Closed call
23 February - 29 March 2022
Consolidator grant within educational sciences
The purpose of the grant is to give the most prominent junior researchers the opportunity to consolidate their research and broaden their activities as independent researchers.
Within the framework of the call, the Swedish Research Council wishes to support researchers who have a scientifically interesting research idea, and who can convert and conduct the research task and thereby move the frontiers of research forward, or fill in existing gaps in knowledge.
Support form: Career support
Subject area: Educational Sciences
Applicant: Individual researcher who has completed a doctoral degree more than 7 years ago and up to 12 years ago.
Participating researchers: No other researchers may be invited to join the application.
Grant period: 6 years
Grant amount: 2 000 000 SEK per year
Budgetary framework: One grant will be approved
Start of grant period: January 2023
Application period: 23 February 2022 (14.00/2 pm) – 29 March 2022 (14.00/2 pm)
Publication of grant award: No later than the beginning of November 2022
Please note:
- As from 2022, new criteria apply for approval of administrating organisations for grants awarded by the Swedish Research Council. You therefore need to make sure that your organisation fulfils the requirements and has been approved by us as an administrating organisation for calls issued after 1 January 2022.
- Please note also that the instructions for your description of ethical considerations in the application have changed as from this year. Furtermore, we also ask you to describe the management of risks or obstacles to the implementation of the project in the research plan.
- You must justify in your research plan how your stated activity level (which must be a minimum of 50 per cent of a full-time equivalent) is suited to the implementation of the research project.
- You will need to have a data management plan
Opens in new window. for data generated within the research we award funds for. You must not send the plan to us, but according to our general grant terms and conditions, your administrating organisation must confirm that a data management plan will be in place when you start your project or equivalent, and also that the plan will be maintained.
Telephone hours are weekdays excluding public holidays from 9.00/9 a.m. to 15.00/3 p.m. while the call is open.
Calls educational sciences
Specific instructions for the call
In addition to reading the call text, you also need to consult our Guide for applicants Opens in new window..
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.
Applicant
The applicant for a consolidator grant must be an individual researcher together with their organisation (a Swedish higher education institution (HEI) or another Swedish organisation that fulfils our criteria for administrating organisations for Swedish Research Council grants) Opens in new window.. We must have approved your organisation as an administrating organisation for you to apply. The administrating organisation must sign your application in Prisma no later than 7 calendar days after the deadline for this call.
You shall be the project leader and have scientific responsibility for the project. The time you set aside for the project (your activity level) must be suited to the task and its implementation, and must equal at least 50 per cent of a full-time equivalent throughout the grant period.
You must hold a Swedish doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, awarded more than 7 years and no more than 12 years before the deadline for this call.
You do not have to be employed by the administrating organisation at the time of applying, but you must be employed at the start of and throughout the grant period and any further additional availability period. The employment must equal at least 50 per cent of a full-time equivalent.
Career age
To apply for a consolidator grant, your doctoral degree must have been awarded more than 7 years ago and less than 12 years ago at the deadline for the call, that is to say, awarded no later than 29 March 2015 and no earlier than 29 March 2010. For applicants with Swedish doctoral degrees, the award date listed in Ladok applies. You will not be able to complete your application if your doctoral degree was awarded less than 7 years ago or more than 12 years ago. An exception applies if you have not been in paid employment for a long period(s) after being awarded your doctoral degree, and and this has affected your ability to gain merit as a researcher (“deductible time”).
The Swedish Research Council’s approved grounds for deductible time are a minimum of one month’s consecutive absence due to one of the following reasons:
- parental leave
- position of trust in a trade union or student organisation
- mandatory service in the total defence force
- long-term illness (own reported illness or care of child/close family member)
- general medical internship (maximum 24 months full-time work) or further training/specialist medical internship for clinically active professionals (maximum 24 months full-time education/work).
Please note that we do not accept other employment, unemployment or holidays as deductible time.
If you wish to claim deductible time, you must specify the recognised grounds and time involved in your application (please see instructions under “Descriptive information” below).
