Grant for activities within STEM subjects at national research infrastructures

Please refer to the application form in Prisma in parallel with reading the instructions below, which describe the call-specific contents of the application. More information on what to do in practical terms is available in our Guide for applicants Opens in new window..

Language

The application should be written in Swedish, but may also be in English.

Sections of the application

The application form includes the following tabs:

• Descriptive information
• Activity description
• Budget and resources
• Administrating organisation
• Participants (only administrators in this call)
• CV

The information requested under each tab is described below.

Descriptive information

Abstract

The abstract shall include a brief description of the following:

• What activities are to be implemented?
• How will the activities be organised and implemented?
• What are the target groups?
• How do the activities aim to increase the pupils’ interest in the subjects science, technology, engineering and/or natural sciences (STEM)?

Please note that the abstracts for grants awarded are used when we inform about the research funded by the Swedish Research Council.

The description may cover a maximum of 1 500 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately 1/3 A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Registration number

Please state the registration number (“diarienummer”) for the research infrastructure’s ongoing grant, which is linked to this application.

Activity description

Relevance

The description shall detail the relevance of the activities for the purpose of the call; how the activities are designed to increase interest in STEM subjects and encourage new groups of pupils to choose these subjects at upper secondary school and higher education level.

The text may cover a maximum of 4 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately 1 A4 page in Arial, font size 11.

Activity plan

The activity plan shall consist of brief description of the activities planned, and shall cover a maximum of 3 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins, including any references and images.

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

• Activities: Describe the activity or activities planned.
• Organisation: Describe which personnel will work with the activities and how the work will be done.
• Communication: Describe the target groups selected, and state the communication channels to be used to reach out to the target groups.
• Time plan: State the planned frequency and duration of each activity.
• Estimated outcome: State the number of lower and upper secondary pupils, and within which geographic area, you expect to reach for each planned activity.

Budget and resources

Personnel

State the planned activity level (per cent of a full-time equivalent) of all personnel taking part in the activities, that is to say the project leader/coordinator and other personnel working with the activities.

Please also state the salary applied for, for the project leader/coordinator, research students or other personnel active within the framework for the activities, both as a percentage of a full-time salary and as actual annual amounts (including social security contributions). Please state the amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Other costs

Describe other costs (for examples premises costs and running costs, such as travel and materials). Please state the amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Depreciation costs for equipment to be used in the operation may be included, provided that

• the equipment has an economic life of at least three years
• the equipment has an acquisition value above a certain amount
• the need cannot be satisfied through use of national or international infrastructure supported by the Swedish Research Council and thereby open to all.

Only the proportion of depreciation costs that corresponds to the use of the equipment in the proposed operation may be included. Depreciation costs for equipment that is wholly financed via other grants may not be included. .

Total cost for the activities

Prisma will automatically add up the budget items listed in a table. The total amount applied for shall also include indirect costs. These shall be added to the table by the applicant. The applicant shall also add here any additional costs that the activities entail (for which funding is not sought under this call).

Justification of the budget applied for

Justify briefly each cost applied for in the budget stated. The description may cover a maximum of 4 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately 1 A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Other funding

Please state any other funding (applied for or already awarded) for the activities over and above what is applied for in this application. Please state the amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Administrating organisation

Please state the project site of the research infrastructure.

Participants

Here the person invited to be the project leader for the application may invite participating administrators. Please note that participating researchers may not be invited in this application.

CV

• Work: Current employment (including whether it is permanent employment or not).

Your application is evaluated in competition with other applications based on the areas below. For each area, there are a number of guiding questions.

Evaluation process

An internal evaluation group review your application. At least three members review each application individually. All evaluators then meet at a review meeting to discuss and prioritise the applications, and finally to make a proposal for a decision to the Director General. Each application receives a decision with a motivation that reflects the discussion of the evaluation group.

Evaluation areas and guiding questions

The evaluation of the application is based on two areas (Feasibility and quality of the activity plan and Relevance for the call.) For each area, there are guiding questions to support the evaluation of your application. These can also function as guidance for you when you write your application.

Feasibility and quality of the activity plan

Guiding questions:

• To what extent is the budget coherent with the activity plan of the application?
• Has the applicant shown that the personnel has the competence to carry out the activities?
• Is the selection of the target groups reasonable for the proposed activities?
• Are the communication efforts well defined and realistic to reach the target groups?
• Is the design of the activity plan, including the time frame, realistic for implementing the proposed activities?
• To what extent is the activity plan's design and choice of approach reasonable for the activities' implementation and expected outcome?

Relevance for the call

Guiding questions:

• How are the activities considered to contribute to an increased interest in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in lower and upper secondary school pupils?
• To what extent is the proposed activities aimed to attract new groups of students to choose STEM subjects in lower and upper secondary school pupils?