Summary

• Area: Humanities and Social Sciences
• Applicants: individual researchers in cooperation with an organization
• Approved for: 1–3 years
• The application system opens: 20 February 2024 at 09.00
• The application system closes: 21 May 2024 at 15.00
• Final decision: 24 October 2024
• Project start: 1 January – 1 July 2025
• Webinar about RJ Flexit (i Swedish)

Focus

RJ wants to support collaboration between researchers in the humanities and social sciences working at Swedish HEI and external parties. RJ Flexit offers researchers and organizations within private, public and non-profit sectors the opportunities to collaborate, develop and exchange knowledge and experience.

The researcher and the host organization are to formulate a joint project proposal. The proposal is to be based on well-explained knowledge needs of the host organization that the research can address. The proposal also needs to have the support of the researcher’s higher education institution (HEI).

The researcher is expected to work for the mutual exchange of knowledge between the organization and the HEI throughout the project period.

Requirements

• The applicant is to have completed their PhD by the application date.
• By the application date, the applicant must have submitted final reports on previous research grants awarded by RJ.
• The applicant may only submit one application.
• Only one researcher per application is allowed.
• A connection with Sweden is required.  This means that the researcher is active in Sweden with a formal connection to a Swedish HEI.
• The project will be carried out with organizations within the private, public or non-profit sector and Swedish HEIs.
• The project period is to be at least one year and at most three years. The work time in the project is to total at least 50 per cent and at most 100 per cent.
• At least 50 per cent, but at most 67 per cent, of the project period is to be done at the host organization.
• The project work can either be conducted in parallel at the host organization and the HEI or divided so that the first part of the project takes place at the host organization and the final part at the HEI.
• Both the host organization and the HEI share responsibility as employers. This means that the researcher will be employed by the organization and the HEI, split the time as they choose between respective units.
• Co-funding from the host organization and the HEI is required. RJ covers 75 per cent of total salary costs including the employer’s social-insurance contribution top-up (LKP), and the remaining 25 per cent is covered by the host organization and the HEI, each. The host organization and the HEI provide a work room, office infrastructure and other benefits at the place of work.
• RJ does not fund projects that have already begun at the host organization.
• The applicant may not be currently employed by the host organization.
• The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the research is compatible with the ethical guidelines established by the Swedish Research Council and that ethical review is carried out where necessary.

Applications

Applications are submitted through RJ’s application system. Familiarize yourself with the application form while reading the instructions below.

The application must include the following parts:

Title

The title is to be written in Swedish and English. In addition to the project title, the host organization for the project is also specified here.

Summary

Write the summary in Swedish and English with at most 1,500 characters, including spaces. The summary is to explain the relevance of the research, its purpose, its implementation and its collaborative potential. The summary must be formulated in such a way as to be intelligible to an interested layperson. If the application is approved, the summary will be posted immediately on RJ’s website.

Grant administrator

Specify the participating HEI.

Project description

The project description can be written in Swedish or English and is to be formulated jointly by the researcher and the host organization. It may contain up to 25,000 characters including spaces and is to present:

• The host organization’s knowledge needs
• The research question
• The purpose
• The theory and method
• The project plan and explanation of the project period
• Relevant state of the research
• Research contributions
• The contribution to the host organization
• Description of how collaboration and knowledge exchange between the host organization and the HEI will take place.
• The plan for how information about the project and the research results will be communicated, both within the academic community and in society at large.
  RJ’s guidelines for open access to scientific production.
• The applicant’s relevant skills and qualifications
• The applicant’s current employment.

Budget

• Specify resource needs (salary, HEI’s LKP and operating costs, including collaboration activities).
• Specify costs for disseminating results, including those for open access and production support.
• Do not list any indirect costs or university-wide fees (e.g., IT, premises and administration) in the application.
• RJ adds an additional amount to each grant for indirect costs and costs of premises based on RJ’s own model for determining such costs.
• Funds for commuting costs to and from the workplace will not be granted.

Budget specification

Write the budget specification in Swedish. Specify how work time is divided between the host organization and the HEI for each individual budget year. Specify and explain all budgeted costs. Unspecified or unexplained costs will not be approved.

Submitting the application

The application must be approved by both the host organization and the HEI. It is to be signed electronically by the project leader and head of department or equivalent and a representative for the host organization when the application is submitted. 

By signing the application, the host organization and the HEI commit to fulfilling the terms and conditions that apply for RJ Flexit. RJ will process only signed applications. 

Data management plan

You need a data management plan for the data generated in the research for which we have awarded the grant. You are not to submit the plan to us, but the project leader and grant administrator guarantee through their signatures that a data management plan will be in place when you begin your project and that the plan will be maintained and followed. Read more about data management plans. 

Assessment criteria and review process

Applications that do not meet the requirements will be rejected.

The crucial criteria for RJ’s decisions are scientific quality, the feasibility of the project and its collaborative potential.

The projects are assessed and ranked in the review panels for RJ Flexit, consisting of researchers from Sweden and other Nordic countries. The collective expertise of the panel is multidisciplinary.

Formally, RJ’s board of directors makes the final decision. No explanation for the decision is provided.