The Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS) promotes and supports basic and applied research in its areas of responsibility: working life, public health and welfare. A large share of the research funding is granted to research projects in open competition following a yearly call.
Applications to FAS for research project grants are made in a two-step process. In the first step, the applicant submits a project outline. Researchers with approved outlines are subsequently invited to submit a complete project application. A maximum of two research project outlines will be accepted from the same project leader.
As a rule, project funding is granted for a maximum of three years. Eligible applicants must have defended their doctoral thesis by the time they submit a complete application.
For more information about FAS' areas of responsibility, please refer to: www.fas.se/aboutfas.
Submitting an outline
The outline should be submitted electronically via eKlara, http://eklara.fas.se. The last day for submitting an outline for research projects starting at the earliest in 2011 is Wednesday February 3, 2010, 5pm CET.
On the same day a printed hard copy, signed by the project leader, should be posted to FAS, Box 2220, 103 15 Stockholm, Sweden.
Outlines that have not been received by FAS in the form of a signed hard copy will not be taken into consideration.
Processing
The outlines are assessed by FAS’ evaluation committees, to which researchers and representatives of the public interest have been appointed. Assessments are based on e.g.:
- The scientific quality of the project (originality, theoretical framework, relationship to previous research and the forefront of international research)
- The competence of the project leader and the research group, the scientific environment and the international connection
- The feasibility of the project plan (method, data, resource framework)
- The relevance of the project in relation to FAS’ areas of responsibility
In April 2010, FAS will make public which outlines have been accepted to form the basis for complete project applications. Applications for a complete project proposal should be submitted no later than Tuesday June 1st, 2010.
Application form and guidelines for writing an outline
The application form for outlines is available in eKlara/Söka medel (apply for grants)/Skiss (outline). Complete instructions for the form and the appendices that should be submitted to eKlara – Personalbilaga (personnel), Projektbeskrivning (project description) and Meritförteckningar (CV) – can be found below and in the application form under the link Anvisningar till denna sida (Instructions for this page) as well as under the blue icons.
The process of writing and submitting an outline in eKlara is described in Handledning för eKlara (eKlara guidelines) on eKlara's start page.
FAS contact persons
Questions are welcome to FAS’ research secretaries, www.fas.se/huvudomraden, or to:
Professor Erland Hjelmquist, Secretary-General
Tel: +46 8 775 40 71, e-mail: 
Kenneth Abrahamsson, Programme Director
Tel: +46 8 775 40 91, e-mail: 
Questions concerning eKlara:
Susanne Gabrielsson, Programme Administrator
Tel: +46 8 775 40 84, e-mail: 
Ninnie McCabe, Programme Administrator
Tel: +46 8 775 40 98, e-mail: 
Instructions
Instructions for the outline can also be found in the application form under Anvisningar till denna sida and under the blue icons.
The work process in eKlara is described in Handledning för eKlara (eKlara guidelines), which can be downloaded from the eKlara start page. The guidelines contain important information which is not repeated in the instructions.
To be able to submit an outline via eKlara you need a user account. A person who has previously submitted an outline or application to FAS has a user account. To create a user account, go to För att skaffa användarkonto (To create a user account) on the start page.
Log into eKlara, go to Söka medel (Apply for grants). After having read the instructions on the page Söka medel (Apply for grants), go to the form Skiss (Outline).
A maximum of two research project outlines from the same project leader is allowed by FAS.
Skissformuläret (the outline form)
Projektledare (Project leader)
The application should be written using the project leader’s eKlara user account. The project leader has the scientific responsibility for the project and will be representing the project in all contacts with FAS. The applicant must have defended his/her doctoral thesis by the time of submitting the complete application. Only one person can be the project leader.
Projekttitel (project title)
The project title should indicate what the project is about. It should also give people outside the specialist area an idea of the content of the project. The title is often used on its own in many different situations, which is why it should be chosen with care. It should be in Swedish and may not exceed a maximum of 200 characters including spaces.
Projektets hemvist (Home institution of the project)
The home institution of a project is where most of the project activities will be carried out. If several institutions collaborate in the project, the home institution is where most of the research takes place.
The applicant’s home institution will appear automatically in the electronic form. If the project takes place somewhere else, please mark the box Annan institution (Other institution) and fill in the university/college, institution or equivalent in the appearing empty field.
