The Norwegian Research Fund for General Practice was established in 2007. Grants from the fund are distributed twice a year, based on applications from general practitioners aiming for a ph.d. degree. The researchers are required to have an academic base with a qualified counsellor, mainly at the institutes of general practice in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim or Tromsø.
The fund grants are set in the annual negotiations between the Ministry of Health and the Norwegian Medical Association concerning fees for general practitioners. Scholarships amount to about 18 million NOK annually and support roughly 25 scholarships at any given time.