Research environment grant interdisciplinary research 2021 (outline application)

The following requirements must be fulfilled in order for you to be eligible to apply for the grant. We carry out checks and reject applications that do not fulfil the requirements.

Focus

With this call, the Swedish Research Council wishes to support research environments where theories, methodology, factual knowledge and/or data from differing disciplines are combined in ways that open up new research fields and research approaches. The research environment shall be interdisciplinary, and researchers from disciplines that have rarely collaborated shall participate and ask innovative research questions that require the combination of disciplines the application covers to be answered. The research problems shall be genuinely interdisciplinary, and not just include borrowing methods and perspectives from one discipline to another – the project needs to contribute to all disciplines included, and also to interdisciplinary research. The support for interdisciplinary research environments is aimed primarily at new interdisciplinary groupings.

The added value of the research environment and the scientific collaboration shall be clearly shown in the application, as shall how the planned research environment fulfils the requirement for interdisciplinarity. Please note that the research constellation (the applicant and participating researchers) must together represent at least two different disciplines.

Applicant

The applicant may be an individual researcher. You shall be the project leader and have scientific responsibility for the project. The time you set aside for the project (your activity level, that is the percentage of a full-time equivalent) must be suited to the task and its implementation throughout the grant period.

You must hold a Swedish doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, awarded no later than the deadline for this call. The degree award date we use is the date you fulfilled all the requirements for a doctoral degree, such as mandatory courses, oral defence and an approved doctoral thesis. For applicants with Swedish doctoral degrees, the award date listed in Ladok applies.

Grants from the Swedish Research Council shall be administered by a Swedish HEI or another Swedish organisation that fulfils our criteria for administrating organisations Opens in new window.. Your organisation must therefore be approved as an administrating organisation for you to apply.

If you are awarded a grant, you must be employed by the administrating organisation at the start of and throughout the grant period and any additional availability period, unless the Swedish Research Council approves an exception from this requirement. The employment must equal at least 20 per cent of a full-time equivalent. You do not have to be employed by the administrating organisation at the time of applying.

Number of applications and previous grants

The requirements described in this section only apply to applicants and project leaders.

General information about overlaps between applications and grants

Your application must not cover costs for purposes that are already funded by the Swedish Research Council or any other funding body. Overlaps with other grants or applications may impact on the grant amount you are awarded, or be a reason for us to reject your application.

What grants may I apply for simultaneously from the Swedish Research Council?

The table below shows information and restrictions on the grants you may apply for during the same year. Note in particular the following:

Applications for a research environment grant and project grant or career support:

You may apply for this grant at the same time as you apply for a project grant or any of our forms of career support. Please note that any overlap between the applications will be taken into account in the weighted assessment of the need for resources.

Number of applications for a research environment grant

You may only submit one application under this call, and you cannot apply for any of our other grants for a research environment. On the other hand, you may be a participating researcher in more than one application.

Grants you may apply for simultaneously Opens in new window.

What requirements apply if I already have a grant from the Swedish Research Council?

There are certain restrictions if you are the project leader of an ongoing grant, that is to say where the grant period (payment period from the Swedish Research Council) overlaps the grant period of the grant the application relates to. Please note that the availability period, that is to say the time during which you have the right to use your grant, is normally longer than the grant period. Information about the criteria for your previous grant can be found in the “Approval of terms and conditions” you received from the Swedish Research Council.

The table below shows information and restrictions on the grants you may apply for if you already have an ongoing grant. Note in particular the following:

If you have already been awarded a project grant or career support:

You may apply for this research environment grant if you are the project leader for an ongoing project grant or for one of our career support grants. A prerequisite for the application to be successful is that the grant awarded is not part of the application for a research environment grant, but on the other hand, the grant awarded may complement the application.

If you have already been awarded a research environment grant:

You may not apply for this grant if you are the project leader for an ongoing research environment grant. On the other hand, you may be a participating researcher in more than one application.

If you have already been awarded a grant within the distinguished professor programme, or are a researcher recruited under the Swedish Research Council’s call for international recruitment

If you have an ongoing distinguished professor grant or are a researcher recruited under the Swedish Research Council’s international recruitment call, you may not apply for a research environment grant. On the other hand, you may participate in an application for a research environment grant.

Grants you may apply for if you have an ongoing grant Opens in new window.

Note: If you have been the project leader for previous grants from the Swedish Research Council that have ended, final financial reports for all of these must have been submitted within the permitted time frame in order for you to apply for a new grant. Please contact your administrating organisation if you are unsure whether all your final reports have been submitted.

What applies for applications to or grants from other funding bodies?

If your application to the Swedish Research Council relates to the same project concept as a grant you have already been awarded by, or are applying for to another funding body, please describe this.

Participating researchers

You must include a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 6 participating researchers in your application. Participating researchers are other researchers with a doctoral degree or equivalent competence, whose scientific competence will be crucial for the implementation of the planned research. They do not have to be employed by a Swedish HEI.

