RJ Flexit 2020
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) announces grants for researcher-initiated Flexit positions at companies and other organisations within the private and public sectors and non governmental organisations.
Compared to previous calls for applications, we are now focusing on a model where researchers, collaborating with organisations, submit proposals for Flexit positions.
Summary
- Area: Humanities and Social Sciences.
- Eligible applicants: individual researchers who have completed a doctoral degree and who apply in collaboration with an organisation.
- Scope of the project: 1–3 years. The researcher is to be an employee at the participating organisation two-thirds of the period and at a higher education institution one third of the period.
- The application system opens: 10 December 2019.
- The call for applications closes: 5 March (16.00) 2020.
- Decision date: May 2020.
- Start of employment for the positions: 1 August–31 December 2020.
Through the Flexit programme, RJ offers researchers, companies and other organisations within private, public and non-profit sectors opportunities to collaborate, develop and exchange knowledge and experience. The programme's ambition is to show the potential for research within the humanities and social sciences to be translated into practical utility while experience from work in companies and organisations contributes to developing research.
Over 30 researcher positions within a range of different fields have been funded over the nearly 10 years of the Flexit programme. The programme has led to important insights into how collaborative research can be organised and conducted in practice.
To this point, Flexit positions have been based on the organisations' own knowledge-development needs. Researchers have been invited to submit applications that describe how the organisation's needs and challenges can be addressed with a research plan.
To leverage experience that will allow us to develop the Flexit programme, we would now like to try a different model where we are open to researchers, in cooperation with organisations, submitting proposals for Flexit-funded positions. Proposals for Flexit projects should be developed jointly by the researcher and the organisation and have support within the organisation. The project proposal is to be based on a well-described and well-motivated need for expanding knowledge in the organisations that the researcher will address with a research plan.
Designing Flexit positions
The positions will last for between one and three years and consist of 75 per cent research and 25 per cent working at organisations within the private and public sectors or at nongovernmental organisations and at an academic institution. The first two-thirds of the project period will be at the organisation and the last third will be at an academic institution. RJ will cover salary costs and other expenses related to the research. The organisation and the higher education institution, respectively, will have employer responsibility and will cover the salary for the remaining part of the position (25%). The organisation will cover the costs of an office, office infrastructure and other benefits at the work place and appoint a contact person for the researcher. The researcher is expected to maintain and develop contacts at the organisation and exchange knowledge with academia.
During the final third of the project period, the research will be employed by an academic institution and continue his or her research within the Flexit project. The researcher is expected to maintain contacts with the organisation and continue working for a mutual exchange of knowledge between the organisation and academia. The higher education institution will receive a grant for indirect costs and costs of premises from RJ.
Who can apply?
- The applicant is to have completed a doctoral degree within the humanities or social sciences no later than the final date to submit an application.
- RJ welcomes applications linked to companies and organisations within the private and public sectors and nongovernmental organisations. The exception is organisations within the Archive, Library and Museum (ALM) sector. The company and organisations are to have at least 10 employees.
- The applicant is to have submitted any final reports for previous RJ-financed grants no later than the final date for the application.
- The applicant may not be or may not have been an employee of the organisation.
- Applicants may only submit one Flexit application.
- The applicant should have a genuine interest for practice-based research and for collaborative production of knowledge with practitioners, good social skills and good networks both within and outside the research world.
Applications
The application system is open from 10 December 2019.
Applications must reach RJ not later than 16.00 on 5 March 2020.
Applications consist of the following parts:
Title
The title, which is to be provided in both Swedish and English, should indicate the actual project title and also which organisation the project application is for.
The summary is to be written in Swedish and English and may contain up to 1,500 characters including spaces. It should explain why the research task is important, its purpose and how it will be implemented. The summary is to 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.
Grant administrator
Under Grant administrator, indicate the participating institution's higher education institution.
The project description, which is to be produced jointly by the researcher and the organisation, may contain up to 25,000 characters including spaces. It can be in Swedish or English and is to list:
- the organisation's need for developing knowledge,
- the research question,
- the purpose,
- theory and method,
- the project plan and grounds for the project period,
- the internationally most important work in the research area concerned,
- the expected scholarly contribution,
- the expected contribution to the organisation,
- plan describing how the project and its results will be communicated, both to the research community as well as to society at large (RJ's policy for open access),
- the expected collaborative effects, such as how the researcher plans to strengthen connections and facilitate the exchange of knowledge between the organisation and academia,
- the role of the researcher in the project and their relevant skills and qualifications,
- the current employment situation of the applicant.
Budget
- The applicant is to specify the monthly salary, employer's social-insurance contribution top-up (LKP) and working time in the project (75%). Specify the higher education institution's LKP. The salary you specify in the application is to be based on your current salary, which will also apply during the project (including standard salary adjustments).
- Specify operational costs and costs for disseminating results, including costs for open access and production support. See RJ's policy on grants for scholarly production
- No indirect costs are to be stated in the application.
- For every approved grant, RJ adds a grant for indirect costs and costs of premises for the relevant higher education institution according to the model applied by RJ.
All costs are specified under Budget specification. Unspecified or unexplained costs will not be approved.
Certificate from head of department
The certificate from the head of department is to include information on what is included in the affiliation during the Flexit project period at the organisation (grant for administrative costs for affiliation during the period is SEK 30,000 per year). This should include library services, copying services and certain administrative support. The certificate is also to guarantee that the department intends to employ the researcher during the final third of the project period.
The certificate, which is also sent to RJ, is to have the head of department's or equivalent's signature and be in RJ's possession not later than 5 March 2020.
Letter of intent
The certificate is also to guarantee that the organisation intends to employ the researcher during the first two-thirds of the project period under the conditions for salary and office infrastructure indicated by the call for applications. The certificate, which is also sent to RJ, is to have the organisation's contact person's or equivalent's signature and be in RJ's possession not later than 5 March 2020.
References
Give complete references in the field for references for the sources you cite in your application.
Publications
The main publications of the applicant are listed here. A maximum of five titles may be listed.
Selection process
The applications are assessed and prioritised by the programme group for Flexit, based on scholarly quality, feasibility, added value for the organisation and collaborative potential.
A decision about research grants will be made by RJ's board in May 2020. No justifications will be given for the Board's decisions.
The positions are to begin between 1 August and 31 December 2020.
Miscellaneous
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.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.