Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) announces funding of research periods of six to twelve months' duration with at least one month abroad for permanently employed senior lecturers and professors in humanities and social sciences at Swedish higher education institutions (HEIs). The grant is intended to enable full-time research for the relevant employment and is to be used to complete research already at an advanced stage. The purpose of the grant is also to promote international contacts with Swedish research by giving opportunities for stays abroad. After a test trial, RJ's board decided in 2018 to make RJ Sabbatical part of its regular support forms.

RJ Sabbatical is intended for use in research and edition projects. The research period must be devoted to completing ongoing research projects that have reached an advanced stage or to complete the writing of major works or syntheses likely to be regarded as representing significant scholarship. A completed and printed manuscript is to be available within one year of completion of an RJ Sabbatical.

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 available for more than 12 months. However, it may be possible to added research time within your own employment to the RJ Sabbatical period.

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 attending conferences, translation, language editing and publishing with open access (OA).

Note that RJ research grantees must publish their peer-reviewed writings in journals and conference publications using open access. RJ also encourages and supports through grants the publication of monographs and book chapters using open access.

RJ Sabbatical grantees in 2021 are required to start their research by 1 January 2023.

Instructions

• Only one RJ Sabbatical application may be submitted per application occasion.
• Applications may only be for a single applicant.
• By the application date, final reports for any previous research grants from RJ must have been submitted.
• Researchers with RJ Sabbatical grants are required to conduct research for the entire time covered by the employment. An exception may be made only for supervision of PhD students, up to a maximum of 10 per cent of full-time employment (corresponding to three PhD students) and no more than the amount committed to at the start of the RJ Sabbatical. The supervision of PhD students is not funded by RJ.
• The stay abroad must include a continuous period of at least 30 days.
• The applicant is responsible for the planning and all practical arrangements for a stay abroad (insurance, accommodation, visa and the like). This is done in consultation with the researcher's own HEI and the foreign research environment. The applicant must present a calculation of the expenses for the sabbatical abroad. Calculate a stay abroad for no more than 90 days in accordance with government regulations for reimbursements for service abroad. Calculate longer stays abroad, particularly if costs include other family members, 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.
• Costs for premises (indirect costs) do not need to be stated but are added to each application based on calculations of annual working hours.
• Researchers who are drawing retirement pension or will start drawing it during the period covered by the funding may not apply for an 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 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 that include stays abroad will have priority. One of the stays abroad must be at least 30 days.

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.
• It is important to have a realistic plan for how the period with RJ Sabbatical will result in a printed manuscript.
• The project's originality and relation to the international research front.
• RJ will prioritise applications that clearly show how the stay abroad and the work are expected to contribute to international scholarly contacts and collaboration with the home institution during a longer period after completing the RJ Sabbatical.

Review process

Applications are evaluated by a panel composed largely of international experts, with the option of seeking advice from subject experts. In November 2021, 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

Three months after the funding ends, the researcher is to submit a final report on the conducted research.

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 layperson. If the application is approved, the summary will be posted on RJ's website.

The start and end dates must refer to the funding applied for from RJ.

Budget: Specify and list costs related to stays abroad, also known as operating costs. Calculate a stay abroad for more than 90 days in accordance with government regulations for reimbursements for service abroad. Calculate longer stays abroad, particularly if costs include other family members, in accordance with the URA government agreement. Also list costs for attending conferences, translation, language editing and open access publishing, production support, annual work hours, 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 institutions (or equivalent) will be achieved and how international scholarly contacts and collaboration with the home department will be achieved.

The account of the scholarly work to be carried out must take the form of a detailed outline for the planned publications, list what research is completed and what remains to be done. It should also specify what type of work is required to implement the various components and that estimated time required. It should clearly state that after the RJ Sabbatical, one or more manuscripts will be complete for printing no later than one year after completion of the RJ Sabbatical.

The description should also include a brief CV with information about the applicant's current employment and ongoing administrative responsibilities in per cent.

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. Unspecified or unexplained costs will not be approved. 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.

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

Approval of the application is indicated by the grant administrator printing the cover page, the head of department or equivalent signing the cover page together with the researcher and then sending this page by letter post to RJ within a week after the deadline. By the head of department or equivalent signing the application, he or she guarantees that the applicant will be able to conduct research full time in the position 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 12 April 2021.
• Online applications must reach RJ not later than 16:00 on 5 May 2021.