Conference grant

You apply electronically in Prisma External link, opens in new window., which is the application system used by the Swedish Research Council. You create your application in Prisma by filling in the text fields, uploading information from your personal account, and attaching the appendices requested.

To enable you to apply, your organisation must have been approved as an administrating organisation Opens in new window. and have created an organisation account in Prisma.

For most items in Prisma, there is a user manual External link, opens in new window. describing all the steps, as well as answers to FAQ External link, opens in new window.. Please refer to these when filling in your application. If you cannot find the answer to your technical question, you may contact our Technical Support External link, opens in new window.. It may take one to two working days to get an answer.

Please avoid stating your own or anybody else’s full personal identity number in the application except where specifically requested.

Creating a personal account in Prisma

Before you apply, you must create a personal account in Prisma External link, opens in new window., where you can save your personal and CV data. The information only needs to be entered once, and can thereafter be supplemented or changed as required. As most of the Swedish Research Council’s calls employ foreign reviewers, please use English when entering any descriptive text in you CV data. You can also input your publications for future use. Please note that no publications can currently be uploaded from your account to the application form.

Please allow plenty of time to create your personal account. The applications you register in Prisma will be linked to your personal account.

Any participating administrators must also create their own personal accounts in Prisma, and confirm their participation in the application before the deadline of the call.

Text

Some text fields can be formatted, which means that the font, alignment and font size can be changed in these fields, and that tables and symbols can be inserted. If you insert text written using a word processing program (such as Microsoft Word), you may need to use the tools in Prisma to adjust the formatting after insertion. Images cannot be included in the text fields, however. We recommend that you use the fonts Arial, Calibri or Verdana.

All text fields have a limit on the number of characters, and this is illustrated by a character counter. If you use too many characters, the application cannot be registered.

Attached documents and appendices

You will need to attach an appendix to some fields as instructed. You can only attach documents in PDF format, and the appendix must consist of one file only. If the appendix is made up from several documents, they must therefore be merged into a single file. All appendices are limited as to file size and number of pages. You will not be able to register your application with an appendix that exceeds the stated maximum size.

Signing

Both you as applicant and an authorised representative of the administrating organisation shall sign the application electronically in Prisma. Please see further information under “Registering the application” below.

Please refer to the application form in Prisma in parallel with reading the instructions below.

Language

The application may be written in English or Swedish.

Sections of the application

The application form includes the following tabs:

• Descriptive data
• Description of the conference
• Budget and research resources
• Administrating organisation
• Participants (only administrators in this call)
• CV

Descriptions of the information requested under each tab follow below. Mandatory information is marked with an asterisk (*) in Prisma.

Descriptive data

Under this tab, please fill in the conference name as the project title in Swedish and English, fill in summary information about the conference, and select SCB codes and keywords. Please also mark the subject area to which your application relates.

Please note that the project period will be shown as one (1) month as standard in your application.

Short description of the conference

The summary of the conference description shall include a brief description of

• the name and place of the planned conference
• the date for the conference (year-month-day)
• the justification for the conference
• the web address of the conference.

Description of the conference

Under this tab, please attach your description of the conference in PDF format. The description shall be brief but clear, and shall cover a maximum of four page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing, including references and any images.

The following information must be included in the description under separate headings, listed in the following order:

• Scientific description. Describe the scientific content of the conference.
• Significance. Describe the significance of the conference to the research area. It shall be clearly shown how the conference will benefit the research community and how it promotes international research collaboration and exchange of experience.
• Scientific novelty. Describe how the conference contributes to innovation within the research area.
• Participants. State the expected number of participants and how large a proportion of them are from Sweden.
• Invited speakers. Name the invited speakers and describe briefly their current research activities and scientific merits. State the role(s) and the space allocated to each of the invited speakers (time, any other activities) and whether they have accepted their participation in the conference. Please also state the proportion of men and women respectively among the speakers (at least 40 per cent should be of each gender).
• Programme. State the date of the conference and the preliminary programme, showing the amount of time allocated to each of the speakers. State also how far the planning of the conference has reached.
• Dissemination activities. State how the experiences from the conference will be disseminated.
• Scientific committee. Present briefly the persons included in the scientific committee of the conference.
• Website. If there is no website, please state the reasons for this.

