You must have been granted access in Altinn in order to complete and submit the questionnaire. Several people may be granted access to the same questionnaire, but Statistics Norway (SSB) recommends that they do not work in the questionnaire at the same time. Read more about access management for individual services (e.g. a questionnaire) in Altinn: Altinn – Individual services
Your answers are valuable
The survey measures the use of resources for research and development (R&D) in the higher education sector. Among other things, we collect information on the orientation of research activities, sources of funding, and research personnel.
An important purpose of the survey is to provide the authorities with a solid knowledge base for Norwegian research policy. The statistics are also used by the Research Council of Norway, universities and university colleges, as well as by researchers, and for international comparisons.
You are required to respond by the deadline
As these statistics are vital for society it is mandatory to participate. If you fail to send the information before the deadline, the enterprise will receive a compulsory fine.
The submission deadline is specified in the Altinn inbox.
Webinar for respondents
We are hosting a webinar on Microsoft Teams where we will go through how to complete the questionnaires on 13 May, from 12:15 to 13:30.
You can join the webinar using this link:
<LINK WILL BE ADDED HER>
To produce high-quality statistics on R&D activities at the institutions, we need information on, among other things:
- types of R&D activities, fields of R&D, and international project collaboration
- funding of R&D activities
- full-time equivalents funded by external sources
- thematic and technology areas
Research and development work (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge.
For an activity to be an R&D activity, it must satisfy five core criteria. The activity must be novel, creative, uncertain, systematic and transferable and/or reproducible.
For an activity to be considered R&D, it is important that the purpose of the activity is R&D, and that it fulfills the five R&D criteria.
More information on the definition of R&D in OECD's Frascati manual.
The survey is a census survey. This means that all academic units — that is, departments and centres (in some cases faculties) — at universities and university colleges that carry out R&D activities are required to respond.
The reporting unit is normally the individual department or centre, unless otherwise agreed with the institution. Statistics Norway (SSB) wishes those who are most familiar with the R&D activities to complete the reporting. SSB recommends that the academic head collaborates with the unit’s financial officer when completing the questionnaire.
The questionnaire is available in the organisation’s inbox in Altinn and is linked to the organisation number. Access rights to complete questionnaires for departments and centres are assigned by the institution’s Altinn contact. See more about access in the fact box on the top of this page.
In the Archive in Altinn, you will normally find questionnaires that have been submitted previously.
As this is the first time the survey is distributed via Altinn, this will only apply to previously submitted versions of the 2025 questionnaire. Those who wish to receive a copy of the 2023 questionnaire may contact SSB at fou-statistikk@ssb.no.
If you wish to resubmit the questionnaire with amendments, you can create a copy of the questionnaire you have already submitted by clicking “Create new copy”. Make the necessary corrections in the copy and submit it again. The most recently submitted questionnaire is the one that will apply. Once the questionnaire has been submitted, you will receive a receipt number (AR number). This receipt can be printed or sent to an email address.
Guidance to the questionnaire in Norwegian
- Guidance to the questionnaire in Norwegian (PDF)
- Guidance to thematic and technology areas in Norwegian (PDF)
- Questionnaire in Norwegian (PDF)
Guidance to the questionnaire in English
- Guidance to the questionnaire in English (PDF)
- Questionnaire in English (PDF)
In the R&D statistics, Statistics Norway (SSB) uses expenditures from accounting data for the calendar year, broken down by location code, type of expenditure, and primary source of funding, and excluding depreciation. Investments are recorded in full in the year in which they are made.
The institutions submit accounting data to SSB annually using a common template. The accounting data template (PDF) ensures high data quality and simplifies reporting for the institutions. The template was developed by a working group currently consisting of representatives from SSB, the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), and the institutions, and was established by the Ministry of Education and Research (KD). The group works continuously on further developing the template.
For most units, the questionnaire is partially pre-filled with accounting data received by SSB centrally from the institutions using the common template. Both public and private higher education institutions report accounting data via the Database for Higher Education (DBH) at the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), which verifies that the submitted files contain the required information and forwards the data to SSB.
