Swedish Research Links - utlysning för samarbete med utvecklingsländer

The Swedish Research Links Programme offers international collaborative research grants, aiming to foster research ties between researchers in Sweden and selected countries.

The long-term aim of the programme is to contribute to mutual scientific and socioeconomic development of the countries involved through funding for support to collaborative research projects of high scientific quality and mutual relevance. The programme is open to researchers in basic and applied research within all academic disciplines.

The Swedish Research Links Programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and administered by the Swedish Research Council.

Conditions

Applicant


Applicants for International Collaborative Grant are individual researchers who serve as the project leaders and have the scientific responsibility for the project. The application must include at least two principal researchers: one affiliated to a university or research institution in Sweden and one affiliated to a university or research institution in a programme country. Researchers must be citizens or have permanent residence in the qualifying countries. If more than one programme country outside Sweden is involved, each must be represented by a principal researcher. If the space on the application form is insufficient to include everyone, the additional principal investigators can be mentioned in the research programme (Appendix A).
Co-workers are those researchers, with a doctoral degree, most relevant to the implementation of the proposed project.
 

Programme countries


Sweden and the following countries:
  • Asia: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam.
  • Middle East and North Africa (MENA region): Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinian adm. areas, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen.
  • Africa: Botswana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia  
  • Latin America: Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua
  • Europe:  Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldavia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine
 

Required qualifications


You must hold a Swedish doctoral degree, or equivalent foreign degree, awarded no later than the closing date for applications in this call.

Grant period


International Collaborative Grants are awarded for maximum three years. You can apply for up to SEK 250,000 a year and the grant period is 2012-2014.

Costs and grant amount


The grant can be used to cover joint activities, such as research visits between the partners, seminars, workshops and joint publishing. Minor project costs may also be funded at a maximum of SEK 50,000. The grant may not be used for salaries and scholarships.

Administration


The grant is normally administered by a Swedish university or higher education institution, or another public organisation in Sweden engaged in research (administrative entity).

Employer and terms of employment


Project leaders of grants financed by the Swedish Research Council must be employed by the administrative entity, unless the Swedish Research Council and the administrative entity agree otherwise. However, you do not need to be employed at the time you submit your application. If the project leader has another employer, the employer must approve his/her participation. By signing Appendix S, the administrative entity´s representative confirms its commitment.

Application content


The application, which should be written in English, must contain the following:
  • Summary
  • Popular science description
  • Budget information
  • Research programme (Appendix A)
  • CV (Appendix B)
  • Publication list (Appendix C)
  • Detailed budget (Appendix G)
  • Relevance for poverty reduction (Appendix a9)
  • Signatures (Appendix S)

Summary


The summary of the research programme should contain a brief description of:
  • what will be done in terms of collaborative research
  • how the collaborative research will be conducted
  • what has been done previously
  • what may be the impact and added value of the collaborative project

The text should quickly orient the reader to the purpose and implementation of the research. Write in a style that allows people from other research backgrounds to easily comprehend the information. Fill in the summary on the form in the online application system VR-Direct.
 

Popular science description


Describe the project in a popular science style so that even those who are not familiar with the topic can understand.
  • Describe what will be done and why.
  • Explain in what way the new knowledge can be important.
  • How international collaboration can contribute to this field of knowledge.

The popular science description is an important tool when the Swedish Research Council informs others about the research we finance. If we award funding for your application we have the right to use the description for informational purposes.   Fill in the popular science description on the form in the application system. The popular science description as well as your address should be written in Swedish.

Budget information


Indicate the amount including both direct and indirect project-related costs. All indirect costs included in the overhead cost must be accounted for in an audit. Please note that high overhead costs may result in the project being regarded as not cost-effective, which may affect its priority ranking.

Fill in the budget information on the form provided in the application system. Note: Use thousand Swedish kronor (SEK 1000s) to indicate the amounts.

Research programme (Appendix A)


Appendix A must present a brief but complete description of the collaborative research objective (maximum of eight A4 pages, including references). Please note that any pages beyond the number allowed will not be considered in the evaluation.
The research programme, including other appendices, should be written in English since the Swedish Research Council uses international reviewers.

