You must have been granted access in Altinn in order to complete and submit the questionnaire. You can either request authorization for an access package, or for a single service. 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 in Altinn.
The deadline for responding to the survey is by the end of week 23, three weeks after the survey was sent out.
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
The duty to provide information means that, in some central statistical areas, Statistics Norway has the right to impose a compulsory fine on enterprises that do not complete the survey within the specified deadline. This survey is one of the central statistical areas.
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 20 May, from 12:15 to 13:30.
You can register to join the webinar using this link:Dere kan klikke dere inn for å registrere dere på webinaret med denne lenken:
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/80093658-2fb8-4151-8fb6-b758af8910cc@c7217092-b240-4e1d-bd61-fa97ba975cbc
We are hosting an extra webinar Thursday 28 May, from 09:30 to 10:45 for those who are not able to attend the first one. We will also in this webinar go through how to complete the questionnaire.
Register to the extra webinar using this link:
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/4e31c7fd-6f20-489f-a468-5ed0e1950694@c7217092-b240-4e1d-bd61-fa97ba975cbc
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 (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 classified as 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.
Find 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. Statistics Norway (SSB) would like reporting to be carried out by those who know the R&D activities best. Institutes report for their affiliated centres.
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.
The example questionnaire is intended as guidance for completing the form. They cannot be submitted.
Guidance to the questionnaire in English
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, only avaiable in Norwegian) 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 classification 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.
Statistics Norway may impose a “duty to provide information” on a legal entity (the institution) because it is important for society to have high-quality official statistics. For this survey, such a decision has been made; see the cost–benefit assessment (only available in Norwegian) underlying the decision. This means that you are required to respond to this survey. The reporting obligation is laid down in the Statistics Act(only available in Norwegian).
Statistics Norway may impose a compulsory fine if the information is not submitted by the deadline. Even if the fine is paid, you are still required to submit a completed questionnaire. The amount of the fine may increase if you repeatedly fail to comply with the reporting obligation. You can read more about compulsory fines in the regulations to the Statistics Act and on our pages about reporting obligation and compulsory fines from Statistics Norway.
Separate rules apply to central government bodies, which are not subject to compulsory fines. If such a body is unwilling to comply with the reporting obligation, necessary instructions may instead be issued by the superior authority to ensure that the information is provided.
If the required information has not been received by the original deadline, Statistics Norway will issue a decision on compulsory fine with a new response deadline. The decision will be revoked if the information is submitted by the new deadline. Units that still have not responded by the new deadline may have their case forwarded to the Norwegian National Collection Agency (Statens innkrevingssentral) for collection of the fine and, if applicable, enforced recovery.
Compulsory fines do not apply to central government bodies, including state universities and state university colleges. In such cases, instructions may instead be issued by the superior authority in order to obtain the required information.
You can read more about the “duty to provide information” and compulsory fines on our website (only available in Norwegian).
In the Archive in Altinn, you will find all 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 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.
Statistics Norway does not grant extensions for this survey. If you do not respond within the deadline, you will automatically receive a reminder. For extraordinary cases, contact Statistics Norway.