THE FAROESE RESEARCH COUNCIL (GRANSKINGARRADID)

Their core work

The Faroese Research Council (Granskingarráðið) is the public body responsible for research funding and policy in the Faroe Islands. In H2020, their role was exclusively tied to the EURAXESS network — the pan-European service for researcher mobility, career support, and job opportunities. They function as the Faroese national EURAXESS hub, connecting local researchers to European mobility schemes and ensuring the Faroe Islands is integrated into EU-wide researcher support infrastructure. Their work is administrative and facilitative rather than laboratory research: they advise researchers on funding, support career transitions, promote gender equality in science, and increasingly broker connections between researchers and industry.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In EURAXESS TOP III (2015–2018), the Council's focus was the core EURAXESS mandate: mobility logistics, career development, gender, and jobs/funding information. By EURAXESS TOP IV (2018–2022), the scope broadened in two directions: outward toward industry (engaging private employers as destinations for mobile researchers) and inward toward social support (helping researchers integrate into new host societies). The shift from a purely information-provision role toward active industry engagement and social integration services reflects the EURAXESS network's own evolution — and suggests the Council is building capacity beyond a passive relay point.

They are moving from passive information relay toward active brokering — connecting mobile researchers with industry employers and supporting their social integration — which makes them a more useful partner for any project involving workforce mobility or researcher–industry collaboration.

How they like to work

The Council has never led an H2020 project; they entered EURAXESS TOP III as a third party (no direct EC contract) and only graduated to named participant in TOP IV. This is typical for small national EURAXESS hubs operating within a large, centrally coordinated network. Their value in a consortium is not technical leadership but geographic coverage and national-level access — they bring the Faroe Islands into the partnership and handle local researcher support tasks.

Despite having only two projects, the EURAXESS network gives them reach to 46 unique consortium partners across 39 countries — an unusually broad footprint for an organisation of this size. Their connections are European-wide by design, not because of independent networking.

What sets them apart

The Faroese Research Council is the only body that can formally represent the Faroe Islands within the EURAXESS network and EU researcher mobility infrastructure. For consortia that need to demonstrate Nordic or North Atlantic geographic coverage — or that work on researcher mobility, Arctic research careers, or small-island research ecosystems — this organisation provides a gateway that no other partner can replicate. Their positioning is niche but irreplaceable within that niche.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EURAXESS TOP IV
  Their first project as a named, funded participant (EUR 34,880) rather than a third party, and the one that expanded the Council's mandate to include industry engagement and social integration of researchers.
• EURAXESS TOP III
  Their debut in H2020, taken on as a third party within a large pan-European network, establishing the Faroe Islands' place in EU researcher mobility infrastructure.