SSB converts the accounting files to the coding system used in the R&D statistics and aggregates the accounting data (including internal accounts) by main source of funding and department. General university funds and external funds are treated separately. SSB then pre-fills the questionnaires with aggregated accounting data broken down by type of expenditure, kostnadssted and source of funding.
In the questionnaire, respondents are asked to verify and, if necessary, correct the pre-filled information and to report the R&D share of the expenditures.
Please note the following:
- funding from abroad should be specified, if the institution is able to identify this separately
- the accounting data must reflect the primary source of funding. In an EU collaborative project involving several institutions, the EU is the source of funding, not the coordinating institution
- expenditures should be recorded where they are incurred
- pass-through funds are excluded
The following legislation is used for this survey:
- The obligation to provide information and the right to collect information: Section 10 of the Statistics Act
- The right to impose a compulsory fine: Section 20 of the Statistics Act and Section 4 of the Statistics Regulation
- The right to enforce collection of a fine and to claim reimbursement of costs: the Tax Administration Act
- The right to appeal against an administrative decision: Chapter VI of the Public Administration Act
These Acts are available on the Lovdata website.
Below you will find the most frequently asked questions about the survey. If you do not find the answer you are looking for, please contact us. Contact information is provided at the bottom of this page.
Statistisk sentralbyrå (SSB) kan pålegge juridisk enhet (institusjonen) opplysningsplikt fordi det er viktig for samfunnet å ha god offisiell statistikk. For denne undersøkelsen er det gjort et slikt vedtak, se kost-nyttevurderingen som ligger til grunn for vedtaket. Dette innebærer at dere er pliktige til å svare på undersøkelsen. Opplysningsplikt er hjemlet i statistikkloven.
SSB kan ilegge tvangsmulkt dersom opplysningene ikke blir sendt inn innen fristen. Selv om dere betaler mulkten, er dere pliktige til å levere utfylt skjema. Størrelsen på mulkten kan øke dersom dere gjentatte ganger ikke overholder opplysningsplikten. Dere kan lese mer om tvangsmulkt i forskrift til statistikkloven og på våre sider om opplysningsplikt og tvangsmulkt fra SSB.
SSB sender vedtak om tvangsmulkt til enheten med ny svarfrist dersom vi ikke har mottatt opplysninger innen svarfristen. Vedtaket faller bort hvis opplysningene blir sendt innen den nye svarfristen. De som fortsatt ikke har svart innen den nye svarfristen, vil kunne få saken oversendt til Statens innkrevingssentral for innkreving av mulkt og eventuelt tvangsinndrivelse.
Tvangsmulkt skal ikke gjøres gjeldende overfor statlige forvaltningsorganer, herunder statlige universiteter og høgskoler. Det vil i stedet kunne gis instrukser fra overordnet myndighet for å få inn opplysninger.
Dere kan lese mer om opplysningsplikt og tvangsmulkt på våre sider.
In the Archive in Altinn, you will find all questionnaires that have been submitted previously. If you wish to resubmit a questionnaire with amendments, you can create a copy of the questionnaire you have already submitted by clicking “Create new copy”. Make the necessary corrections in the copy and submit it again. The most recently submitted questionnaire is the one that will apply. Once the questionnaire has been submitted, you will receive a receipt number (AR number). This receipt can be printed or sent to an email address.
You do not need to complete the entire questionnaire in one continuous session. The information you enter is automatically saved when you move to the next page in the questionnaire. This allows you to exit and re-enter the questionnaire, for example if you need to look up additional information. Please remember to proceed to the next page before exiting the questionnaire to ensure that your entries are saved.
Extensions are not possible. SSB has deadlines that must be met after the data collection period, and extensions may result in the statistics not being published on time. If you do not submit the questionnaire by the response deadline, the unit will automatically receive a decision imposing a compulsory fine, along with a new and final deadline. If there are special circumstances that prevent you from reporting by the deadline, please contact us. Contact information can be found at the bottom of this page.