We conduct sample checks. This means that we might request a certificate in evidence of your grounds for deductible time.
Number of applications and previous grants
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?
You may only submit one application for this grant under this call. Further information about the grants you may apply for during the same year are shown on the page "Several grants simultaneously”. Opens in new window. Please note that if you are awarded a consolidator grant, you will not be able to apply for the Swedish Research Council’s undirected project grants during the grant period.
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. You can find information about the requirements for your ongoing grant in the “Approval of terms and conditions” you received from the Swedish Research Council.
If you already have an ongoing grant, then further information about the grants you may apply for are shown on the page "Several grants simultaneously”. Opens in new window. Please note that if you are awarded a consolidator grant and have an ongoing undirected project grant, this amount will be deducted from the standard amount of 2 000 000 SEK during the grant period that overlaps your awarded consolidator grant.
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 may not invite any participating researchers in this application. Any collaboration partners and their roles shall be described in the research plan (please see instructions under “Research plan” below).
Costs and grant amounts
The grant is paid out in a standard amount of 2 000 000 SEK per year. The grant may be used for all types of project-related costs, such as
- salaries, however no more than corresponding to the person’s activity level in the project, and for you, as project leader, always up to a maximum of 50 per cent of a full-time equivalent salary
- premises
- running costs (such as consumables, travel including stays at research facilities, publication costs and minor equipment)
- depreciation costs.
The grant amount includes cover of indirect costs as a percentage of the direct costs, according to the model used by your administrating organisation. 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 Swedish Research Council assumes that the administrating organisation, as the employer responsible, will cover any costs in excess of the standard amount.
Grant period
The grant period is 6 years, starting in January 2023. The first payment will be made during January 2023 at the earliest.
Halfway through the grant period (beginning of 2026), you must submit an activity report to the Swedish Research Council in the form of an oral presentation. The presentation shall focus on the scientific advances that the grant has enabled and how your research activities have developed, and may result in a review of the amounts for the remaining grant period.
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
We prefer that you complete your application in English, but you may also use Swedish.
Sections of the application
The application form includes the following tabs:
- Descriptive information
- Research description
- Budget and research resources
- Publications
- Letter of support
- Administrating organisation
- Participants (only administrators in this call)
- CV
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.
Popular science description
Describe the planned research in such a way that a person who is not a researcher can understand it. Do this by answering the following questions:
- What is the research about?
- Why is it important to research this?
- In what way may the new knowledge be important?
The text must be in Swedish and cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately half an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing. The popular science description is important when we inform about the research funded by the Swedish Research Council.
Deductible time
Please state any longer interruptions in your active research time after your doctoral degree caused by any of the grounds recognised by the Swedish Research Council. Please state the interruption calculated as a full-time equivalent and rounded up into full calendar months. Please see the recognised grounds for deductible time under the heading “Career age” above.
Other applications or grants
Describe the relationship between the different projects if
- you are applying for or intend to apply for other grants from the Swedish Research Council
- you are receiving an ongoing grant from the Swedish Research Council with a grant period that wholly or partly overlaps with the grant you are now applying for
- there are applications or grants relating to the same project concept/purpose from the Swedish Research Council or other funding bodies (from you or another researcher).
In all cases, you should also justify why you are submitting one or several further applications. If there are no other applications or grants, please state so. The description may cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately half an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.
Thematic classification
Educational sciences is divided up thematically into main areas. Here you shall state the theme that best describes the focus of the project. An overview of all areas and themes is available via the following link: “Thematic division of the educational science area”
Excel, 13.3 kB, opens in new window..
Research description
Ethical aspects
Legal and formal requirements
State whether the research covers the handling of personal data, or experiments on animals and/or studies involving humans.
If the research covers any of the above, you must also describe/state the approvals and permits your research project requires, and how you plan to obtain these. Describe any other permits that affect your application, such as whether parts of the research will be done in a country other than Sweden. If no approvals or permits are needed, please state so.
The description may cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately half an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.
