Grant for Half-time Position in Clinical Research

The grant is intended for those employed in health services. The aim is to enable the grant recipient to conduct research half time and concurrently hold half-time employment to develop clinical expertise in a clinical setting financed by provider organisations (e.g. county councils). Work distribution between research and other clinical activity during the year is established by agreement between the individual researcher, the clinical unit/department, and the provider organisation.

These positions are intended to be a step in the career of independent, established researchers, near or at the level of research fellow/associate professor, who are in an active research phase and who provide doctoral or postdoctoral supervision.

The following areas are calling for grant applications:

• Medicine (without special subject orientation)
• Odontology/dentistry
• Psychiatry
• Care sciences

Conditions

Applicant

Required qualifications

You are eligible to apply for a grant for half-time position in clinical research if you have received your doctorate within the past 10 years. Hence, to be eligible to apply in 2011 you must have been awarded your doctorate in 2001 or later. We relate the date of the doctorate to the calendar year, not to the closing date for applications.

Even if you were awarded your doctoral degree earlier, you could be considered if special circumstances interrupted your period of active research. “Special circumstances" refer to leave due to illness, military service, positions of trust in trade union organisations and student organisations, parental leave, or other similar circumstances. Medical residency (up to 24 months) and a maximum of 24 months of continuing education/specialist training for categories of clinically active professionals are other reasons for deducting time. However, the maximum accumulated period of active research may not exceed 10 years.

If you request a time deduction, you must clearly specify in your CV the reasons, dates, and amount of time to be deducted. We may ask you for additional information to support your request.

Grant period

Costs and grant amount

Administration

Starting with the 2011 round of applications, we will check to confirm that the project leader has submitted a final financial report from every previous grant received. If a final financial report is missing, the 2011 application will not be processed.

Employer and terms of employment

Application content

• Summary
• Popular science description
• Research programme (Appendix A)
• CV (Appendix B)
• Publication list (Appendix C)
• Signatures (Appendix S)

Summary

• what will be done
• how the research will be conducted, what scientific methods will be used
• what has been done previously
• what is important about the planned research.

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 application system.

Popular science description

• Describe what will be done and why.
• Emphasise the basic research.
• Explain in what way the new knowledge can be important.

The popular science description, which must be written in Swedish, 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.

Research programme (Appendix A)

The research programme, and other appendixes, should be written in English since the Swedish Research Council uses international reviewers. Write your address in Swedish and the project title in both Swedish and English.

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

• Purpose and aims. Present the overall purpose and specific goals of the research project (or equivalent).
• Survey of the field. Summarise your own and others´ research and previous findings in the research field. Provide key references.
• Project description. Summarise the project´s design. Describe theory, methods, timetable, implementation, and the roles of any associates in the project.
• Significance. Describe the project´s significance for health and medical services.
• Preliminary results. Describe your own experiments and pre-studies in the research field.
• Implementation. Explain how the results of the project will be of practical use for medicine and health.

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.
• International and national collaboration. Describe the collaboration that you and your group have with foreign and Swedish researchers and research groups. Report on international collaboration that you participate in, or are associated with, through your research. You may use Project Research Grants from the Swedish Research Council to co-finance EU projects with corresponding orientations within the Seventh Framework Programme. If you are planning such collaboration, account for this in the research programme.
• Ethical considerations. Present the ethical issues that the project (or equivalent) faces, and describe how they will be addressed in your research.
• Independent research profile. To facilitate evaluation of independence (if you will be working in a larger group), clarify how your project relates to the other projects in the group. If you are continuing with a project that fully or partially commenced during your doctoral education, you must describe the parts that are your own research and how they relate to the research of your previous supervisor.
• Other grants. Specify any grants awarded and also grants you have applied for from other funding bodies that will have significance for the project.

CV/Scientific qualifications (Appendix B)

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. Specialist certification, or equivalent (year).
6. Current position, period of appointment, share of time spent in research.
7. Previous positions and periods of appointment (specify type of position). Indicate here you have held a postdoctoral position and, if so, in which subject area.
8. Interruption in research. Indicate if your active research time has been interrupted to the extent that it affected your 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 reasons and give the dates and length of the interruption.
9. Individuals who have completed their doctoral degree under your supervision (name, year of disputation [i.e. oral public defence of PhD thesis]).
10. Students for whom you have been the primary supervisor (name, time period).

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

Publication list (Appendix C)

Mark your five most important publications with a single 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
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.

Signatures (Appendix S)

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 period indicated in the project plan
• 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! 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.

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 appendixes, 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 appendixes 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 and type of grant.
• Specify the higher education institution (or equivalent) at which you will conduct your work.
• The application and appendixes should be written in English since the Swedish Research Council may need to use international reviewers. The obligatory popular science description and your address must be written in Swedish. Write the project title in both Swedish and English.
• Write the appendixes in A4 format, using a 25mm margin and Times New Roman 12 font. When we print out the applications, we use a resolution of 200-300 dpi and possibly greyscale. 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 appendixes.

General terms and conditions for applications

Evaluation and decisions

On your application form, state your preference for the evaluation panel (or panels, by order of priority) to review your application. You may suggest up to three evaluation panels. Ultimately, it is the Swedish Research Council that determines which panel will review your application.
 
Evaluation panels
Addressing conflicts of interest at the Swedish Research Council

In late October or early November 2011 the Swedish Research Council will publish its funding decision on the website. Information about the decision and related comments will be sent to all applicants.

Disbursement of awarded funds will begin in January 2012 at the earliest.

When and how to apply

You are responsible for the completeness of your application.

Send Appendix S (paper form), complete with signatures, to the address below. Appendix S must be received by the Swedish Research Council not later than 3 working days after the closing date for applications.

Swedish Research Council
MH
Box 1035
101 38 Stockholm
 
Please note!
Previously we have experienced overload problems in our application system during the final days before the application deadline. Hence, we encourage you to submit your application in good time.

Contact

Questions about application content

Technical questions