Complaint regulations

1. Who has a right to complain?
Any applicant who has had his/her application completely or partly rejected, has a right to file an appeal with SIU should the applicant feel that the rejection is based on a procedural mistake, abuse of authority, or obvious misinterpretation of the contents of the application. Procedural matters cannot constitute the subject of a complaint unless the actual decision is contested. The academic assessment or discretion applied cannot form the basis of a complaint.

2. What constitutes a legitimate basis for complaint?
SIU may consider whether a rejection appears to have been affected by non-compliance with the procedural rules laid down in chapters 2 and 3 of the Norwegian Public Administration Act , non-compliance with SIU’s internal procedural rule, or whether the rejection is invalid due to a breach of public administration rules relating to the abuse of authority.

• Procedural mistakes: non-compliance with the general rules laid down in chapters 2 and 3 of the Norwegian Public Administration Act, or SIU’s internal procedures for handling applications for funds. With respect to the latter, reference is made to SIU’s regulations of 13th June regarding the administration’s examination and submission of applications, and grounds for complete or part rejection of applications for individual support or project funding.
• Abuse of authority: non-compliance with normal requirements concerning objectivity, or unreasonably differential treatment.

3. What cannot form the basis of a complaint?
The academic assessment or discretion on which the Programme Committee based their decision, cannot form the basis of a complaint.

4. Filing a complaint
The grounds for complaint shall be set out in writing and addressed to SIU. The complaint shall refer to the decision which is the subject of the appeal and the desired changes to this decision. The complaint must provide details of the mistakes which the complainant feels give grounds for nullifying the decision pursuant to section 2.

5. Deadline for filing a complaint
The deadline for filing a complaint is three weeks from the date on which the Programme Committee’s answer was forwarded to the applicant or the applicant institution.

6. Who will consider the complaint?
SIU’s administration will submit the complaint to the relevant Programme Committee. Should the committee choose to change their decision, the complainant will be notified of this. Should the committee find no reason to change their decision, the case will be forwarded to SIU’s Board of Directors with details of the matter at hand, and an account of why the Programme Committee feel the complaint should be disallowed.

The SIU Directors process complaints on the basis of written evidence, including the relevant application, the decision issued by the Programme Committee, and the written complaint. If SIU’s Board of Directors should find that the rejection is encumbered with mistakes to the effect that it must be considered invalid, they will nullify the decision and order the Programme Committee to re-process the application. The complainant will be notified of the outcome of the SIU Directors’ deliberations.

SIU’s Board of Directors is the ultimate body of appeal and their decision is final.

Complaints filed with SIU shall be processed as quickly as possible. Total processing time for complaints shall never exceed 10 weeks.

A. The administration’s examination and submission of applications

A.1. The administration’s examination of formal requirements relating to the application
Applications forwarded to a Programme Committee shall be examined by the administration on receipt at SIU. Applications which fail to fulfill the necessary and advertised formal requirements, such as missing signature(s) or necessary appendices, missed submission deadlines etc., shall be returned to the applicant.

Whenever an application is returned to the applicant, the reason for returning it must be stated.

A.2. The administration’s submission of applications
The administration shall submit applications to the individual Programme Committees with the following attachments:

1. A brief introduction detailing the subject of each application.
2. A recommendation which prepares and provides grounds for a proposed decision on the matter (the application).

The decision proposed by the administration shall provide the Programme Committee with information. Should the Programme Committee decide to reject an application or reduce the amount applied for, this decision shall be based on one or more of the circumstances set out below.

B. Grounds for rejecting applications for individual support or project funding

B.1. Written explanation detailing the grounds for rejecting an application for individual support or project funding
Unsuccessful applicants for individual support or project funding from SIU’s Programme Committees are entitled to a written explanation detailing the reasons why their application was turned down in part or in full. Relevant grounds for rejection are:

• The application is worthy of support, but cannot be implemented in its entirety and will have to be scaled down.
• The application is worthy of support, but in competition with other relevant projects, the application cannot be prioritised within the current financial framework.
• The application cannot be supported as its area of interest falls outwith or is peripheral to the Programme’s aims and objectives.
• The application cannot be supported because the application has been given a low priority by the submitting institution/s, or has been given a low rating by external colleagues or the relevant Programme Committee.
• The application cannot be supported by SIU’s administration. This applies if the Programme Committee has authorised the administration to decide the outcome of individual applications.

Decisions are made by the Programme Committee after considering the administration’s submission, including their proposed decision, which must be related to one or more of the above elements. In special cases the Programme Committe may arrive at a decision based on other grounds than the above. If so, this must be made clear in the Board’s answer.

Any unsuccessful applicant, be it in part or in full, shall receive a response in writing with details of the grounds for rejection or reduction of the amount applied for. The explanation shall briefly state the main points on which the rejection is based and must be forwarded to the applicant or the applicant institution/s at the same time as the information about the outcome of the application process.

B.2. Further details on request
SIU aims to offer applicants an opportunity to request further details of the deliberations on which a rejection was based. When requested, SIU will consider which procedure would be best for providing such details: a conversation with the case officer, forwarding submitted comments, or any other procedure. When considering the scope and detail of such communications, it is important to ensure that the information provided will be useful for the applicants should they decide to amend and re-submit their application in the future.

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