Research project grant: Bilateral agreement South Korea-Sweden for access to national research infrastructures

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. This is because the publications function is under development and not yet used in the Swedish Research Council’s calls. You should therefore submit your publications list as an attached PDF file instead (please see instructions under “Publications” below).

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

All other persons participating in your application must also create a personal account in Prisma and confirm their participation. Thereafter they can add their data to the application via their personal accounts.

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

Foreign experts may be involved in the scientific evaluation of the applications. To ensure fair and equitable assessment and efficient processing, please therefore complete your application in English.

Sections of the application

The application form includes the following tabs:

• Descriptive data
• Research description
• Budget and research resources
• Publications
• Administrating organisation
• Review panels
• Participants
• 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 Swedish and English project title and select SCB codes and key words. Please also fill in the abstract and popular science description as instructed below.

Abstract

The abstract shall include a brief description of

• what is to be done: purpose and aim
• how the research will be carried out: project organisation, time plan and the scientific methods to be used
• what is important about the planned research.

The abstract shall provide a summary guide to the purpose and implementation of the research. Please use wording to ensure persons with another subject specialisation can understand the information.

The description may cover a maximum of 1 500 characters including blank spaces (approximately one third of an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing).

Popular science description

Describe the project in such a way that a person who is not familiar with the subject can understand it. Describe what is to be done and why, and explain in what way the new knowledge may be important.

The popular science description is an important tool when we inform about the research funded by the Swedish Research Council. If we grant your application, we reserve the right to use the description for information purposes.

Note: The popular science description must be written in Swedish, unlike the rest of the application.

The description may cover a maximum of 4 500 characters including blank spaces (approximately one A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing).

Research description

Under this tab, please attach your research plan and describe any ethical considerations and their relevance to the focus area.

Ethical considerations

Your application shall describe the ethical issues raised by the project or corresponding. You must also describe how you plan to address ethical dilemmas that may arise. Please justify why the research should be carried out against the background of the ethical issues identified. How do your research questions and expected results measure up in relation to the ethical issues? Please also state whether the research involves any handling of personal data, or experiments on animals or human subjects. If no ethical issues are raised, please state this.

Research plan

Please attach your research plan in PDF format. The research plan shall consist of a brief but complete description of the research task. The focus of the research plan shall be forward-looking, and it shall cover a maximum of four page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing, including references and any images.

The research plan must include the following headings and information, listed in the following order:

• Purpose and aims: State the overall purpose and specific goals of the research project.
• Preliminary and previous results: Describe briefly your own previous research and pilot studies within the research area that make it probable that the project will be feasible. State also if no preliminary results exist. State whether the project contributes further to research and scientific results from a grant awarded previously by the Swedish Research Council.
• Project description: Describe the project design, including the following items:
  • Theory and method: Describe the underlying theory and the methods to be applied in order to reach the project goal.
  • Time plan and implementation: Describe summarily the time plan for the project during the grant period, and how the project will be implemented.

• Need for infrastructure: Specify how the project will utilise South Korean national research infrastructure. Specify also the need for local infrastructure, if depreciation costs for this is included in the application.

Provide the following information also. If a heading is not relevant to your application, please leave it blank.

• Equipment: Describe the basic equipment you and your team have at your disposal for the project.
• Other applications or grants: Please describe how opportunities in this application supports ongoing activities. This includes ongoing grants from the Swedish Research Council with grant periods and concept that wholly or partly overlap with the grant you are now applying for. Describe also the relationship with other applications to or grants from other funding bodies for the same project concept (from you or another researcher). If your application to the Swedish Research Council relates to the same project concept as a grant you have already been awarded, or are applying for to another funding body, the added value of accessing the Korean national research infrastructure should be described.

Letter of support

Please attach a letter of support in PDF format. The letter shall be signed by a representative of the Korean National Research Infrastructure authorising that the project can be accommodated at the facility under the circumstances outlined in the research plan. The support letter should comprise a maximum of two pages.

Budget and research resources

Under this tab, please list personnel costs, other costs and any other funding of the project.

Project staff

State the activity level/dedicated time (per cent of a full-time equivalent) of all personnel active within the project, that is to say yourself, any other researchers and other personnel.