Budget and research resources

Under this tab, please list the costs for and any other funding of the conference. You may apply for a minimum of 30 000 SEK and a maximum of 200 000 SEK, including indirect costs.

Costs

State the travel and accommodation costs for invited speakers active outside Sweden. The following guidelines apply for the costs:

• Travel

Within Europe: maximum 7 000 SEK/person
From North America and Africa: maximum 12 000 SEK/person
From Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and South and Central America: maximum 17 000 SEK/person

• Accommodation

Maximum 1 700 SEK per night/person

Total cost of the conference

Prisma will automatically add up your budget items listed in a table. The total amount you are applying for shall also include any indirect costs. You will have to add these to the table yourself. The administrating organisation’s rules for indirect costs are the ones you shall apply. State 0 SEK if your administrating organisation does not apply indirect costs for this type of grant. In the column “Other costs” you can also add any additional costs covered by the conference (for which you are not seeking funding under this call).

Please contact your HEI for information on what constitutes indirect and direct costs.

Justification of the budget applied for

Justify briefly each cost applied for in the budget stated. The description may cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including blank spaces (approximately half an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing).

Other financing

Describe any other financing for the conference (applied for or granted) besides what you are applying for from the Swedish Research Council. Here you can also state any income from participant fees. Please state rounded amounts in SEK.

Administrating organisation

Under this tab, please state the administrating organisation and project site of the conference. The administrating organisation is the organisation that administers the funds awarded and is responsible for it according to the conditions set. Normally, the administrating organisation and project site correspond to the HEI and the department where the project leader responsible for the conference is employed.

To allow you to link your application to an administrating organisation, the organisation must have an approved account in Prisma. Please contact your administrating organisation and ask it to apply for an organisation account External link, opens in new window. with the Swedish Research Council if it does not already have one.

If your project site is not listed in Prisma, please contact the person responsible for the organisation account at your administrating organisation. You will not be able to finalise the registration of your application if the project site is missing.

Participants

Here you as grant applicant may invite other participating administrators who can help you to input and edit information in your application. Please make sure you use the correct email address linked to the person’s Prisma account. You may invite participating administrators who do not already have an account in Prisma, but in order to participate in your application they must register their own personal accounts in Prisma. All participating administrators must accept the invitation before you can finalise the registration of your application.

Please note that you may not invite any participating researchers in this application.

CV

Under this tab, please upload your relevant CV information from your personal account in Prisma.

The following information, where available, must always be included in your CV, taking into account the stated limitation in numbers:

• Education: First, second and third cycle higher education and specialist degrees.
• Work: Current employment (including whether permanent or not) and longer relevant employment, postdoctoral visits (also included as employment if relevant), research exchanges relevant to the research described and any longer interruptions in the research that have impacted on your opportunity to gain merits as a researcher.
• Merits and awards: Docentship/associate professorships, supervisees (postdoctoral and doctoral students; state the overall number of each category and list the 10 most relevant to you), up to 10 of your most relevant grants awarded in competition, up to 10 of your most relevant prizes and awards, and up to 20 other merits relevant to the application.
• Intellectual property rights: For example, patents and open access computer programs developed by you; state up to 10 of your most relevant.

Registering the application

The tab “Check and register” shows a summary of the fields in your application that you need to adjust in order to register it (such as mandatory fields not filled in, text fields with too many characters, or discrepancies from limits on the possible project period). The registration of your application is not finalised until you click on the “Register” button.

Please make sure you use the preview function before registering your application.

Note: Everybody you have invited in your application must accept the invitation before you can register the application. If an invitation is not accepted, it must be deleted.

The registered application can thereafter be found in your personal Prisma account in the tab “Applications and grants”, under the menu choice “Applications”. Until the deadline for the call, you may de-register, amend and re-register your application again as necessary.

It is your responsibility to ensure the application is complete, that is to say the application form is correctly filled in, the correct appendices are attached and the information requested has been provided according to the instructions. Please only submit material specifically requested. We do not accept any additional information after the deadline, except when specifically requested.

Signing

When you register the application, it is signed by you as project leader. To ensure the application is deemed complete and included in the review process, an authorised representative of the administrating organisation also has to sign the application. The representative is normally the head of the department where the research will be carried out, but this is dependent on your administrating organisation’s structure.

