Strategic Recruitment of Associate Senior Lecturers

Application and nomination procedure

Applying to this call requires that the applicant has been nominated by the relevant higher education institution. The higher education institution is responsible for its own internal nomination process, but there are certain general parameters that apply, as set out below.

Number of nominations

The number of nominations allowed per call is based on the number of staff engaged in research and teaching at the HEI and on the HEI’s research funding.

Eligibility of nominees

• The HEI is responsible for ensuring that, at the start of the grant period, the nominee is eligible to be employed as an associate senior lecturer (biträdande lektor) for five years.
• At the time of nomination, the nominee does not need to be employed by the HEI. If the nominee is already employed as an associate senior lecturer, the employment may have lasted no more than six months at the application deadline. Deductible time according to the Swedish Research Council’s rules may be applied, provided that the associate senior lectureship can be extended so that five years remain from the start of the grant period.

Gender equality

Nominations from each HEI must have a balanced gender distribution, meaning that at least 40 percent of the candidates per call must be men and women respectively. This means an HEI must nominate at least one woman and one man to participate in the call.

International background

• At least half of the researchers nominated by an HEI within each call must have an international background. This means that, for at least the past four years, the researcher has held employment and conducted research activities outside Sweden.
• Shorter fixed-term employments or research visits in Sweden during the four-year period without an intention to establish in Sweden may be permitted (a total of maximum 12 months). To qualify for the exemption for “shorter fixed-term employments” the researcher must first have worked abroad for at least four consecutive years. Occasional shorter stays abroad, such as a three-year postdoctoral period, are not sufficient to be considered as having an international background.
• For researchers who left Sweden and subsequently established themselves abroad, previous postings abroad may be counted if the research was conducted outside Sweden.
• For individuals already employed as associate senior lecturers at the nominating HEI (at most six months at the application deadline), the status regarding “international background” is assessed at the time of employment.

Requirements for applicants

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

Applicant

Strategic Recruitment of Associate Senior Lecturers is applied for by you as an individual researcher together with your administrating organisation (a Swedish HEI). The administrating organisation must sign your application in Prisma no later than 7 calendar days after the deadline for this call.

Submitting an application to this call requires that you have been nominated by your HEI as described above, which must be confirmed through the letter of support attached to the application.

You shall be the project leader and have scientific responsibility for the research activities described. 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 do not have to be employed by the administrating organisation at the time of applying, but you must be employed as Associate Senior Lecturer (biträdande lektor) at the start of and throughout the grant period and any further availability period. The employment must equal at least 70 per cent of a full-time equivalent.

Career age

The HEI shall certify and is responsible for ensuring that, at the start of the grant period, you are eligible to be employed as an associate senior lecturer (biträdande lektor) for five years in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance and the institution’s employment regulations.

Number of applications and previous grants

General information about overlaps between applications and grants

Your application must not cover costs for purposes or a project that is already funded by the Swedish Research Council or by any other funding body. Also, it must not concern the same project that you know another researcher is applying for from the Swedish Research Council. 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.

Applications for career support, project support or research environment grants

You may apply for other career support grants from the Swedish Research Council at the same time, but if more than one application is awarded, you must choose one of the grants. You may apply for this grant and project grants (undirected or with focus), as well as research environment grants, at the same time. However, the combined resource requirement will be taken into account and may affect the total grant amount.

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, a grant with a grant period that overlaps the period of the grant the application relates to. Please note that the availability period, that is, the time during which you have the right to use your grant, is normally longer than the grant period. You can find information about your ongoing grant in your account in Prisma and in the “Approval of terms and conditions” you received from the Swedish Research Council.

If you have previously been awarded career support

You may apply for this grant if you already have an ongoing career support grant from the Swedish Research Council, but if your application is awarded, you must choose one of the grants.

If you have previously been awarded project support or a research environment grant

You may apply for this grant if you have an ongoing project grant (undirected or with focus) and/or a research environment grant, but the combined resource requirement will be taken into account and may affect the total grant amount.

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. If you are the project leader for an ongoing grant that ends at the end of the year, you may apply for a new grant without having submitted the final report, as long as the deadline to submit the report has not passed.

