Summary

• Area: Humanities and Social Sciences
• Applicants: individual researchers in cooperation with a company/organisation
• Approved for: 1–3 years
• The application system opens: 22 August 2022 at 09.00
• The application system closes: 12 October 2022 at 15.00
• Decision: 1 December 2022
• Project start: 1 January – 1 September 2023

Focus

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

The researcher and company/organisation (host organisation) are to formulate a joint project proposal. The proposal is to be based on a well-explained need of the host organisation that the researcher 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 organisation and the HEI throughout the project period and to actively participate in the network meetings organised through RJ Flexit.

Terms and conditions

• 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 applicant per application is allowed.
• A connection with Sweden is required. This means that the applicant is to be active in Sweden (with a formal link to a Swedish HEI) or that a Swedish research institute is actively involved.
• The project is to be linked to companies or organisations within the private, public or non-profit sector.
• 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 organisation.
• The project work can either be conducted in parallel at the host organisation and the HEI or divided so that the first part of the project takes place at the host organisation and the final part at the HEI.
• Both the host organisation and the HEI share responsibility as employers.
• Co-funding from the host organisation 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 organisation and the HEI. The host organisation and the HEI provide a work room, standard office infrastructure and other benefits at the place of work.
• RJ does not fund projects that have already begun.
• The applicant may not be currently employed by the host organisation.
• Applicants must report any ongoing research grants and grants obtained in parallel with a project grant from RJ.
• 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. Familiarise 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 organisation 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 organisation. It may contain up to 25,000 characters including spaces and is to present:

• The host organisation’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 organisation
• Expected knowledge to be generated through the collaboration
• 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 Learn more about 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).
• 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. A grant of SEK 10,000/year is also added for travel and accommodations in connection with network meetings and similar.

Budget specification

Write the budget specification in Swedish or English. Specify how work time is divided between the host organisation and the HEI. 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 organisation and the HEI. It is to be signed by the project leader and head of department or equivalent and a representative for the host organisation.

By signing the application, the host organisation and the HEI commit to fulfilling the terms and conditions that apply for RJ Flexit. The pages with the budget and signatures are to be scanned and sent by email to the responsible research officer (see Contact persons) no later than one week after the deadline. RJ will process only signed applications.

Data management plan

If RJ awards a grant to your project and if your project generates, collects or uses digital data, you should draw up a data management plan at the start of the project. This plan is not submitted to RJ, but we may ask questions about it at the project’s mid-term follow-up.

Through their signatures, the project leader and head of department take responsibility for ensuring that a data management plan is in place at the start of the project, if needed, and that it is updated as needed throughout the course of the project. Read more about data management plans or contact your HEI for more information. All Swedish HEIs have resources to support researchers in managing digital data.

Assessment criteria and review process

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 Swedish and international researchers.

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