The applicant’s signature confirms that

• the information in the application is correct and complies with the Swedish Research Council’s instructions
• secondary occupations and commercial ties have been reported to the administrating organisation and that nothing has emerged that breaches good research practice
• the permits and approvals required have been obtained before the research is started, such as permits from the Swedish Medical Products Agency or approval from an ethical review board or an ethical committee on animal experiments
• the applicant will comply with all other conditions applicable to the grant.

The signature of the administrating organisation confirms that

• the research or research-supporting activities described can be given room at the administrating organisation during the period and to the extent stated in the application
• the applicant will be employed by the administrating organisation during the period covered by the application
• the administrating organisation approves of the budget in the application
• the administrating organisation will comply with all other conditions applicable to the grant.

The above points shall have been discussed by the parties before the representative of the administrating organisation approves and signs the application.

Note: The authorised representative of the administrating organisation must sign the application in Prisma no later than one week (seven calendar days) after the call deadline date in order for the application to be considered further in the review process.

Scientific quality is the fundamental criterion when the Swedish Research Council allocates grants to research. Your application is evaluated in competition with the other applications on the basis of the following evaluation criteria.

The application is evaluated on how the conference would promote international research collaboration and exchange of experience, to what extent the conference would contribute to innovation in the research area, and what scientific significance it would have.

Evaluation process

Your application is evaluated by a review panel where the members are Swedish researchers. The panel members are active researchers from the areas of natural and engineering sciences, medicine and health, humanities and social sciences, educational sciences and artistic research.

At least two members review and grade your application individually. In case a panel member has a conflict of interest and fewer than two members are able to evaluate the application, it will also be evaluated by an external reviewer. The entire review panel then meets at a review panel meeting to discuss and prioritise the applications, and finally to make a proposal for a decision to the Director General.

The applications receive a final statement consisting of an overall grade.

Evaluation criteria and guiding questions

The evaluation of the scientific quality of your application is made based on three criteria – Novelty and originality, Scientific quality, and an Overall grade from the above mentioned criteria. The criteria are assessed on a seven-grade scale.

For each criterion, there are guiding questions to support the panel members’ evaluation of your application. These can also function as guidance for you when you write your application.

Novelty and originality (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent and in what way does the conference promote innovation within the research area (such as use and implementation of new and existing methods, ways of approaching theoretical and scientific questions)?

Scientific quality (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• Is the purpose clearly stated?
• What is the expected scientific impact of the conference?
• Are the invited speakers, active outside Sweden, recognised researchers with high-level scientific competence?
• How are invited speakers given the space to contribute with their expertise in addition to their lectures?
• Is the dissemination of the scientific contribution of the conference ensured?
  

Overall grade (1–7)

The above subsidiary criteria are weighed together into an overall grade, which reflects the review panel’s joint evaluation of the application’s scientific quality.

Guiding questions:

• What is the overall evaluation of the expected scientific and international gain from the conference?

Review panel Opens in new window.

The Swedish Research Council’s conflict of interest policy Opens in new window.

The Swedish Research Council’s gender equality strategy Opens in new window.

When you have registered your application and the call closes (at 14.00/2 pm on the deadline date of the call), the registration of your application is automatically finalised and it is given a registration number.

Your registered application is automatically forwarded to the representative of the administrating organisation for signature in Prisma. The application must be signed by the administrating organisation no later than one week (seven calendar days) after the deadline. You will receive an email when the application has been signed.

Thereafter you will find information about the status of the application, registration number and signature of the application in your account in Prisma, under the tab “Applications and grants”.

Evaluation

The scientific evaluation of the application is carried out by active researchers. These peer reviewers evaluate the application in competition with the other applications on the basis of the evaluation criteria set by the Swedish Research Council (read more under “How your application is assessed”).

If an application is not completed according to the instructions, this will be weighed into the evaluation.

Decision

Shortly after the grant decision has been made, a notice of the grant awards will be published on the Swedish Research Council’s website. You will thereafter find a notice of the decision and a final statement on your application in your personal account in Prisma, under the tab “Applications and grants”. The statement consists of a grading and, in some cases, written comments.