This means that it is a requirement that researchers active in Sweden participate in the research or that a Swedish research institute is actively involved. This also means that RJ allows the participation of foreign researchers based abroad. The researchers are free to define their own research tasks.

Programmes require a highly developed research environment or researcher network, and advanced expertise on the part of the researchers and research leader. Research groups of this kind are characterised by being well established in the international research community, with considerable contributions, both national and international.

The average size of RJ Programme grants to date has been approximately SEK 35 million, including LKP (employer's social-insurance contribution top-up) and indirect costs. RJ budgets for up to three programmes annually.

Conditions

• Each research leader (applicant) may send in only one application for RJ Programme funding.
• The programme period is to be six to eight years.
• The maximum project working time is 75% for each individual researcher per year.
• Every participating researcher applying for salary funding is to have obtained a PhD by the application date (PhD students who are already funded can take part in the programme but can only be paid from the programme funds after obtaining their PhDs).
• The research leader (applicant) is to have issued a final report on any previous research project for which RJ awarded support.
• Costs of non-Swedish project participants working in Sweden or other countries and costs of research stays outside Sweden may be included.
• Limited room can also be budgeted for recruitments of project participants who have not yet been identified and whose activities in the programme are planned.
• 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.

Assessment criteria

The crucial criteria for RJ's decisions are the academic quality of the research content, the international standard of the research and the feasibility of the programme.

Review process

Applications are assessed in a special programme group composed of researchers from countries other than Sweden. The review process takes place in two stages. On the first assessment occasion, a number of applications are shortlisted for further review. The shortlisted applications are examined on the second assessment occasion by external experts and through hearings. RJ's Board makes the formal decisions on research grants.

Application

The application is to be approved by the grant administrator and signed by the research 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 regular post or email. RJ will only process signed applications.

The summary, to be written in Swedish and English, may comprise 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 directly on RJ's website.

The project description may contain up to 80,000 characters including spaces, is to be written in English and is to include:

• The research assignment
• The purpose
• Theories and methods
• The programme plan, with subprojects and a detailed account of the implementation of the programme
• A plan for coordinating the programme and keeping it coherent
• The contribution to the international research front
• The researchers' roles in the programme
• The research leader's and research group's skills and qualifications of relevance to the research assignment
• The current employment situation of all the researchers
• Plan describing how the programme 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. Salaries for unnamed researchers, including LKP, are to be added under Drift (operation) when occurring.
• 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.
• Specify SEK 0 as the monthly salary of project participants who are not being paid in the project.
• Resource requirements (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 application.
• For every project grant, RJ adds a grant for indirect costs and costs of premises according to the model applied by RJ. This also has to include costs that arise at other research units, both in Sweden and abroad.

All costs must be specified under Budget specifications. Unspecified or unexplained costs will not be approved.