Swedish Research Council Research Infrastructure of National Interest Grant 2020, Sweden

The following requirements must be fulfilled in order for the organisation to be duly qualified to apply for the grant. We carry out checks to ensure unqualified applications are rejected from further processing.

Framework for the research infrastructure grant

• The purpose of the application shall fulfil the Swedish Research Council’s definition and criteria for research infrastructure of national interest, see under the heading “Focus” below.
• You may only apply for a grant for the infrastructures/areas listed under the heading “Areas/infrastructures the application shall relate to”.
• Applications for a grant for research infrastructure of national interest may be made by one or several Swedish higher education institutions or other Swedish public agencies with research mandates.
• If several organisations participate in the application, they should form a joint consortium. Only one organisation shall be the administrating organisation for the grant.
• Applications for a grant for Swedish participation in an international research infrastructure shall be part of an application for national infrastructure if there is a Swedish node.
• Applications shall include an overall budget that covers the entire grant period. For national infrastructure, the administrating organisation (or consortium) is expected to contribute co-funding of a minimum of 50 per cent. For international infrastructure, the participating organisations are expected to give comprehensive undertakings that provide Swedish added value from the international membership. This can be of a nature other than co-funding, depending on the framework for the operation of the infrastructure.

In addition to the Swedish Research Council’s general terms and conditions for grants for funds awarded to research and research-supporting activities, special terms and conditions for infrastructure grants also apply.

Focus

A central requirement for the development of research and innovation is for researchers to have access to high-class research infrastructure. In order to enable Swedish researchers to use research infrastructure that gives access to the best methods, the best equipment and relevant expertise, the Swedish Research Council works to fund and provide long-term planning for research infrastructure of national interest.

The Swedish Research Council’s definition of research infrastructure of national interest is:

Research infrastructure of national interest is intended to provide resources that enable research of several research teams and different projects within one or more research fields.

In addition to the definition, the Swedish Research Council applies the following criteria for infrastructure, and funds research infrastructure that:

• enables research of the highest scientific quality, which thereby contributes to the development of society
• is openly accessible primarily to researchers, but also to industry and other relevant actors operating in Sweden. When access is limited, prioritisation shall be made primarily on the basis of scientific quality
• is of broad national interest, which in most cases means that the research infrastructure is used by several research teams and researchers from several research organisations, and that the Swedish Research Council’s funding creates national added value
• has long-term planning for the scientific activities
• has long-term planning for management and control, funding, competence accumulation and development

Applicant

The applicant for the grant shall be a Swedish HEI or other Swedish public agency that is approved as an administrating organisation by the Swedish Research Council. The administrating organisation shall be the host organisation for the infrastructure, and is responsible for ensuring the grant is used according to the Swedish Research Council’s terms and conditions. It is desirable that more than one organisation backs any individual application, but it is not a requirement. When two or more organisations contribute resources to the infrastructure, they should form a consortium. The infrastructure’s organisation will be assessed based on how fit for purpose it is for the activities.

The application shall include one named researcher, who shall be the project leader for the infrastructure. The project leader shall preferably be the manager or have a similar role in the infrastructure, and shall be employed by the administrating organisation at the start of and throughout the grant period, unless the Swedish Research Council approves an exception.

In the event a consortium is backing an application, all consortium members shall confirm their undertakings in the form of letters of support (see also under the heading “What must the application contain?”). To safeguard responsibility relationships between the members of the consortium, the Swedish Research Council requires a consortium agreement signed by the vice-chancellor/head of public agency of all constituent consortium members. The consortium agreement shall be drawn up and be available at the administrating organisation before payment of the grant begins.

Areas/infrastructures the application shall relate to

The areas and infrastructures eligible to apply for a grant to research infrastructure of national interest 2019 are listed here. Please note that we only expect one application per infrastructure/area.

Costs and grant amounts

The grant may be used for investment in and operation of research infrastructure of national interest, and may include costs for coordination, development, construction or upgrading of the infrastructure.

If the grant relates to Swedish participation in an international infrastructure, costs relating to the Swedish node shall be included as part of the application for a national infrastructure. For new Swedish membership in an international infrastructure, that is infrastructure where Sweden does not have an ongoing membership, the membership fee shall be included in the amount applied for. For international infrastructure with ongoing Swedish membership, all costs related to the membership, excluding the membership fee, shall be included in the amount applied for. This is because the membership fee continues to be paid by the Swedish Research Council direct to the international infrastructure in question according to a separate international agreement.

Grants may not be used for research. Nor may grants be used for salaries to doctoral students, educational grants or scholarships.

Grant period

The grant may cover a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 8 years. Any grant period should end in an even year, to match future calls. The first payment will be made in January 2020 at the earliest.

For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.