Visiting researcher grant within educational sciences

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

Focus and proposed visiting researcher

The visiting researcher shall be an internationally prominent researcher focusing on one or more of the following areas:

• Social aspects of education
• Learning and teaching
• Educational policy
• Educational systems and organisation of education
• Subject didactics

The focus for the visiting researcher may also relate to areas such as demography and education, or issues relating to education and learning in relation to minority and majority populations, multicultural and multilingual societies, migration, gender, or digitisation.

The researcher nominated shall be primarily active outside Sweden at the time of application. The researcher must also be aware of the nomination and what acceptance of the nomination entails. If the nominated candidate declines to accept, the HEI cannot propose a replacement.

The visiting researcher is expected to take part in the department’s research and contribute to strengthening the existing research environment.

The visiting researcher shall be employed by the administrating organisation throughout the visit.

Applicant

The applicant for the grant must be a Swedish higher education institution (HEI) that has been approved as an administrating organisation Opens in new window. for grants from the Swedish Research Council.

The application with a proposed visiting researcher shall include a named representative (project leader) of the department wishing to act as host for the visiting researcher. The project leader shall be employed by the administrating organisation at the start of and throughout the grant period and any further additional availability period. The project leader does not have to be employed at the time of applying.

When the application is registered and signed in Prisma (see below), the HEI and the proposed department undertake to be responsible for the local hosting and all practical arrangements associated with the visiting researcher’s visit to Sweden, if the application is approved.

Number of applications and previous grants

General information about overlaps between applications and grants

The 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 awarded, or be a reason for us to reject the application.

There is no limit to the number of applications an HEI may submit or participate in, but one single visiting researcher may only be proposed in one application.

Participating researchers

No participating researchers may be included in this application.

Costs and grant amounts

You can apply for a grant to fund costs related to the researcher’s visit, such as

• salary (up to an amount corresponding to the visiting researcher’s activity level), including social security contributions and insurance
• travel, removal and housing

You may also apply for a grant to cover certain types of research-related activities, such as conferences and networking activities carried out by the visiting researcher during their visit, plus research administration. These costs may amount to a maximum of 12 000 SEK per month, however. The total maximum amount is 120 000 SEK per month including indirect costs.

Grant period

The grant may cover a visit lasting a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 12 months, starting in January 2024 at the earliest. The first payment will be made during January 2024 at the earliest.

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 you to complete the 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
• Administrating organisation
• Participants (only administrators in this call)

The information we request under each tab is described below.

Descriptive information

Abstract

The abstract shall include a brief description of the following:

• name, university and country of the proposed visiting researcher
• time (dates) for the visit
• brief justification for the visit
• planned research programme

The abstract shall provide a summary picture of the visiting researchers stay. 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.

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 sciences area Excel, 13.6 kB, opens in new window. (Excel, 13.6 kB).

Research description

Research programme

The research programme shall consist of a brief but complete description of the nomination. It may 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 programme must include the following headings and information, listed in the following order:

• The researcher and their research: Present the proposed visiting researcher and their research.
• Justification: Justify the visiting researcher’s visit.
• Contribution to research: Describe how the visiting researcher may contribute to Swedish research within the area in question.
• Plan for department participation: Specify the planning of the visiting researcher’s participation at the host department and other departments in Sweden.

Proposed visiting researcher

• the name, title, current position and workplace for the proposed visiting researcher
• the competency the visiting researcher is expected to bring to the host department
• the length of the visit, and whether it is divided up and, if so, how
• the department(s) or corresponding where the visiting researcher will be active, and the name of the representative (head of department or corresponding) of the department(s)

The proposed visiting researcher’s CV and publication list

Please attach a brief CV with full address details (including email address) and current position of the proposed researcher. Please also attach a publication list, divided up into Peer-reviewed articles, Other articles and Books.

Please also note that no other CV data or publications shall be entered elsewhere in the application.

Budget and research resources

Salary including social security contributions

Please state the salary applied for for the proposed visiting researcher (select the role “Participating researcher” in the table), 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.

Running costs

State other costs for the proposed visiting researcher’s rental of housing, insurance and travel on separate lines. Describe also any project-related costs linked to the visit (according to amount limits under “Budget and research resources” above). Please state annual amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Total cost of the visiting researcher

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 (project leader). Here the applicant (project leader) can also add any additional costs that the visiting researcher entails (for which you are not seeking funding 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 one A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Other funding

Please state any other funding of the visiting researcher 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 site of the visiting researcher’s stay.

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.

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 for a visiting researcher grant within educational sciences is evaluated by a specialised subject review panel where the members are Nordic researchers.

At least three members review and grade your application individually. If extra competence is needed, your application might also be evaluated by an additional, external, reviewer. The entire review panel then meets at a review panel meeting to discuss and prioritise the applications, and 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.

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 application is made based on two criteria (Scientific merits and the visiting researcher’s position internationally and Relevance to the call). 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.

Scientific merits and the visiting researcher’s position internationally (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• How strong are the nominated researcher’s scientific merits? How strong is the nominated researcher’s scientific production? How strong is the nominated researcher’s other scientific experience; for example of research supervision and experience of project leadership?
• How strong is the nominated researcher’s position internationally? How strong is the nominated researcher’s international publication, international collaboration and assignments?

Relevance to the call: (1–7)

Justification of the visit, in particular how well the visiting researcher may contribute to the development of the host department’s activities and Swedish research in general within the field of educational sciences.

Guiding questions:

• How does the research programme promote the development of educational sciences in a wider sense?
• How can the nominated researcher contribute to the development of Swedish research in general within the field of educational sciences?
• How can the nominated researcher contribute to educational sciences research at the host department?
• To what extent is the research programme relevant to the higher education institution?
• Is there a plan for the nominated researcher’s participation at the host department and other departments in the country?