The research programme must include the following information, under separate headings:

  • Purpose and aims. Present the overall purpose and specific goals of the collaborative research project.
  • Survey of the field. Summarise your own and others´ research and previous findings in the research field. Provide key references.
  • Project description and mode of cooperation. Summarise the collaborative project´s design. Describe theory, methods, implementation and timetable. The timetable should provide an overview of the cooperation and a plan for travels and meetings.
  • Significance. Describe the project´s significance to the research field.
  • Preliminary results. Describe your own experiments and prestudies in the research field.
  • Part of project cost. Indicate the percentage of the total project cost that you are requesting from the Swedish Research Council, per year.
  • Budget. Motivate shortly each post in your budget.

Present the following under a special heading, if relevant to the application:

  • Equipment. Describe the basic equipment for the project that you and your group have at your disposal.
  • Ethical considerations. Present the ethical issues that the project (or equivalent) faces, and describe how they will be addressed in your research.
  • Other grants. Describe funding awarded to other participating researchers (those listed on the application form) and list any grants requested from other funders of importance to the project. If you intend to seek multiple project research grants, or have been awarded project research grants from any areas of the Swedish Research Council, the research programme must clarify the relationship between these projects. Describe your motivation for submitting one or more additional applications.

CV/Scientific qualifications (Appendix B)


You must submit a CV for yourself and any co-workers (maximum of two A4 pages per CV). List your publications separately in Appendix C. Specify under the following numbered headlines, in this order:
  1. Higher education degree(s) (year, subject area)
  2. Doctoral degree (year, discipline/subject area, dissertation title, and supervisor).
  3. Postdoctoral work (year and placement).
  4. Qualifications as research fellow/associate professor (year).
  5. Current position, period of appointment, share of time spent in research.
  6. Previous positions and periods of appointment (specify type of position).
  7. Interruptions in research. Indicate if active research time has been interrupted to the extent that it affected the opportunity to acquire qualifications, e.g. by parental leave, illness, clinical internship/residency, positions of trust in trade union organisations and student organisations, or other similar reasons. Specify the reason(s) and give the time and dates of the interruption.
  8. Individuals who have completed their doctoral degree under your supervision (name, year of disputation [i.e. oral public defence of PhD thesis]) or postdoctoral period under your main supervision.

Lastly, provide other information of importance to the application. Items that do not apply to you should be left blank.

Publication list (Appendix C)


Attach a list of the principal applicants´ publications for the past 8 years, marking the five most important publications with an asterisk (*).   Categorise the publications under the numbered headings, in the following order:
  1. Peer-reviewed articles
  2. Peer-reviewed conference contributions (the results of which are not presented in other publications)
  3. Review articles, book chapters, books
  4. Patents (give date and registration)
  5. Open access computer programs that you have developed
  6. Popular science articles/presentations

Note! Include only articles (or equivalent) that have been published or accepted for publication.

Detailed budget (Appendix G)

 
Specify the budget for the collaborative project under the headings specified below. The budget must cover both parties´ costs. Indirect administrative costs must be accounted for in an audit. Funding from other sources should be listed in the online form.
  1. Total costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence allowance.
  2. Total costs of the organisation for project-related seminars and workshops.
  3. Total costs of co-authored publications.
  4. Total costs of minor items of equipment and consumables (maximum SEK 50,000 for the whole collaborative project).
  5. Other costs

Relevance for poverty reduction (Appendix 9a)


Describe the collaborative project´s relevance for poverty reduction, maximum 2 pages.

Signatures (Appendix S)


Appendix S is generated automatically when you register your application.   Print out Appendix S and sign it. Appendix S must also be signed by the department head (or equivalent) of the institution where the research will be conducted.

The signatures confirm that:

  • the described research, position, and equipment will be allocated space in the institution during the time and extent described in the research programme
  • the institution approves the cost estimate presented in the application
  • you have reported your side-line occupations and commercial ties, and nothing has emerged that would conflict with good research practice necessary permission and approval have been granted to the project, e.g. regarding ethical review.

You must discuss the above points with the representative of the administrative entity before he/she approves and signs the application. The administrative entity is responsible for assuring that the project complies with the terms and conditions established by Swedish legislation.  

Send Appendix S by regular mail to the Swedish Research Council.  Remember! For the Swedish applicants: Appendix S, complete with signatures, must be received by the Swedish Research Council not later than 3 working days after the closing date for applications. International applicants: signed Appendix S must be received by the Swedish Research Council before 10th of October.

You will find the address and closing date for applications in the section, “When and how to apply".

