Guest researcher at the Swedish Mediterranean institutes

Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) hereby announces that funds are to be made available to cover costs of scholarly work at the Swedish Mediterranean Institutes in Athens, Istanbul and Rome.

By the time they apply for the grant, applicants must have obtained a PhD and also hold a position either at a Swedish higher education institution or at a Swedish museum, archive or library. This position must continue during the period in which the planned stay is intended to take place.

Grants are being awarded to permit scholarly work throughout RJ's area of activities, i.e. humanities, social sciences, law and theology. 'Scholarly work' in this context relates to research and also to other advanced work of an academic nature at museums, archives and libraries.

The stay at the institute concerned must be of four to ten months' duration and may be split up into a maximum of two periods. The stay must be implemented during 2015, 2016 or 2017. An applicant may apply for funding only for one (1) stay at one (1) of the three institutes. The funds awarded are disbursed by requisition as needed during the researcher's stay at the institute. Any money that has not been used by 31 December 2017 must be repaid to RJ.

Assessment of applications, in terms of their quality and relevance, will be carried out by RJ in cooperation with the institutes concerned. If applications are found to be of equal value, priority will be given to the applicant who has not stayed at any of the institutes during the past 24 months. Funding decisions are made by RJ.

Funds may be sought for the following purposes only:

  1. Salary costs (personal salary including social security costs, LKP* or the equivalent) for the applicant, for the duration of the stay.
  2. (* Lönekostnadspålägg, i.e. employer's social-insurance contribution top-up.)
  3. Travel costs from and to Sweden.
  4. Maintenance costs under Swedish rules for expense allowances outside Sweden.

RJ will grant a maximum of SEK 400,000 to each successful applicant. RJ requires applicants to have their Swedish employers' support for the stay at one of the institutes, and welcomes co-funding, with the employer paying all or parts of the salary costs for the duration of the stay. An RJ grantee who is already receiving another grant, including funding of personal salary costs, for work on which the final report has not been issued will not be awarded funding for salary costs during the stay.

A person awarded funds from RJ is expected to play an active part in the institute's activities and keep the management of the institute concerned informed about the progress of his or her work. RJ will make special arrangements to provide a grant for the institute's costs associated with its grantees' research stays.

The application should be sent by email to fredrik.lundmark@rj.se in the form of one (1) PDF file, containing the following:

  1. Detailed plan for the stay, specifying dates and including an account of how the planned work will be implemented (max. 3 pages).
  2. Reasons why the stay is important for the applicant's research or work at a museum, archive and/or library (max. 1 page).
  3. List of contacts at the institute concerned and its surroundings, in the form of researchers, academic environments, museums, archives and libraries, max. 1 page.
  4. CV and information about the applicant's employment situation at the time of the planned visit (max. 1 page).
  5. Budget with information about the purposes for which funding is sought and disclosure of any co-funding by the employer (max. 1 page).

Deviations from the instructions on the nature of the application will result in the application being rejected.

Applications may be submitted on two occasions, the respective deadlines being 15 May 2015 and 2 November 2015. Notification of decisions will take place in writing roughly two months after the application date concerned.

Those who apply for funds to stay at the Mediterranean Institutes are urged to familiarise themselves with the terms and conditions for working abroad, including the risks of losing social welfare benefits in the event of prolonged periods abroad. The URA 'Agreement on overseas contracts and guidelines on employment conditions in service abroad' is a central framework contract. This flexible agreement affords scope for individual adjustment of arrangements regarding these conditions by drawing up a written agreement on the position ('overseas contract') between the authority providing the employment and the employee. On the Swedish Agency for Government Employers' website, www.arbetsgivarverket.se/in-english/, further information about working abroad for Swedish central government employers is available.