The Research Council of Norway (RCN) recently awarded 22 new applications for research infrastructure. A total of NOK 1.4 billion will be allocated to the new projects.
In E-INFRA 2020, a project aimed at developing a National e-infrastructure for Science, Sigma2's application for an extension of the national e-infrastructure for high-performance computing, data storage, and related services was one of the awardees.
The upgrades requested are crucial not only for Norway as an internationally competitive research nation but also for public administration and, increasingly, for the business and innovation community.
We initially applied for NOK 408.9 million, but this amount will be significantly reduced due to our recent agreement to increase basic funding. This new agreement not only provides more funding but, more importantly, reduces our reliance on competitive calls for funding, increasing predictability for NRIS (Norwegian research infrastructure services) as a whole.
Signa2 is also a partner in the Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Cloud’s application, together with UiO, SIMULA, NORCE, UiB, UiA, SINTEF AS, NTNU and UiT. This is an e-infrastructure that will ensure that Norwegian research, education, and innovation actors in many disciplines will have access to the necessary expertise and e-infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI).
The Research Council regularly awards funding for research infrastructure to strengthen the infrastructure that research and innovation environments across the country can use. See the complete list of funded projects in this round.