RJ Sabbatical 2019
With RJ Sabbatical, researchers can receive funding to complete research already at an advanced stage and to write syntheses. After a test trial of five calls for grant proposals, RJ’s board has decided to make RJ Sabbatical part of its regular support forms.
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) announces funding of research periods of six to twelve months for permanently employed senior lecturers and professors in the humanities and social sciences (including law and religion) at Swedish higher education institutions (HEIs). The grant is intended to enable grantees to conduct research full time for the relevant employment. The grant is to be used to complete research already at an advanced stage and to write syntheses. Grants may be used for a stay abroad, thus promoting international ties for Swedish research and education.
RJ Sabbatical is intended for use in research and edition projects. The research period must be devoted to completing ongoing research and projects or writing major works or syntheses likely to be regarded as significant scholarship. Grants may be for applications that will result in monographs or in journal articles.
Applications involving work on new research ideas and, accordingly, extensive collection of material should apply for RJ’s Project grants instead. RJ Sabbatical may not be used for writing textbooks. RJ’s grant is never for a period longer than 12 months, but applicants can extend their research period with the research time included in the applicant’s employment.
RJ pays salary costs, including LKP (lönekostnadspålägg, i.e. employer's social-insurance contribution top-up), and a grant for costs of premises and indirect costs. The amount awarded is based on the principles that apply to research grants from RJ. Applications can also be made for grants for stays abroad, conference attendance, translation, language editing, publishing with open access (OA) and production support.
Note that researchers receiving RJ grants must publish their peer-reviewed writings in journals and conference publications through open access, so they become freely available online. RJ also encourages the publication of monographs and book chapters freely available online.
RJ Sabbatical grantees in 2019 are obliged to start their research by 1 July 2020.
Instructions
- Only one (1) RJ Sabbatical application may be submitted per application occasion.
- By the application date, final reports for any previous research grants from RJ must have been submitted.
- Successful applicants for RJ Sabbatical grants are required to conduct research to the full extent of the employment. An exception may be made only for supervision of PhD students on a limited scale, up to a maximum of 10 per cent of full-time employment (corresponding to three PhD students) and the applicant's supervision commitment may not exceed the amount committed to at the start of the RJ Sabbatical. The supervision of PhD students is not funded by RJ.
- The applicant is personally responsible for the planning and all practical arrangements for a stay abroad (insurance, accommodation, visa and the like), in consultation with the applicant's own HEI and the research environment abroad. The applicant must present a calculation of the expenses for the sabbatical abroad. A stay abroad for a maximum of 90 days should be calculated in accordance with government regulations for reimbursements for service abroad. Longer stays abroad, particularly if costs include other family members, should be calculated in accordance with the URA government agreement. Questions regarding the calculation of the cost for stays abroad are to be addressed to the researcher's own HEI.
- Researchers who are drawing retirement pension or will start drawing it during the period covered by the funding may not apply for a RJ Sabbatical.
- RJ Sabbatical grants may never cover more than the scope of the applicant's position.
- It is not possible to apply for other RJ grants until after the grantee's final report on an RJ Sabbatical grant has been submitted.
- The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the research is compatible with the ethical guidelines of the Swedish Research Council and that ethical review is carried out where necessary.
Assessment criteria
The application is to clearly show in what way and to what extent the work will complete, expand and deepen previously begun research. Previously completed work is to be presented along with any remaining work to be done. For example, this presentation can be in the form of a possible table of contents where it is clearly listed what work has previously been completed and what will be done within the framework of RJ Sabbatical.
Applications are assessed in terms of:
- The research’s quality and scholarly value;
- The research plan’s quality and feasibility, including its clarity and motivations for the project period;
- The project’s originality and relation to the international research front;
- The expected impact on undergraduate and graduate education at the home department or institution. RJ will give priority to applications that clearly show how an RJ Sabbatical grant are expected to contribute to the research environment and education at the home department or institution over an extended period;
- The project’s expected contribution to international scholarly contacts and cooperation.
Review process
Applications are evaluated by a panel composed largely of international experts, with the option of seeking advice from subject experts. In June 2018, RJ's Board will make the final decision on which applicants will receive grants. No reasons will be given for the Board's decisions.
Final report and follow up
One month after the funding ends, the researcher is to submit a final report on the conducted research. To follow up the results and effects of the support form, one year after the end of RJ-financed research, the recipient is also to submit a brief account of the outcome of the grant, i.e. its results in the form of publications, promotion, submitted applications, new international collaborations, impact on undergraduate and graduate programmes at the home department and so forth. See RJ’s website for instructions.
Application instructions
Applications are submitted through RJ's online application system. Follow RJ's general instructions on how to apply online. Certain instructions that are specific to RJ Sabbatical are given below. The application must include all the costs of the project. The application must be written in English and contain the following parts:
The title of the project, in Swedish and English.
The summary is to be written in Swedish and English and may have a maximum of 1500 characters including spaces. It should explain why the research task is important, its purpose and how it will be implemented. The summary must be formulated in such a way as to be intelligible to an interested layman. If the application is approved, the summary will be posted on RJ's website.
The start and end dates must refer to the support applied for from RJ.
The budget is to include operating costs (expenses for the stay abroad, conference attendance, translation, language editing, open access publishing and production support), annual working time, salary and LKP.
The project description is to have a maximum length of 15,000 characters including spaces and be written in English. It is to describe the research question, empirical material, theory, method and the relationship of the research to the international research front.
The application must also clarify both how academic contacts between departments (or equivalent) will be achieved and how the effects on higher and postgraduate education at the home department will be achieved.
The account of the academic work to be carried out must take the form of a detailed schedule for the planned publications. It should clarify what research has already been completed and what remains to be done. It must also specify the types of work input required for the various phases of the work and the estimated time required.
The description should also include a brief CV with information about the applicant's current employment, ongoing assignments and external research grants the researcher has obtained.
The project description is to describe if and, if so, how RJ's grant will be combined with research time included in the researcher's own position.
All budgeted costs must be specified and justified. No unspecified or unexplained costs will be approved. RJ has no obligation to cover the costs reported; instead, RJ is entirely free to determine how much support may be given.
Contributions for conferences, workshops and networks that the applicant wishes to arrange personally should be applied for through the Research Initiation grant.
Signatures and certificate from head of department
The cover pages of the application must be printed, signed by the researcher and the head of department or equivalent, and sent by letter post to RJ within a week after the deadline. Since the head of department or equivalent signs the application, this means that (s)he guarantees that the applicant will be able to conduct research throughout the full extent of the employment for which the application relates. Funding received in the form of an RJ Sabbatical grant must not adversely affect the future time given for research in the grantee's employment that adhere to agreements on working time and similar provisions.
RJ processes only complete applications.
Application deadline
- The application system will open on 8 januar 2019.
- Online applications must reach RJ not later than 4.00 pm on 7 februari 2019.