Participating researchers shall provide the necessary information themselves in Prisma, and upload these to the application. Any further collaborating partners and their roles shall be described in the research plan (please see instructions under “Research plan” below).

Costs and grant amounts

You can apply for a grant for all types of project-related costs, such as

• salaries (including your own salary), however no more than corresponding to the person’s activity level in the project
• premises
• running costs (such as consumables, travel including stays at research facilities, publication costs and minor equipment)
• depreciation costs
• costs for a graduate school (that is costs for lecturers, courses and coordination of a graduate school).

Grants must not be used for scholarships. If a doctoral student participates, project funds may not be paid out as salary during teaching or other departmental duties.

The minimum amount you may apply for is 3 million SEK per year, including indirect costs. The maximum amount you may apply for is 5 million SEK per year.

The Swedish Research Council assumes that the administrating organisation will cover any costs in excess of the amount received.

Grant period

You may apply for a grant for a minimum of 4 year and a maximum of 6 years, starting in January 2022. The first payment will be made in January 2022 at the earliest.

Interim report

The project leader shall submit an interim report no later than 1 March 2024, focusing on the collaboration between the participating researchers and the added value of the collaboration, and on how the research fulfils the requirement for interdisciplinary collaboration between research teams with genuinely differing backgrounds. If the results do not correspond to the prerequisite that the award of the grant was based on, the grant amounts for the remaining grant period may be reviewed.

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

Language

Foreign experts are involved in the scientific assessment 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 information
• Research description
• Budget and research resources
• Publications
• Administrating organisation
• Participants
• CV

The information we request under each tab is described below.

The information we request under each tab is described below.

Descriptive information

Abstract

In the abstract, please describe in brief the following:

• What is to be done: purpose and aims
• How the research will be carried out: project organisation, time plan and scientific methods
• What is important about the planned research
  

The abstract shall provide a summary picture of 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. This is approximately one third of an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Research description

Research plan

The research plan shall be forward-looking and consist of a brief description of the research task. It shall cover a maximum of 3 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins, 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 aims of the research project.
• State-of-the-art: Summarise briefly the current research frontier within the field or area covered by the project. State key references.
• Significance and scientific novelty: Describe briefly how the project relates to previous research, and the impact the project may have in the short and long term. Describe also how the project moves forward or innovates the current research frontier.
• Project description: Summarise how the interdisciplinary research will be conducted: theory and method, time plan and implementation, and also project organisation. Clarify the roles of you and any participating researchers in the project, and how they will contribute to the implementation of the project. Explain in particular how the time allocated by you (that is, your activity level) as project leader is suitable for the task, including the relationship with your other research undertakings.

Interdisciplinary added value

Describe how the planned research environment fulfils the requirement for interdisciplinary added value. The description shall include:

• How the planned research environment makes it possible for the researcher constellation, together and in close collaboration, to undertake research tasks that are more comprehensive and challenging than would be possible if the researchers worked individually
• How the planned research environment fulfils the requirement for interdisciplinarity, and why theories, methods, factual knowledge and/or data from the various disciplines are necessary, and how they will be combined.
• How the proposed research can be expected to lead to ground-breaking knowledge and open the door to new research fields and research approaches.
• How the environment will be built up and developed, and how it significantly improves the education, training and career opportunities for junior researchers, postdocs and doctoral students working in the environment. Describe how a graduate school, if you plan to include such, will be linked to the research environment.

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

Budget and research resources

Amount applied for

Please state the amount per year applied for. The amount applied for will be shown under “Operating costs” in the table summarising the overall cost of the project.

Justification of the budget applied for

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

Publications

Attach your and all participating researchers’ publications lists to each field. Participating researchers' publication lists must be combined and attached as a single file. The list for each researcher shall include the 10 publications that are the most relevant to the research described, and shall cover a maximum of 1 A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins. The name of the researcher in question shall be highlighted in bold and also be included in the page header of each list.

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

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

Administrating organisation

Please state the administrating organisation and project site.

Participants

Here you shall invite the participating researchers and any participating administrators to your application. Participating researchers must upload their own CV information to the application.

CV

Under this tab, please upload your relevant CV information from your personal account in Prisma. Please note that these are limited in the outline application.

Applicant:

The following information (where available) must always be included in your CV:

• Education: First, second and third cycle higher education and specialist degrees.
• Work: Current employment (including employment form) and longer relevant employment held, 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 merit as a researcher.
• Merits and awards: Docentship/associate professorship, supervisees (postdoctoral and doctoral students; state the number of persons in each category and list the names of the up to 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.
  

Participating researchers:

• Education: First, second and third cycle higher education and specialist degrees.
• Work: Current employment (including employment form) and longer relevant employment held, 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 merit as a researcher.