Söks hos FAS (Amount applied from FAS)
Fill in the amount you request from FAS divided into budgetary years, in Swedish crowns (SEK), without any spaces or signs between the numbers. The amounts should include social fees as well as indirect costs.
Deliberations regarding indirects costs are currently ongoing. Information on the outcome will be communicated later.
It is the responsibility of the applicants to find out the applicable rate.
Sammanfattning (Abstract)
The purpose of the project abstract is to inform FAS’ evaluators and decision makers about the project. The abstract should be able to stand on its own, which is why you should make no references to other parts of the outline. It is also important that laymen can understand the abstract.
The abstract must not exceed 2,000 characters including spaces.
Andra bidragsgivare (Other sources of funding)
Indicate here if you have received or applied for funding for this project from any other source. Specified information should be filled into the appendix Project description.
Personalbilaga (Personnel appendix)
The personnel appendix should be written using the eKlara template Personalbilaga (available in Swedish as well as in English). Template 1 is for 1–7 persons, template 2 is for 1–14 persons. Please follow the instructions available in Handledning för eKlara (eKlara guidelines) regarding how to handle the appendix templates etc.
Fill in all participating project personnel including consultants and fill in the salaries that will be financed by the project grant. The salaries should be calculated into fulltime monthly salaries excluding social fees. The estimated approximate workload should be presented as number of fulltime person months (without any decimals). Fill in name, year of birth and gender as well as year of obtaining the Ph.D. and subject area of thesis, so that it is clear who has finished his/her post-graduate studies. With subject area of thesis, we mean the research discipline, e.g. sociology, and not the title of the dissertation.
Employed persons may not be fully financed by the project grant and applications may not compensate for supervision of doctoral students. Applications to fund the salary of professors require specific motivation in the project description.
Projektbeskrivning (Project description)
The appendix should be written using the eKlara appendix template Projektbeskrivning (Project description). Please follow the instructions available in Handledning för eKlara (eKlara guidelines) about how to handle the appendix templates etc. Start writing below the headings at the top of the document. Please do not touch them since they are coded. Use the same font as the template, Arial 10 pt. Smaller fonts will not be accepted.
The project description must not exceed a maximum of three A4 pages (the equivalent of 15,000 characters including spaces) plus a list of references of maximum one A4 page. More pages will not be accepted in the electronic version (printouts can sometimes go over onto a new page with a few lines depending on settings). Project description text exceeding three pages will not be considered in the evaluation.
The description should be short and concise and cover:
- Problem area and theoretical points of departure
- Overarching objective
- Specific problem/question at issue
- Connection to other research
- Material/empirical foundation
- Methodological considerations
- Relevance to society and working life
The above headings are included in the project description template as a reminder to the applicant to include all aspects.
Please also comment if a gender perspective is relevant to the project.
You should furthermore broadly describe how you plan to use the funds in the categories Löner inkl sociala avgifter (Salaries incl. social fees), Övrigt (Other), and Förvaltnings- och lokalkostnadspåslag (Overhead costs including office rental).
It should be clear from the project description whether the project builds on a previous project. If that is the case the applicant must fill in whether it has been closed or is still on-going, how the two projects relate to each other, and what the difference is between the two. Results and publications from the preceding project should be presented. If FAS financed the previous project, please indicate the FAS reference number.
If you have applied for or received funding from any other source, you should fill in the amounts and the years under the heading Andra bidragsgivare (Other funding agencies).
Meritförteckningar (CVs)
The appendix should be written using the eKlara appendix template CV. Please follow the instructions available in Handledning för eKlara (eKlara guidelines) about how to handle the appendix templates etc.
Include brief CVs no longer than two A4 pages per person for the project leader and the other postdoctoral researchers in the project. Additional pages will not be taken into consideration in the evaluation. The CVs should be compiled into one document.
The CVs should include information about education, employment and earlier larger research grants (project title, funding agency, amount, and year) and relevant publications from the project, notably international ones, from the past five years.
If the project leader intends to simultaneously lead other projects, the CV should include information about the other projects and their sources of funding.
Submit and print the outline in eKlara
When the form has been filled in and the appendices are in place, click on the button Skicka in (Submit). As a confirmation of receipt to FAS, a page will appear in eKlara indicating the FAS reference number of the outline and instructions on how to print the single-sided hard copy that should be signed and sent by post to FAS.