Ethical considerations
Reflect on the ethical issues that may arise for your project, and describe these. 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 you have identified. Examples of issues to reflect on:
- How do your research questions and expected results measure up in relation to the ethical issues?
- What (direct) risks (physical, mental, or integrity) will research persons or animals be exposed to?
- What long-term risks may arise from the research? Is there any risk that the research may be used in a way that is detrimental to animals, nature/the environment, or society (whole or parts of the same) in other respects?
- Is the research expected to contribute to other values over and above the knowledge gain? If so, to whom?
- How do you weigh up the risks (in particular short-term risks) against the value (which is often more long-term) of the research?
If no ethical issues are raised, please justify this. The description may cover a maximum of 4 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately one A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.
Sex and gender perspectives
Please state whether sex and gender perspectives are applicable in your planned research, and justify your decision. Please note that we are not asking for information about the composition of the research team (men/women). Read more about sex and gender perspectives in research content. Opens in new window.
The following applies:
- If you answer “Yes”: Please justify your answer, and describe also how your take account of sex and gender perspectives in the research plan. If you have stated that sex and gender perspectives are applicable, but still choose not to include them in your research plan, you will need to justify this here.
- If you answer “No”: Please justify your answer.
The justification may cover a maximum of 4 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately one A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.
Research plan
The research plan shall be forward-looking and consist of a brief but complete description of the research task. It shall cover a maximum of 10 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 within the area, 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.
- 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. If no preliminary results exist, please state this. State also 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 under the following headings:
- 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. Describe also any crucial risks or obstacles that may impact on the implementation, and your plan for managing these.
- Project organisation: Clarify the contributions of yourself and any other researchers and/or key persons to the implementation of the project, including a description of competences and roles in 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.
Provide the following information also. If a heading is not relevant to your application, please state this under the heading.
- Equipment: Describe the basic equipment you and your team have at your disposal for the project.
- Need for research infrastructure: Specify the project’s need for international and national research infrastructure. If you choose to use other infrastructure that those supported by the Swedish Research Council Opens in new window.and that are thereby open to all, you must justify this (also applies to local research infrastructure).
- International and national collaboration: Describe your collaboration with international and Swedish researchers and research teams. State whether you contribute to or refer to international collaboration in your research.
Budget and research resources
Project personnel
Please state your activity level (per cent of a full-time equivalent) in the project. Your activity level as project leader must correspond to no less than 50 per cent of a full-time equivalent.
The grant is a standard amount and you therefore do not need to enter any budget applied for in the application form.
Justification of the budget applied for
Describe briefly the primary costs you intend to cover within the framework for the grant budget. The description may cover a maximum of 4 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately one A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.
Other funding
Please state your or any other researcher’s funding for the project over and above what is applied for in this application. Please state the amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.
Publications
Applicant’s publication list
Please attach your publication list drawn up according to the headings and information below. The list shall cover a maximum of 5 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins.
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 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.
1. Selection of publications: List the 10 publications of greatest importance to your application. Describe how you contributed to each publication, and its relevance to the research project described (maximum 4 lines per publication). Highlight your name in bold in the author list.
2. Relevant publications from 2014–2022: In this part, the publications listed under Item 1 shall also be included if they have been published during the period in question. 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
Letter of support
A letter of support from the HEI where the research will be carried out shall be attached to the application. The letter shall be signed by the department head or corresponding of the department where the planned research will be conducted. The applicant’s name shall be stated clearly, as well as the name and function/position of the person writing the letter of support. The letter of support may be written in Swedish or English.
Please note that the letter of support is an important part of the assessment of the application, and that we are not asking for a letter of recommendation.
The document may cover no more than 2 A4 pages, plus one further page if required for any digital signature. The letter of support shall include the following:
- A description of how the applicant’s research plan contributes to the department’s research environment, and how the applicant contributes to the department’s scientific activities.
- A description of the applicant’s terms and conditions of employment and funding during the grant period.