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

If your application to the Swedish Research Council relates to the same project/purpose that another funding body has already awarded funding for, or that you are applying for from another funding body, please describe this.

Participating researchers

You may not invite any participating researchers in this application. Any collaborators 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 3 000 000 SEK per year. You can apply for a grant 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, other departmental duties, or courses that are not directly relevant or necessary for the implementation of the project.

The administrating organisation (the nominating HEI) must finance at least 50% of a full-time salary, including indirect costs, from its own funds - regardless of your level of employment. External funding may not be used for this part of the salary.

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

Grant period

The grant period is 5 years, starting from July 2026. The first payment will be made during July 2026 at the earliest.

What must the application contain?

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.

International 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, apart from the popular science description, which you must write in Swedish.

The information we request under each tab in the application form 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 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 popular science description is important when we inform about the research funded by the Swedish Research Council.

The text must be in Swedish and 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.

Other applications or grants

Describe briefly the different projects and their relationship if

• you are applying for, have applied for or intend to apply for other grants from the Swedish Research Council in the year in question
• you are receiving an ongoing grant from the Swedish Research Council with a grant period that wholly or partly overlaps the grant you are now applying for
• there are applications or grants relating to the same project with 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. Also verify that you are not applying for the same project that you know someone else is also applying for, or has already been awarded funding for, from the Swedish Research Council.

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.

International background

State whether you have an “international background” according to the Swedish Research Council’s definition (see Application and nomination procedure).

Research description

Ethical aspects

Legal and formal requirements

State whether the research covers the handling of personal data, 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.

More information is available on the page “Conducting ethical research”.

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 that you have identified?
• 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 dimensions

Please state whether sex and gender dimensions 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 (women/men). Read more about sex and gender dimensions in research content.

The following applies:

• If you answer “Yes”: Please justify your answer, and describe also how you take account of sex and gender dimensions in the research plan. If you have stated that sex and gender dimensions 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 2 000 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 may cover a maximum of 6 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins, including references and any images. References may be provided either throughout or at the end of the plan. All sources must be provided with complete information; links alone are not sufficient.

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

Purpose, background and significance

• Provide an overall account of the purpose and the specific objectives of the research project.
• Briefly summarise the current state of the art within the field or area to which the project belongs and cite key references.
• Describe how the project relates to previous research and the potential significance of the project in the short and long term, and in what way it advances or renews the current research front.
• Briefly describe your own previous research and any pilot studies or preliminary results that make it likely that the project can be carried out. If there are no preliminary results, state this.

Project design and implementation

• Theory, method and data analysis. Describe the underlying theory and the methods that will be applied to achieve the project’s objectives. Also describe how you plan to analyse the data collected and which statistical methods will be used. If the project includes clinical studies, include a power analysis.
• Timeline, implementation and risk management. Provide an overview of the project timeline during the grant period and how the project will be carried out. Describe any critical risks or obstacles that may affect implementation and how these will be managed.
• Project organisation and independent line of research. Clarify your own and any other researchers’ and/or key persons’ contributions to the implementation of the project, including competences and roles (including any doctoral students). Justify how the time you allocate (activity level) as project leader is appropriate for the task, in relation to your other research commitments, where applicable.

If you work, or will work, in a larger group, clarify how the project relates to other projects within the group. If you work in the same group as your PhD or postdoctoral supervisor, or if the project builds on work initiated during your PhD or postdoctoral period, describe the relationship between your project and your former supervisor’s research.

Research environment, collaboration and infrastructure

• National and international collaboration. Describe your collaboration with researchers and research groups in Sweden and/or abroad. Account for whether and how the project participates in, or is linked to, international collaboration.
• Equipment and research infrastructure. Describe the basic equipment that you and your group have access to for the project. Specify the project’s need for international, national or local research infrastructure. The Swedish Research Council funds research infrastructures that are open to all. If you need to use other infrastructures, justify this (this also applies to local research infrastructure).

Description of merits and mobility experience

Merits

Describe how the merits you state in your CV and list of publications and other research outputs confirm your competence as project leader and scientifically responsible for implementing the proposed research activities.

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.

