTNU consisting of (at minimum):  

1. A project leader. This must be an early career scientist in a researcher or associate professor position at NTNU with at least two years research experience since their PhD. 
2. A deputy project leader. This must be an academic staff employed at NTNU from a different scientific discipline and faculty than the project leader, and must have secure funding for their position at NTNU for the next 4 years.
3. A mentor. This should be an experienced researcher that can support and contribute towards scientific and personal development for the project leader (and deputy project leader). The mentor must have extensive experience from interdisciplinary projects and supervision of PhD candidates. The mentor does not have to be employed at NTNU.

What can you apply for?

Each project will receive funding for two 3-year positions; either two PhD-positions or one PhD- and one postdoc position (preferred positions must be specified). One position will start in 2026 and the other one in 2027. The positions will come with funds for operational costs at faculty standard levels for recruitment positions. The need for additional operational costs must be covered by the departments/faculties involved or other funds. The departments of the project leader and deputy project leader will host one position each and be responsible for the recruitment process. The project leader and deputy project leader will act as main supervisors for the PhD/postdoc employed at their respective department and co-supervise the other. 

Topics for the call

We ask for project proposals that contribute to the aim of NTNU Health and Life Science to provide knowledge and technology for sustainable health services and health-promoting societies and environments. In this call we specifically ask for projects that address one of the specific topics listed below.

One Health

Understanding how the interdependence between humans, animals, plants, microbes, and their shared environment affects the health of living organisms. 

Topic 1: Health consequences of human activity-induced changes to nature and biodiversity 
Topic 2: Pollution and cross-species disease dynamics

Healthy Life Spans

Understanding causes of non-communicable diseases, how to prevent them, and what promotes healthy lives. 

Topic 1: Enabling lifelong physical activity through life transitions
Topic 2: Supporting women’s health and work participation

Value-based Health Services

Understanding how health systems and -services can be designed and managed to improve quality of care, give value to the patient and society, and have an efficient use of resources.

Topic 1: A sustainable health workforce
Topic 2: Digital technology for equitable healthcare
Topic 3: The role of trust in sustainable healthcare services

Detailed description of the topics

Requirements for the proposal

The project proposal must represent a novel and interdisciplinary approach to addressing the research topics. The proposal must show how the project results will impact the area and contribute to more sustainable health services and/or health-promoting societies and environments. 

It is expected that the projects will contribute to building strong, interdisciplinary research teams at NTNU that will continue research- and innovation activities within their scientific area through attracting external financing. We encourage formation of new interdisciplinary collaborations and to include external national and international collaboration partners, such as universities, public service, and private actors, in the projects. 

The division of work between the two funded positions in the project must ensure synergy and a common contribution towards the overarching objectives and research questions in the project. How this is solved and organized must be clearly described in the implementation section of the proposal. Any relation to other ongoing projects and coordination with these should be described. The project’s ability to be carried out within the given timeframe and available resources will be emphasized. 

The project proposal must be written using our template (download the template here). The proposal must be limited to max 5 pages + front page (Times New Roman, 11 points, 2 cm margins) and must be written in English. The template includes all elements of the proposals that will be evaluated, it is therefore important that all parts are completed in the given order.

The project proposal shall consist of the following parts:

1. State of the art, knowledge needs, objectives and relevance to the call
2. Research questions, hypotheses, methodology, and approach
3. Potential impact 
4. Implementation 
5. Budget
6. References

The proposal must describe all resources necessary for the successful completion of the project. The budget must be specified using the table included in the template. Running costs, including travel and the use of labs and infrastructure, must be specified. Additional sources of funding must be specified.   

The project proposal must be uploaded as a pdf while filling out our online submission form by 08.12.2025 (by 23:59). CVs (max 4 pages per person) for the project partners involved must be attached as a separate pdf. 

Evaluation 

Project proposals that do not meet the formal criteria will not be evaluated. The project proposals will be evaluated based on Relevance, Excellence, Impact, and Implementation in accordance with the evaluation criteria. We will award one project for each of the three focus areas: One Health, Healthy Life Spans and Value-based Health Care. 

We expect a decision on awarded projects by early March 2026. 

Contact 

Marius Widerøe, Director: marius.wideroe@ntnu.no  
Liv E. Falkenberg, Coordinator: liv.falkenberg@ntnu.no  

Focus areas

One Health: Trygve Brautaset, Deputy leader: trygve.brautaset@ntnu.no 
Healthy life spans: Monika Haga, Deputy leader: monika.haga@ntnu.no 
Value-based health care: Heidi C. Dreyer, Deputy leader: heidi.c.dreyer@ntnu.no 
 

Submit your application here