Social Innovation
NTNU Social Innovation
NTNU Social Innovation is a new funding scheme at NTNU to strengthen the use of knowledge: support for further developing innovation ideas from research that can help solve important societal challenges.
The scheme supports research-based innovation, allowing employees to develop ideas from research generated in NTNU’s academic communities so that it can be put to use in various ways. The purpose of the NTNU Social Innovation programme is to support innovation projects across the breadth of NTNU’s academic communities that help solve societal challenges, and to strengthen NTNU’s work on social innovation so that knowledge is increasingly put to use and creates value.
NTNU Social Innovation will help build competence, capacity and a culture for innovation across the breadth of NTNU’s academic communities. The scheme complements NTNU Discovery, which supports the commercialisation of research results.
What is social innovation?
Social innovation is a broad concept that is about developing new services, concepts or processes that can solve important societal challenges or meet societal needs. These are innovations that often involve different disciplines and different working methods and partners than product innovation with a primarily commercial purpose.
Social innovation can be realised through new forms of collaboration and through co-creation processes with different actors, and is characterised by interdisciplinary collaboration. Social innovation can contribute to the development and implementation of new ideas, services, understanding, ways of working, collaboration models or solutions that create social, democratic or societal value.
Social innovation can involve new or improved services within the health and education sectors, contributions to new laws/regulations, the development of tools and methods, art and culture that drive societal development, policy development, and new ways of organising society that contribute to transition.
Call for Project Funding
New pilot programme
NTNU Social Innovation is a 3-year pilot programme (2026–28) to translate and further develop more of the knowledge generated in NTNU’s academic communities into social innovation. The initiative has a total budget of NOK 9.6 million.
Two-year projects are now being announced, with a total budget of up to NOK 800,000 per project.
Application deadline: 16 November 2026.
If funds remain, a new call will be issued in the summer of 2027. The pilot programme will encompass a minimum of 12 projects in total. The initiative will be supported by competence-building measures and networking activities for participants in the projects that are awarded funding.
Applicants are encouraged to secure co-funding, including in-kind contributions from relevant partners, and from other relevant funding sources, if needed.
What characterises a good project for NTNU Social Innovation?
The funding shall help ensure that knowledge developed in NTNU’s academic communities can be put to use and create value for society. We are looking for projects that take a specific societal challenge as their starting point, and where applicants at NTNU have developed knowledge that can be further developed into concrete ideas and approaches that help solve the challenge.
The project must build on knowledge already developed in NTNU’s academic communities, and the project being supported must, in various ways, be able to translate that knowledge into change and benefit for society. It is crucial for the project to have a good understanding of, and dialogue with, relevant societal actors who can put the knowledge to use in order to realise social innovation.
We are looking for projects that further develop existing collaborations and/or create new ones with the field of practice, non-profit organisations, industry, the public sector, etc. The project should be ambitious about developing and maturing ideas into, for example, new solutions, changed practice, new methods or services, processes, or testing concepts and developing pilots that can contribute to various forms of social innovation.
The project’s potential to create positive change is central. This may involve innovation processes that lead to societal effects over time. Applications can focus on different phases of the innovation process, but the application must include a description of how possible societal impact can be realised, cf. NTNU’s impact guide:
Toolkit societal impact 2026 (pdf)
Requirements for the application
- The applicant (project manager) must be employed in at least a 50% position at NTNU
- The application must be approved by the head of department/immediate manager
- A clear description of which societal challenge(s)/need(s) the project addresses
- Confirmation from an external partner of interest in participating in the project (actor(s) central to solving the societal challenge). Alternatively, documentation of interest among societal actors in the project’s results.
How much can you apply for?
- Two-year projects are being announced, with a total budget of up to NOK 800,000.
What can the funding be used for?
- Direct costs for realising the project. This may include costs related to collaboration (e.g. events, meetings, workshops and co-creation activities) or costs related to development, testing and piloting.
- Salary costs for activities in the project. Buy-out of NTNU employees/PhD candidates and hiring of project staff for academic contributions to the project.
- The project funding awarded shall primarily be reserved for researchers employed at NTNU, but in exceptional cases a smaller amount (a maximum of 10%) may go to external partners if necessary to realise the project.
What do we expect from you?
- Delivery in accordance with the project description and timeline
- Participation and sharing of experience in a network across the funded projects
- Contribute to identifying competence needs within social innovation at NTNU
- Dissemination of project results internally and externally
- A final report from the project
Application procedure
Applicants must complete the application form, including a project description, motivation letter, budget and timeline. In addition, a CV for the project manager, approval from the head of department/immediate manager, and confirmation/documentation of interest from external parties must be enclosed.
Download application form (DOCX)
Application deadline: Monday 16th November (23:59)
Criteria for project selection
The societal challenge
- Is the societal challenge clearly described, well justified and documented to be of significant importance?
The solution’s/idea’s/approach’s potential to solve the societal challenge/need and realise societal value/impact?
- Is the idea well and clearly described?
- Is the knowledge base/research that the idea builds on well described?
- To what extent is the project suited to fulfilling its potential to be put to use? (To what extent does the project represent a new solution/idea/approach? Can the idea/solution be implemented at a larger scale in the longer term – reflections on future benefit and the costs of implementation)
Project development
- Is the project suited to developing the proposed idea/solution and achieving the project’s goals?
- To what extent does the project have the team and expertise required?
- To what extent have relevant partners/societal actors important to the solution/impact been invited into the project?
- To what extent will the funding and network be significant and add value for the project and the academic communities?
Considerations to ensure a broad project portfolio may influence the Pro-Rector’s final funding decision.
Application assessment process
- Administrative assessment of applications: Applications are first assessed administratively according to the requirements for the application specified in the call. Applications that meet the requirements of the call are forwarded to a committee for assessment.
- Academic assessment of applications: An evaluation committee of five members assesses the applications according to the criteria specified in the call. Applicants may be invited to present their project to the committee (pitch). The committee consists of three external and two internal members. FIE serves as the secretariat for the committee.
- Recommendation: The committee prepares a recommendation to the Pro-Rector for Research and Innovation.
- Funding decision: The decision to award project funding is made by the Pro-Rector.
Do you have questions about the call?
Please contact Ann Iren Jamtøy or Hilde Kyrkjebø.