Instructions for applying


Apply electronically via the Swedish Research Council´s application system (VR-Direct) by completing an application form. On each page of the appendices, enter your name, personal identity number, and appendix designation. Send Appendix S (paper form), complete with signatures, to the Swedish Research Council.
  • You are responsible for the completeness of the application, i.e. that all application forms and appendices are filled in properly. The Swedish Research Council does not process incomplete applications. Failure to comply with the instructions will be taken into account in the evaluation.
  • We do not accept additional information after the closing date for applications (apart from such information that we expressly request).
  • If funding from another funding body is awarded for the same or similar purpose described in this application, notify the Swedish Research Council as soon as possible.
  • Attach only the material that we expressly request. Other material, e.g. letters of recommendation or offprints will not be evaluated.
  • You may submit only one application for each project.
  • In the application, list as co-workers the persons that are most relevant for implementing the proposed project.
  • If the space on the application form is insufficient to include everyone, the additional contributors can be mentioned in the research programme (Appendix A).
  • Write the application including the appendices in English since the Swedish Research Council may need to use international reviewers. The obligatory popular science description and your address should be written in Swedish. Write the project title in both Swedish and English.
  • Write the appendices in A4 format, using a 25 mm margin and Times New Roman 12 font. When we print out the applications, we use a resolution of 200-300 dpi and possibly gray scale. Hence, you should adapt your images to that standard. Remember that the pdf files must not be password protected.
  • The application form automatically requests the required appendices.

General terms and conditions for applications


It is important for you to become familiar with the Swedish Research Council´s general terms and conditions regarding grant applications. Read more about the general terms and conditions for applicants:

Ethical guidelines
Public access
Open access
Commercial interests
Collaborating to construct and phase out databases
Misconduct in research

Reporting and audit requirements


The principal researchers will be responsible for scientific and financial reporting to the financers of the programme. They will also be responsible for the technical and administrative coordination of the project.

The principal researchers must assist and cooperate with the Swedish Research Council in performing audits, follow-ups and evaluations, and in providing any other information that the programme agencies may request, including records and documents.

An audit shall be conducted by an authorised auditor not later than three (3) months after the project contract´s end date. Swedish public authorities and public universities can use their internal auditors if these are independent and authorised (Certified Internal Auditor, Swedish National Audit Officer or FAR). The economic report shall clearly show the project´s financial status. Unused project funds must be reimbursed to the Swedish Research Council.

Counteracting corruption


The administrating authority and the recipients of project funding shall cooperate to counteract corruption during project activities. If necessary the programme administrating authority shall commission investigations and when necessary even act to take legal actions against a person or persons if there is strong suspicion of corruption.

The administrating authority shall immediately inform Sida of illegal or corrupt activities or other misuse of project funding in planned activities.
 

Evaluation and decisions


Active researchers conduct the scientific evaluation of applications. Using the assessment criteria of the Swedish Research Council and the ones listed below, these researchers evaluate your application in competition with other applications.
  • The degree to which the applicants have been able to describe their proposed collaboration and the likelihood of its being successful and continuing beyond the grant period
  • The value of the research to equitable and sustainable development of society and/or to poverty reduction
  • The level of balance and mutuality between the partners based on the scientific merits of the co-applicants
  • Potential for scientifically significant outcomes

On your application form, state evaluation panel SRL2011 for the review of your application.
Addressing conflicts of interest at the Swedish Research Council

Decisions


During November 2011, the Swedish Research Council will publish its funding decisions on the website. Decisions and comments will be sent to all applicants.

Disbursement of awarded funds will begin during January 2012.

When and how to apply


Submit your application electronically via the application system no later than 12:00 midnight (24.00) on Tuesday, September 6th 2011. The Swedish Research Council is open until 4 p.m. (16.00) on the closing date for applications. You are responsible for the completeness of your application.  

Send Appendix S (paper form), complete with signatures, to the address below. For the Swedish applicants: signed Appendix S must be received by the Swedish Research Council not later than 3 working days after the closing date for applications. International applicants: signed Appendix S must be received by the Swedish Research Council before 10th of October.

Swedish Research Council
SRL
Box 1035
101 38 Stockholm

Contacts

Questions about application content


Britta Radeloff, phone: 08-546 44 210, e-mail: britta.radeloff@vr.se
Elin Swedenborg, phone: 08-546 44 296, e-mail: elin.swedenborg@vr.se

Technical questions


If you experience technical problems with VR-Direct, please contact: vrdirectHS@vr.se  
In the subject line, please write the subject area that your question addresses. To acknowledge that we received your question, we will send you confirmation by e-mail.
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Senast uppdaterad: 2011-08-26

Information

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2011-09-06
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