RJ Projects 2020
Projects are well-defined research assignments in the social sciences and humanities carried out by groups of individual researchers and by small research groups with connections to Sweden. This means that it is a requirement that researchers active in Sweden participate in the research or that a Swedish research institute is involved. This also means that RJ allows the participation of foreign researchers based abroad. The researchers are free to define their own research tasks. Projects are approved for up to three years.
Instructions
- The project managers or participants who are rejected in the first stage of the application process two years running may not apply for project grants the following year.
- Every participating researcher applying for salary funding is to have obtained a PhD by the application date.
- By the application date, all applicants are to have issued final reports on previous research grants awarded by RJ.
- It is only possible to participate in one project application, irrespective of whether you are a project leader or a participant.
- The maximum project working time is 75 per cent for each individual researcher per year.
- Project working time for the project manager is to equal at least 20 per cent for each budget year.
- Costs of non-Swedish project participants working in Sweden or other countries and costs of research stays outside Sweden may be included.
- Professors can be paid in the project.
- Researchers aged 67 and over can be paid in the project provided that the researcher is employed by a grant administrator approved by RJ.
- It must be ensured that the research is compatible with the ethical guidelines established by the Swedish Research Council and that ethical review is carried out where necessary.
- Since RJ fully funds approved projects, we normally do not accept co-financing of projects with other external sources of funding. Normally, projects that have already begun cannot receive partial or full funding from RJ. The applicant is required to report any existing ongoing external funding and grants obtained in parallel with a project grant from RJ.
Assessment criteria
The crucial criteria for RJ's decisions are the academic quality of the research content, the feasibility of the project.
Review process
The application process takes place in two stages. Projects are assessed and ranked in terms of priority by one or more of RJ's review panels, which comprise Swedish and international researchers as well as some Board members. For the projects selected for further review, more detailed applications are submitted and then scrutinised by external experts from Sweden or abroad, whose statements pave the way for the review panels' assessment in the second stage.
RJ's Board makes the formal decisions on research grants. After the decision-making meeting in October, written statements from the external experts are sent to all applicants whose applications have proceeded to the second stage.
First stage
In the first application stage, the project leader informs the head of department or equivalent that funding from RJ is being applied for.
The summary, to be written in Swedish and English, may comprise up to 1500 characters including spaces. It is to 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.
The project description may contain up to 9,600 characters including spaces. It is to be written in English and include:
- The research assignment
- The purpose
- Theory and method
- The project plan and grounds for the project period
- The contribution to the international research front
- The internationally most important work in the research area concerned
- The role of the researcher(s) in the project and their relevant skills and qualifications
- The current employment situation of all research staff involved
- Plan describing how the project and its results will be communicated, both to the research community as well as to society at large. Read about RJ's policy for open access.
Budget
- Name all research staff. List them as project participants with their monthly salaries, employer's social-insurance contribution top-up (LKP) and working time in the project.
- Specify SEK 0 as the monthly salary of project participants who are not being paid within the project.
- Report working time and salary costs for any non-research staff, such as assistants and technical staff, under Drift as well, but do not name them.
- Resource needs (salaries and operation) and working time for non-research staff are to be specified and explained.
- Costs for dissemination of results, including costs for Open Access and production support.
- No indirect costs are to be stated in the in the application.
- For every project grant, RJ adds a grant for indirect costs and costs of premises according to the model applied by RJ.
All costs must be specified under Budget specifications. Unspecified or unexplained costs will not be approved.
Second stage
The application in the second stage is to be approved by the grant administrator and signed by the project leader and head of department or equivalent. Only the cover pages with the budget and signature are to be sent in, not the whole application. RJ will process only signed applications.
The project description in the second stage may consist of up to 32,000 characters including spaces, is to be written in English and is to contain the same points as the first stage but be more detailed and, in addition, include:
- A list of international collaborations, if any
- A developed plan describing how the project and its results will be communicated, both to the research community as well as to society at large.
RJ allows only minor corrections of the budget between the first and second application stages. RJ has no obligation to cover the costs that are reported and, instead, enjoys full freedom to decide on the scale of support that can be awarded.