The third programme involving gender equality research is now in the completion phase. The Research Council of Norway has decided not to initiate a new programme for gender equality research. The Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion, henceforth referred to as the Awarding Authority, has been participating in financing the previous gender equality research programmes.

The programmes resulted in high quality and diverse research and contributed to establishment of nationwide gender equality research environments. These environments hold considerable expertise. High quality and relevant research is vital for the formulation of policy.

The Awarding Authority therefore wishes to stimulate further research on the field. Based on this, the Awarding Authority will contribute to the establishment of a national core environment involving gender equality research. The function as core environment also includes separate gender equality research, stimulating such research in other environments and conducting knowledge and network building as well as communication. See the tender documents' annex 1 for further description of the assignment.