- A description of how the applicant’s need for premises, equipment and infrastructure for implementing the planned research will be fulfilled.
- A description of the plans the department has to facilitate the applicant’s continued scientific career.
You can download a template for the letter of support here
Word, 21.5 kB, opens in new window. . By signing the application in Prisma, the administrating organisation confirms these undertakings.
Administrating organisation
Please state the administrating organisation and project site.
Participants
Here you as applicant may invite participating administrators to your 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:
- 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.
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 assessed by a specialised subject review panel where the members are Nordic researchers.
At least three members review and grade your application individually. If needed, an external reviewer also assesses your application. 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 Committee for Educational Sciences.
Review panel Opens in new window.
Following the grant decision your application will receive an individual final statement containing the grades and a summary of the review panel’s discussion and overall assessment of the scientific quality of the application.
Evaluation criteria and guiding questions
The evaluation of the scientific quality of your application is made based on four basic criteria (Scientific quality of the proposed research, Novelty and originality, Merits of the applicant, Feasibility). In addition to the basic criteria, your application is also evaluated based on the additional criterion Relevance for the call. 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 and Relevance for the call 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:
- Is the proposed research scientifically relevant and important?
- Is the project idea presented in relation to the current research frontier?
- Is the project described in a relevant way in terms of purpose, questions and expected results?
- Do the answers to the project’s research questions aim to fill significant knowledge gaps?
- Does the wording of the project description convincingly show that significant knowledge gaps will be filled through the research questions and selected methodology?
- Is the project design of high scientific quality?
- Are issues relating to sex and gender perspectives managed in a relevant way?
- Are issues relating to research ethics correctly described and dealt with? Does the applicant adequately consider risk/value/suffering for humans, animals, nature or/and society in cases where this is relevant?
Novelty and originality (1–7)
Guiding questions:
- Does the project have the potential to significantly move the research field forwards?
- Will the project explore new research areas where, or alternatively generate these?
- Are new, interesting scientific questions proposed in the project description?
- Does the project description show novelty in terms of scientific methods?
- To what extent does the application show novelty and development in relation to previous research?
Merits of the applicant (1–7)
Guiding questions:
- Are the applicant’s scientific merits adequate in relation to the research field in question, and sufficiently advanced to carry out the proposed research task?
- How good are the applicant’s scientific productivity, impact and other scientific merits in a national and international perspective, in relation to the rest of the scientific field? Is the applicant internationally recognised or leading in their field, or is potential for this shown?
- How strong are the applicant’s scientific competence and production in relation to career age and active time as a researcher?
- Has the applicant displayed competence in terms of working internationally, for example within the framework for postdoctoral employment?
- Does the applicant have the preconditions for developing a creative research environment through their own scientific leadership?
Feasibility (1–3)
Guiding questions:
- Is the proposed scientific method, existing equipment and research infrastructure adequate for carrying out the research project?
- Does the applicant adequately consider relevant legal and formal requirements for the proposed research, such as ethical permits and guidelines?
- Is there sufficient competence within the project as a whole to carry out the research task?
- Is the research plan written in such a way that it is probable that the proposed project can be carried out successfully? Are the plans reasonably proportional to the project’s budget?
- Does the host department’s letter of support show that a need for the applicant’s competence exists, and that the applicant and their proposed research are welcome?
- Does the host department’s letter of support show that the necessary support for the proposed project and research activities will be provided by the department?
Relevance to the call (1–3)
Guiding questions:
- Does the application relate to a consolidator grant in educational sciences?
- Is the application relevant to the call (in other respects)?
Overall grade (1–7)
The assessment criteria above shall be weighted together into an overall grade (1–7). Normally, the scientific quality of the research description should be given the greatest weight in the overall grade. Novelty and originality can only in exceptional cases compensate for weaknesses in the scientific quality of the project description, and then only if the weaknesses are minor.
A precondition for receiving a consolidator grant is that the proposed project is assessed as feasible, and that the applicant has competence of the kind required to fulfil the purpose stated in the project description, and is also relevant to educational sciences.