1. General instructions
Your application will be considered for review if it:
- Responds to the questions of the call
- Has high scientific quality and high relevance for the Swedish EPA and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM). The applications will be reviewed for both aspects of scientific quality and relevance.
- Has a clear communication plan, for example communication between the researchers and the users of the research during the period of the project.
Your application should be submitted using the Swedish EPA’s application portal. The deadline for applications is stated in the call text. The Swedish EPA can offer support for your questions about the application portal within the office hours. Contact Britt-Marie Håkansson
2. Who can apply for grant funding?
The main applicant must hold a PhD and conduct research at universities, colleges, research institutes, or government agencies carrying out research as part of their mandate. The main applicant should be affiliated with a Swedish organization with a Swedish corporate identity number (“organisationsnummer”).
3. Using the Swedish EPA’s application portal
Research applications should be submitted using our electronic application portal in two steps. In the first step you should register and create a user profile. In the next step, you should log in to the application portal, complete the templates and send your application.
Step 1: Registration and creating a user profile
Go to the application portal using the link Application portal. In the portal register yourself as: ny användar (New user). The system will ask you to log in. Fill in your information. The system will create a log in information which will be then sent to your email address.
Step 2: Submitting application, filling in information and sending attachments
Log in and chose ny ansökan (new application) and utlysning (the call). Use the Save button at the bottom of the form. When your application is ready chose the button kontrollera uppgifter (check the information) and then skicka in ansökan (Send application). You will receive an email confirmation that your application has been submitted, together with a registration number.
4. How to write the application
The application template contains headings and fields to be filled in according to the instructions below.
Reference
Write your contact information in the gray field at the top of the page. Fill in Referens (Reference). By reference, we mean the information your organization needs to receive any allocated funds.
CV as attachment
Attach the CV’s of all applicants in one pdf file (max 4 MB).
Title of the project (in Swedish and English)
Choose a title that is easy to understand and remember. The project name will give a clear picture of what the research is about.
Summary for the web (in Swedish and English)
Write a summary in Swedish and one in English with a maximum of 2000 characters including spaces. The Swedish and English summary should be consistent with each other.
The granted projects will be searchable in the application portal database, which is published on the website of the Swedish EPA. The searchable information includes for example the abstracts of the projects.
Start and end dates
Fill in the start and end date for the project.
Project description - attachment
Write a project description and attach it as a separate attachment. See specifications for the scope and content of the project description below.
Budget (SEK)
Enter budget for the entire project, based on salary costs, travel costs, costs for communications and any other costs according to the budget template. The maximum budget includes overhead costs as well as costs for Open Access publishing (see announcement)
Environmental quality objectives
Enter to which of the environmental quality objectives the project contributes.
Current projects
Enter the research projects that you or other members of the project group are participating which could be related to this project. Select nytt (new) to add lines.
Projects applied to
Enter the relevant projects that you have applied for to other funding agencies. Select nytt (new) to add lines.
Projects granted by other funding agencies
If similar applications such as those submitted to the Swedish EPA are granted by other funders, this shall be notified to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency as soon as possible.
5. Context of the project desciption
Attach project description as a pdf file (max 4MB). The description should include planned research (see further headings and instructions below), references and attached budget (from the budget template). The project description may not exceed 15 A4 pages, with 1.15 spacing and Times New Roman 12 points font size.
The language of the project description should be English as the applications are reviewed by international experts. If the application is written in Swedish, it might be translated by a professional translator without special knowledge in the field of research.
The project description should consider the call text and include the following headings:
Purpose and research questions
Explain the overall purpose of the project, scientific issues, project focus, and possible limitations.
Theory and method
Here you will be asked for a detailed account of the research assignment, including theory and methodology.
State of the knowledge
Describe the state of the art nationally and internationally and explain relevant ongoing research.
Practical relevance
Describe the significance and usefulness of research for the Swedish EPA and SwAM and other users. Describe how the project contributes to environmental quality objectives and how the results can be practically used.
Organization and management
Describe the plan for the implementation and management of the research as well as subject areas and competences within the project group and how they interact. Describe how this help achieve the purpose of the project. Please mention if you are participating in any relevant networks or working groups.
Communication
Describe the communication plan both within the project and with the Swedish EPA, SwAM and other user groups. The communication plan should provide a complete picture of all activities.
The communication plan should include the following:
- Identify the target groups for the use of research results. Explain how the Swedish EPA and SwAM will be involved. Describe the plan for establishing a reference group for the project where the Swedish EPA and SwAM as well as any other identified stakeholders are participating.
- Describe how the results of the research will be reported. Describe the plan for scientific and popular science publications. The granted projects should write a final report in Swedish as well as a summary of results.
- Clarify efforts to communicate research during the course of the project, for example through exchanges with researchers and other user groups, and through newsletters, press release, website publishing, social media, seminars and more.
- Add all communication activities in the project’s timetable to provide a complete picture of activities planned within the project.
Granted projects are expected to participate in the Swedish EPA's annual research day and in annual meetings with related projects and with the users. In addition, they are expected to share the progress of their projects on their websites to facilitate transparency and awareness among stakeholders.
Timetable
Report an overall plan for the entire period of the project, including various activities and deliveries of the research, publications and communication.
Open Access data and scientific articles
Describe what data will be generated and how to store the data. Data from the project should be available to the Swedish EPA immediately at the end of the project period. Scientific articles from the project must be published with full Open Access.
Budget
Report the detailed budget for the entire project period in the Excel budget template (see below) distributed on payroll, travel, communication and any other costs and specify any subprojects. Attach the completed budget template to the project description.
References
List the literature.