Please also state the salary you are applying for, for yourself and/or other personnel active within the project, both as a percentage of a full-time salary and as actual annual amounts (including social security contributions). Please state rounded amounts in SEK.

NOTE: Salary costs (including social security costs) cannot exceed your activity level in the project and is limited to 50% of the net project costs, i.e. before adding indirect costs.

Please state rounded amounts in SEK.

Other costs

Describe any other costs of the project including premises, running costs (such as consumables, travel including stays at research facilities, publication costs and minor equipment), and depreciation costs. Grants may not be used for scholarships. If a doctoral student participates, project funds may not be paid out as salary for the period when the doctoral student is teaching.

You may include depreciation costs for equipment to be used in the project, provided that

• the equipment has an economic life of at least three years
• the equipment has an acquisition value exceeding a certain amount (please contact your administrating organisation for information about the amount that applies to your HEI)
• the equipment needs for your proposed project cannot be satisfied through use of national or international infrastructure open to all.

You may only include the proportion of depreciation costs that corresponds to the use of the equipment in the proposed project. You may not include depreciation costs for equipment that is wholly financed via other grants. Please contact your HEI for information about what is included in local research infrastructure, acquisition values or how to calculate depreciation costs.

Total project cost

Prisma will automatically add up your budget items listed in a table. The total amount you are applying for shall also include indirect costs. You will have to add these to the table yourself. Here you can also add any additional costs covered by the project (for which you are not seeking funding under this call).

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

Explanation of the proposed budget

Justify briefly each cost applied for in the budget stated. The description may cover a maximum of 4 000 characters including blank spaces (approximately one A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing).

Other funding

Please state any funding for the project received or applied for by you or another researcher, in excess of the amount requested in this application. Please state rounded amounts in SEK.

Publications

Under this tab, please attach your and any participating researchers’ publications lists in PDF format to your respective fields.

Applicant’s publications list

Please attach your publications list drawn up according to the headings and information below. The list shall cover a maximum of five page-numbered A4 pages, 5 MB in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

1. Selection of publications:

List the maximum ten publications of greatest importance to your application. For each publication, please state how you contributed to it, and its relevance to the research project described (maximum four lines per publication). Highlight your name in bold in the author list.

2. Relevant publications from the last eight years:

Sort the publications, with your name highlighted in bold in the author list, under each heading (publication type) in the following order:

• Peer-reviewed original articles
• Peer-reviewed conference contributions, the results of which are not included in other publications.
• Peer-reviewed edited volumes
• Research review articles
• Peer-reviewed books and book chapters
• Other publications including popular science books/presentations

Note: Please sort the publications under each heading in reverse chronological order, so that the latest publication is at the top of the list. Please only include articles or corresponding that are published or accepted for publication at the time of applying. The author order in the publications list shall be identical to that of the published work. The application cannot be supplemented with publications after the deadline for the call.

Participating researchers’ publications lists

Attach all participating researchers’ publications lists joined up into one file. The list for each researcher shall include a maximum of ten publications, in the form of the most relevant publications for the research described, and shall cover a maximum of one A4 page. The name of the researcher in question shall be highlighted in bold and also be included in the page header of each list.

The publications shall be of the type: Peer-reviewed original articles, conference contributions, edited volumes, research review articles, books and book chapters, and other publications including popular science books/presentations.

Note: Please only include articles or corresponding that are published or accepted for publication at the time of applying. The author order in the publications list shall be identical to that of the published work. The application cannot be supplemented with publications after the deadline for the call.

Administrating organisation

Under this tab, please state the administrating organisation and project site. The administrating organisation is the organisation that administers the grant awarded and is responsible for it according to the conditions set. The project site is the organisational unit where the project is carried out. Normally, the administrating organisation and project site correspond to the HEI and the department where the project leader 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 location is missing.

Review panels

Under this tab, please request the review panel or panels (in priority order) that you wish to carry out the scientific evaluation of your application. The final allocation of applications is determined by the Swedish Research Council.

Review panels

Participants

Under this tab, you as applicant may invite other participating researchers and participating administrators to your application. A participating administrator is a person who is not necessarily part of the project, but who can help you to input and edit information in the application.

