RJ Infrastructure for research 2021

RJ's support form RJ Infrastructure for Research comprises initiatives aimed at making possible and promoting future research in the social sciences and humanities.

Grants are awarded for activities involving preparation for research, such as:

  • Creating platforms where cooperation between the research community and other institutions is developed
  • Making important archive and library collections available
  • Setting up databases.

Conditions

  • Each project leader may send in only one application for funding of infrastructure for research.
  • Grant period should be 1-4 years.
  • To apply there must be a connection to Sweden. This means that it is a requirement that researchers active in Sweden (formally affiliated to a Swedish research unit) participate in the research or that a Swedish research institute is actively involved.
  • The participation of foreign researchers based abroad is allowed.
  • The grant administrator is to contribute to funding of infrastructure for research.
  • The applicant is to report on permissions and any agreements that are required for the project implementation.
  • The applicant must submit a data management plan with the application.
  • Costs of project participants working in other countries may be included.
  • The infrastructure must be openly accessible to users. Research data and software developed at the infrastructure shall be made openly available as soon as possible.
  • It must be ensured that the project is compatible with the ethical guidelines established by the Swedish Research Council and that ethical review is carried out where necessary.

Assessment criteria

RJ encourages innovative thinking and originality within research infrastructures. The crucial criteria for RJ's decisions are the academic quality of the application, including the design and feasibility of the project, research needs and the data management plan.

Review process

The application process takes place in two stages. Applications are first assessed and ranked in a review panel. Projects selected for second stage submit a more detailed application, which is then reviewed by external experts from Sweden or abroad, whose opinions are included in the review panel's second round.

RJ's Board makes the formal decisions. Written statements from the external experts are sent, after the decision-making meeting in October, to all applicants whose applications have proceeded to the second stage.

First stage application

In the first application stage, the project leader informs the head of department or equivalent that funding from RJ is being applied for. The application is to clarify whether activities in the infrastructure project lie within a government agency's own area of responsibility.

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 project 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 directly on RJ's website.

The project description may contain up to 19,200 characters including spaces. It is to be written in English and is to include:

  • Purpose
  • Method
  • The project plan and reasons for the project period
  • How the project relates to existing infrastructures, if any, and how these are to be coordinated
  • The infrastructural need from the perspective of the research community. Also include a list of user groups (existing and upcoming).
  • The project participants' relevant skills and qualifications
  • The current employment situation of all those involved
  • Agreements and cooperation with the parties concerned
  • Include a timeline for the infrastructure, including preparation, construction, installation, development, operation and decommissioning, and clarify the division of responsibilities for these various elements.

Budget

  • Name all project participants, 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 other staff, such as assistants and technical staff, as well, but do not name them. The costs are to be stated under Drift (operation).
  • Resource needs (salaries and operation) are to be specified and explained.
  • Any co-funding from the grant administrator.
  • No indirect costs must be reported in the application.
  • For each project awarded, a contribution is added to indirect costs and costs of premises according to the model that RJ applies. This also includes costs emerging at other research-carrying units, both in Sweden and abroad.

Under Budget comment all costs must be specified and motivated. No unspecified or unexplained costs will be approved.

Data management plan

Applications for RJ Infrastructure for Research must include a data management plan in both the first and the second stage. Please use the national template and tool provided by the Swedish Research Council (or equivalent). The data management plan is to be written in English.

Second stage application

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 should be sent in, not the whole application, by post or e-mail. RJ will process only signed applications.

The project description in the second stage may consist of up to 64,000 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 list international contacts, if any.

You should also include a data management plan (in English) in the second stage. If needed the data management plan may be updated for the second stage.

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.