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 application is evaluated by an interdisciplinary review panel, where the members are international researchers and the panel chair is a Swedish researcher.

Review panel Opens in new window.

The applications will be assessed in a two-step process, where the applicant in the first step submits an outline application. At least three members review and grade your outline application individually. The entire review panel then meets and discusses and prioritizes the applications. Applicants whose outline application has the highest rating will be invited to submit a full application to be reviewed in the second step. All outline applications will receive two grades and a prioritisation whether the outline application should be accepted for further review or not.

In the second step the full application is evaluated according to the Swedish Research Council’s assessment criteria. Statements from external experts may be used in part of the process. 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 full applications receive an individual final statement that reflects the review panel’s discussion and overall assessment of the scientific quality of the application.

Here you will find a more comprehensive description of the Swedish Research Council's assessment of applications. Opens in new window.

Evaluation criteria and guiding questions

The evaluation of the scientific quality of your outline application is made based on two criteria. Each criterion is 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 does the project address new interesting scientific questions?
• To what extent does the proposed research environment show potential for research breakthroughs and ground-breaking research?
• To what extent does the research, through its approach and collaboration, have the potential to open the way to new research fields and research approaches?

Interdisciplinary added value (1-7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent does the applicant show that the proposed research environment is a new interdisciplinary grouping with researchers from genuinely differing scientific backgrounds, and from genuinely differing disciplines?
• To what extent does the research task defined in the application require collaboration between the applicants in order to succeed?
• Is the research task defined in the application greater and more challenging than the applicants could address if they were working individually and separately?
• In what way does the collaboration between the applicants create synergy effects, and how do the applicants’ differing competences contribute to added value for research, both in the separate research fields and in the interdisciplinary field?

For the full application, the evaluation of the scientific quality of your application is made based on several criteria. 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. 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.

Scientific quality of the proposed research (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• Do the scientific questions aim to develop ground-breaking interdisciplinary research, and is the project design of sufficient quality to achieve or significantly approach this goals?
• To what extent are the design of the project and its questions of the highest scientific quality?
• To what extent is the project description sufficiently clear and systematic, for example in its definition of the research problem, its theoretical basis, and the summary of previous results within the research area?
• To what extent is the proposed research design suitable for achieving the aims of the project?
• To what extent are the methods for any data collection and analysis well described and suitable?

Novelty and originality (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• Does the project have the potential to significantly advance the frontiers of the research field or fill in clear knowledge gaps within the research field?
• Does the project generate or explore new research areas?
• Does the proposed project define new, interesting scientific questions? Does the project contain entirely novel ways and methods to approach scientific issues?
• To what extent does the project show a clear progression and new thinking in relation to previous research?
• To what extent does the project include new ways of combining theories, methods, factual knowledge and/or data from different disciplines for approaching important scientific questions?

Merits of the applicant (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent do the project participants have sufficient research experience and expertise within the area the application relates to?
• To what extent has the previous research conducted by the project participants contributed new knowledge within the research area?
• To what extent have the project participants displayed an ability for independent and creative scientific work?
• How good are the project participants’ scientific production, impact and other merits in a national and international perspective, in relation to the research area and the project participants’ career ages?
• To what extent do the project participants have the relevant and supplementary competence required to carry out the research task?
• To what extent does the applicant (in the event the application includes doctoral students) have any experience of supervising doctoral students?
• To what extent does the applicant have any experience of leading major research projects or research environments?

Feasibility (1–3)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent is the design of the project realistic, including the time plan?
• Is there access to competence, materials, equipment, research infrastructure and other resources required for the implementation of the project?
• Have the permits required to implement the project been obtained, or is there a statement on how these permits are applied for?
• Is the division of work and collaboration between the participants in the project clearly described?
• How good is the balance between the feasibility and risks of the project and its potential gains? (High risk/high gain)

Interdisciplinary added value (1-7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent does the applicant show that the proposed research environment is a new interdisciplinary grouping with researchers from genuinely differing scientific backgrounds, and from genuinely differing disciplines?
• To what extent does the research task defined in the application require collaboration between the applicants in order to succeed?
• Is the research task defined in the application greater and more challenging than the applicants could address if they were working individually and separately?
• In what way does the collaboration between the applicants create synergy effects, and how do the applicants’ differing competences contribute to added value for research, both in the separate research fields and in the interdisciplinary field?
• Does the applicant describe convincingly how the combination of theories, methods, factual knowledge and/or data from the different disciplines can be expected to lead to ground-breaking knowledge?
• Does the applicant describe convincingly how the project participants plan to jointly build up, develop and manage the interdisciplinary research environment?
• To what extent will the proposed project strengthen and increase the quality of research within the research areas in question at the HEI/s, and also in Sweden and internationally?

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. As a guidance for the review panel’s assessment, the novelty and originality as well as the interdisciplinary added value are the two most important criteria.