Practical information

This site contains practical information for new VISTA scholars, project managers and for administrative staff at the host institutions. The site will be updated frequently.

General information for VISTA Scholars and Project Managers

Deadline: December 15 – Expense reporting
All costs related to the project must be reported by December 15 in order to be included in the operational budget of the current year.

The project manager will receive quarterly overviews of the total incurred operations-related cost of the project. Project managers are required to hold a complete overview of the projects expenses, and are obligated to report any significant discrepancies between what VISTA has registered and what they have registered themselves. A difference is significant if it exceeds 50 000 NOK. Please note that the project manager is responsible for making sure the costs do not exceed the allocated funds. If a project exceeds allocated funds in one year, the amount will be deducted from next year’s budget. If a project exceeds allocated funds in the final year of the contract, VISTA will request a refund of the overspending from the project’s host institution.

Deadline: January 15 - Annual report
Every year, by December 15, all projects, including projects that finish in the same year, must complete an annual report. Please see the template for download in the up-right corner.

Deadline: One month after the project has finished - Final report
All projects are required to complete a final report within the first month after the project’s completion. A template is available for download in the up-right corner.

Simployer
Simployer is a tool for registration of holiday and sick leave, and for claiming reimbursements for travel expenses. When requesting reimbursements, please include a picture/scan of the original receipt.

Annual events

VISTA has one annual VISTA event:

The Annual VISTA Day gathers politicians, academics and industry to discuss prevailing issues related to energy and the Norwegian shelf. The event is usually in Norwegian, so foreigners who do not master the language are excused from participating.

Employment arrangements
We aim to be flexible, and we will try to be forthcoming and open to suggestions regarding employment arrangements. It is not uncommon for a candidate to be employed 75 % by The Norwegian Academy and 25 % by his or her host institution, with a corresponding prolonging of the scholars contract. Please contact the coordinator to discuss your options.

General information for all scholars

Working in Norway – The Official Guide
NAV stands for Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, and is the Norwegian public welfare agency. They have made an official guide about working in Norway. In our experience, NAV functions quite efficiently. Most matters can be sorted out online. Please visit: https://www.nav.no/workinnorway/en/Home

Tax reduction card
This is not strictly necessary, but will prevent you from having to pay 50 % of your wages in taxes. If you pay too much tax one year, you will receive the difference in the autumn of the next year. Likewise, if you pay too little, you will need to pay back the same amount. Apply for a tax reduction card here (We will get a notice from Skatteetaten): https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/International-pages/If-you-work-in-Norway-you-need-to/Have-a-tax-card/Have-a-tax-card/

Salary and pay slip
Wages are paid on the 12^th of every month. You will receive a pay slip by email. The slip is password protected. The password is the five last digits of your bank account number. You can choose to receive your slip in Norwegian or English.

Regarding taxes in December
The December tax break is a Norwegian tradition. All earnings in December are taxed half of the regular amount, with the result that all employees will receive some extra money right before Christmas.

About holiday and holiday pay

General information
Employees in Norway are required by law to take a minimum of four weeks of vacation during the course of a calendar year. Employees are entitled to the equivalent of 12% of the previous year’s wages, to compensate for the loss of wages. Holiday pay is paid in full in June. If you have any further questions, please download the document available in the up-right corner for more information.

Registration of holiday
You can apply for holiday through Simployer (where you can also ask for reimbursements and report sick leaves). You must let VISTA know by May 1st how much of your vacation you wish to take out. If we do not hear anything, we will assume that you will take out the full five weeks of vacation. Plan your holiday absence in cooperation with your project manager.

Transfer of holiday days
If you have any vacation days left at the end of the year, you can apply to have these transferred to the next year. The transfer is limited to 10 vacation days. Apply for this through Simployer.

Advance
Generally, you can only get an advance of payment to cover operational costs. We are currently working out an arrangement that will allow scholars to apply for advances in relation to purchasing property.

What about my pension?
Norwegians will automatically get payouts from the Norwegian state when reaching pension age. For foreign workers, it will require a bit more work. VISTA cannot guarantee that the system will not change in the future, but as of now, this is how you should go about it: 1. Keep your Norwegian D-number. This will make it easier for the government to confirm that you indeed worked in Norway. 2. One year before pension age, contact Skatteetaten to update your residential address and other personal information.

About the operational budget

General information
The operational budget is allocated to you on a yearly basis. At the start of every year, the VISTA scholar and the project manager will receive an allocation letter that states the amount available for the year. The budget covers project related expenses such as travel and accommodation in relation to conferences, publishing, necessary equipment, and lab-time. Foreign scholars may also use funds to cover language courses. The budget may also cover expenses for personal equipment that is needed in order to perform the job, such as for instance new glasses. If you are in doubt, please ask the VISTA coordinator.

Budget transfer
If you have not used the full allocated budget one year, and you wish to have these funds transferred to the next year, you will need to apply for a transfer. A justification as to why the funds should be transferred must be provided. The application form is available for download in the up-right corner. Send the application to the VISTA coordinator within December 15.

Who pays for what?
VISTA prefers that you generally pay for travel, conferences, meetings, equipment etc. yourself, and request reimbursements through Simployer. In cases where your university pays, they can send an invoice labeled with your project number to fakturamottak@dnva.no. The same is also the case if you wish that the Academy pays for the invoices directly.

Other useful information

Extension of contract
In cases of parental leave or prolonged illness, the contract will be automatically extended. Apart from that, extensions are rarely granted, except under very special circumstances. You can apply for an extension by using the form available for download in the up-right corner.

The role of the project manager briefly explained
The project manager is responsible for:

Supervising the project
Ensuring that the costs do not exceed allocated funds
Ensuring that the VISTA scholar’s work environment is satisfactory

If there is any overspending due to the accrual of costs, the VISTA coordinator must be informed as soon as possible. Any overspending will be deducted from the next year´s budget. If the spending exceeds the total budget at the end of the project, the host institution will be asked to cover the discrepancy.

Information for administrative staff at the host institution

How do we invoice VISTA for accrued costs on a project?
Please send the invoice to fakturamottak@dnva.no and mark it with the relevant project number. Make sure always to include supporting documents (receipts etc.).

What about the overhead/TDI?
Please send an invoice to fakturamottak@dnva.no and mark it with project number and overhead. As supporting document, please attach the current university-wide TDI-rate. The overhead is calculated as 87,5 % of the current TDI-rate.

Other relevant information
Costs that exceeds 15 000 NOK must be approved by the Project Manager.

Practical information