Mobility and internationalisation

Describe key mobility and internationalisation experiences and their significance for your scientific development, competence and independence, and how they increase the relevance and feasibility of the proposed research.

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.

Publications and other research outputs

The applicant’s publications and other research outputs

Please attach your list drawn up according to the headings and information below. The list may cover a maximum of 5 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins.

Sort the outputs 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. You cannot supplement the application with outputs after the deadline for the call.

1. Selection of research outputs

List the 10 publications or other outputs that are the most important for confirming your competence as project leader and scientifically responsible for implementing the proposed research activities. Describe how you contributed to each output, and its relevance to the research project described (maximum 4 lines per output). Highlight your name in bold in the author list/corresponding.

2. Relevant peer-reviewed research outputs from 2018–2026

In this part, the outputs listed under Item 1 shall also be included if they were published during the period in question. Sort them with your name highlighted in bold in the author list/corresponding under headings (type of output) in the following order:

• Original articles
• Conference contributions, the results of which are not included in other publications
• Edited volumes
• Research review articles
• Books and book chapters
• Artistic work
• Other outputs that do not fit under any of the headings above. Please note that intellectual property rights shall be shown in the CV section of the application.

3. Relevant non peer-reviewed research outputs from 2018-2026

In this part, the outputs listed under Item 1 shall also be included if they were published during the period in question. Sort them with your name highlighted in bold in the author list/corresponding under the respective headings (type of output) in the following order:

• Artistic work
• Publications including popular science books/presentations
• Preprints
• Other outputs that do not fit under any of the headings above. Please note that intellectual property rights shall be shown in the CV section of the application.

Letter of support

The formal letter of support from your administrating organisation shall be signed by the head of the home department or equivalent where you will be doing your research. Your (the applicant’s) name shall be stated clearly, as well as the name and function/position of the person writing the letter of support. 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 3 A4 pages, plus one further page if required for any digital signature. The letter of support shall be written in English and shall include the following headings and information. No further information shall be included.

Download the template for the letter of support here. docx, 36.3 kB. (docx, 36.3 kB)

Applicant’s profile and strategic relevance

A description of:

• how the applicant’s research programme fits into the existing research environment at the department
• the applicant’s scientific independence
• how the applicant can contribute to the department’s and the HEI’s activities and strategic development (research and teaching) based on their scientific and pedagogical competence
• how the candidate’s international experience and networks will be mobilised for the benefit of the HEI
• other strategic grounds for the recruitment.

Commitment of the hosting department

A certificate/a description of:

• that the HEI nominates the applicant for employment within the call
• that the applicant, at the start of the grant period, is eligible to be employed as an associate senior lecturer (biträdande lektor) for five years
• that the HEI finances at least 50% of a full-time position (including indirect costs) from its own funds (not external research funding), stating the funding source and period
• how the department will meet the applicant’s needs for premises, equipment and other infrastructure to carry out the planned research
• concrete commitments for the researcher’s career development and progression towards senior lecturer, such as mentoring, integration into the research environment, networking, and pedagogical development.

By signing the application in Prisma, the administrating organisation confirms these undertakings.

Budget and research resources

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.

Administrating organisation

Please state the administrating organisation and project site.

Review panels

Please indicate the review panel or panels (in priority order) that you wish to carry out the scientific assessment of your application. If your application spans several areas, then choose the review panel that best represents the application’s primary scientific subject area.

The final allocation of applications is determined by the Swedish Research Council.

List of review panels:

• Medicine and Health, including Pharmacy
• Natural Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine
• Humanities and Social Sciences, Educational Sciences and Artistic Research

Participants

Here you may invite participating administrators to your application.

CV

Under this tab, please upload your relevant CV information from your personal account in Prisma. The information/merits shall confirm your competence as project leader and scientifically responsible for implementing the proposed research activities.

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 information on employment format)
• Longer relevant employment
• Post-doctoral visits (state also as employment if applicable)
• Researcher exchanges of relevance to the research described
• Any longer interruptions in the research that have impacted on your opportunity to gain merit as a researcher.

