Strong competition for SFF funding
The call for new Centres of Excellence (SFF) attracted 176 applications by the Stage 1 deadline of 12 November 2025. From this highly competitive pool, 36 proposals were shortlisted for Stage 2, the final round of the assessment.
In this round, a total of NOK 1.76 billion will be distributed among approximately 11 new centres, and the deadline for submission of Stage 2 applications is 11 November.
UiO well represented in the next round
The SFF scheme supports long-term research with a high potential for groundbreaking results, with new centres awarded approximately every five years. The current call is the sixth SFF funding round and is organised in two stages.
UiO submitted 55 applications to the Stage 1 call, and 16 of these have advanced to the next round. One of them is SPHERE, led by Professor Sven Wedemeyer at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics.
Understanding the solar origins of space weather
Our proposal to establish SPHERE addresses the urgent need to better understand the solar origins of space weather phenomena to which our increasingly technology-dependent society is exposed.
We are now looking forward to further developing the centre proposal for the next stage of the evaluation process, explains Wedemeyer.
If successful, SPHERE aims to strengthen Norway’s role at the forefront of international research on the Sun and space weather, providing new insight into processes that directly affect modern infrastructure and society.