When inviting participants, please make sure you use the correct email address linked to the person’s Prisma account. You may invite participants 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 participants must accept their invitation, and participating researchers must upload their CV data to the application before you can finalise the registration of the application.

Once a participating researcher has accepted your invitation, you can allocate authority to him/her to edit the application.

CV

Under this tab, please upload your relevant CV information from your personal account in Prisma. Any participating researchers must upload their own CV information to the application.

The following information, where available, must always be included in each 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 professorship, 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. Under “Other merits”, you may state any other relevant merits, such as invited talks and similar.
• 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, discrepancies from limits on the possible budget applied for). 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. Before registration, all participating researchers must also upload their CV information from their own personal accounts in Prisma.

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, a registered application may be de-registered, amended and re-registered 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 activity 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.

Your application will be reviewed the Swedish Research Councils advisory panels for research infrastructure that is most relevant to the project.

Review panels

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.

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.

Evaluation process

Your proposal will be evaluated by members from one of the infrastructure advisory panels.

At least three members will review and grade your application individually The Director General of the Swedish Research Council will make the final funding decision based on the reviews. You will receive an individual final statement that reflects the assessment of the application.

Evaluation criteria and guiding questions

The evaluation of the scientific quality of your application is made based on five basic criteria (Novelty and originality, Scientific quality of the project, Merits of the applicant, Feasibility). The purpose of using several components is to achieve a multi-faceted evaluation. The criteria are assessed on a seven-grade scale, except for feasibility, which is assessed on a three-grade grade scale.

In addition to the basic criteria, your application is also evaluated using an additional criterion (Relevance to the call) 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.

Relevance (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• Does the proposal meet the general scope of the call, i.e. access to Korean national research infrastructure?
• Does the project utilize capabilities not readily available to the Swedish research community?
• Given that the project is conducted as planned, can it provide valuable experiences for managing and developing research infrastructures?

Novelty and originality (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• Does the proposed project define new, interesting scientific questions?
• Does the proposed project use new ways and methods to address important scientific questions?

Scientific quality of the project (1–7)

• Is the proposed research scientifically significant?
• How does the proposed project relate to the state of the art of the research area?
• Do the scientific questions have the purpose to fill in significant knowledge gaps?

Merits of the applicant (1–7)

Guiding questions:

The assessment should concern the merits of the applicant to perform the proposed project. The assessment of the co-applicants’ complementary expertise is only of relevance for the grading of the feasibility of the project.

• How significant is the applicant’s scientific productivity, impact and other merits in a national and international perspective, in relation to the research area? Here the emphasis should be put on the recent (the last 8 years) scientific achievements.
• What is the applicant’s scientific competence within the research area of the application?
  

Feasibility (1–3)

Guiding questions:

• Is there sufficient support from the Korean national infrastructure for the project?
• Are the available facility/infrastructure and other resources adequate for the proposed project?
• In the case that this project is complementary to an existing project: Are the resources available to the existing project sufficiently secured?

Overall grade (1–7)

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

• The overall grade is formed without a pre-determined numerical weighing of the basic criteria.
• Relevance, scientific quality of the proposed research and the merits of the applicant are the most important criteria.
• The feasibility shall be weighed into the overall rating of the application if it deviates from the grade “Feasible”.

When you have registered your application and the call closes (at 14.00/2 p.m. on the deadline date of the call), the registration of your application is automatically finalised and your application 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 evaluated”).

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.

The EU’s ABS Regulation and due diligence declaration: As from 12 October 2015, users of genetic resources (genetic material of actual or potential value) and traditional knowledge relating to genetic resources, obtained after 12 October 2014, shall comply with the EU’s ABS Regulation (No 511/2014) by making a “due diligence declaration”. This applies only to grant recipients. Due diligence entails the user being able to show that the genetic resource was obtained according to applicable legislation in the country in question and that the possible benefit of the genetic resource will be allocated in a reasonable and equitable way.

Exceptions apply to research into: the human genome, plant genetic material included in Appendix 1 External link, opens in new window. to the international agreement on plant genetic resources, pandemic influenza virus and genetic material obtained from international waters. If you have any questions about the regulations and due diligence declaration, please contact Naturvårdsverket External link, opens in new window..