Merits and awards

• Docentship/associate professorship
• Persons you have supervised (postdoctoral and doctoral students; state the number of persons in each category and list the names of the maximum 10 most relevant)
• Relevant grants you have received in competition (list maximum 10)
• Your most relevant prizes and awards (list maximum 10)
• Any other merits of relevance to the application, such as invitations to lecture, leader assignments, representative assignments, membership of scientific organisations and similar.

Intellectual property rights

For example, patents and open access computer programs developed by you; state up to 10 of your most relevant.

How your application is assessed

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 Strategic Recruitment of Associate Senior Lecturers is evaluated by a review panel where the members are international researchers.

At least three members review and grade your application individually. If additional expertise is needed, your application may also be evaluated by one or more external reviewers. The entire review panel (not including any external reviewers) then meets at a review panel meeting to discuss and prioritise the applications, and to make a proposal for a decision to the Director General.

List of review panels:

• Medicine and Health, including Pharmacy
• Natural Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine
• Humanities and Social Sciences, Educational Sciences and Artistic Research

To allow for more in-depth discussions of applications with higher quality and a reasonable chance of being funded, not all applications are discussed in detail at the review panel’s meeting. The applications that are not discussed thoroughly are those that the panel members during their individual review have assessed having the lowest quality among the panel’s applications. Following the grant decision, all applications receive a final statement that includes the review panel’s grading of the application. The applications that have been discussed in more detail at the panel meeting receive an individual final statement which, in addition to the grades, also contains a summary of the review panel’s discussion and joint 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.

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). 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 scale.

In addition to the basic criteria, your application is also evaluated using an additional criterion Internationalisation and mobility on a 7-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)

• To what extent are the aims and research questions relevant, clearly stated and well justified in relation to the research frontier?
• To what extent are the theoretical foundations and methodological choices well described and appropriate for addressing the research questions?
• To what extent is the research plan realistic and systematically structured, including timeline, implementation and risk management?
• To what extent is the proposal positioned to strengthen a priority research area at the host HEI and build long-term research capacity and quality (as motivated in the nomination letter)?
• When applicable, how are issues relating to sex and gender perspectives justified and handled in the research plan?
• When applicable, are the ethical considerations properly described and addressed? Does the applicant adequately consider potential suffering of humans and animals, and the balance of risk and value to nature and/or society?

Novelty and originality (1–7)

• To what extent does the proposed research advance or renew the research field and/or challenge existing knowledge, theories, methods, or practices?
• To what extent does the proposed research combine concepts, approaches, methods, and/or material/data in a novel way?
• To what extent could the proposed research generate new knowledge with significant scientific impact in the short or long term?

Merits of the applicant (1–7)

• How significant are the applicant’s scientific productivity and impact from an international perspective, considering the field and academic age?

• To what extent has the applicant demonstrated independence and the ability to establish a distinct line of research?
• To what extent are previous results and outputs of high quality and relevant to the proposed research?
• To what extent do the applicant’s qualifications and outputs confirm competence to lead the proposed research and to develop into a future leading researcher capable of building/leading a sustainable research environment?

Internationalisation and mobility (1-7)

• To what degree does the applicant have research experience from other HEIs nationally and internationally?
• To what degree have mobility and internationalisation contributed to the applicant’s scholarly development, competence and independence?
• How relevant and valuable are the applicant’s mobility experiences to the proposed research, and to what extent are they leveraged to create strategically valuable networks and capabilities at the host HEI?
• To what degree are the experiences and networks characterised by high quality (e.g., activity in prominent environments or new research fields)?

Feasibility (1–3)

• To what extent do the host HEI’s commitments (including resources, integration and career-development) credibly support the proposed research, the applicant’s progression towards senior lecturer level and the strategic strengthening described in the nomination letter?
• To what extent is the research plan feasible within the stated timeframe and resources?
• To what extent is the project organisation (including the applicant’s role and activity level and, when relevant, the roles of other key persons) appropriate for successful implementation?
• To what extent are the necessary infrastructure, equipment, and collaborations in place?
• Does the applicant adequately consider relevant legal and formal requirements (e.g., ethical permits)?

Overall grade (1–7)

The subsidiary criteria are weighed together into an overall grade reflecting the application’s overall quality.