GRANTS. The application period for ALF project funding for Gothenburg-based research has commenced; it will conclude on Thursday, June 1, 2017. This year’s application procedure includes several changes. Please note that all applicants must print out the “Project Agreement” form (available via ResearchWeb) and arrange to have it signed by a healthcare services operations manager well in advance of June 1, the deadline for applications.
Detailed information about the call for applications for ALF project funding is available online at: http://sahlgrenska.gu.se/samverkan/alf-medel
Here are some of the changes involved in this application round:
- The healthcare services operations manager who signs the project agreement has ultimate financial responsibility for the project. Because this certificate must be printed, signed by an operations manager, and then scanned and attached to your application, you should allow yourself plenty of time. The “Project Agreement” form is available for download via ResearchWeb’s project funding application system.
- All applicants must hold a minimum 50% position, either in the Västra Götaland Regional Council or with another healthcare provider that has been contracted to supply services to the regional council, or at Sahlgrenska Academy. If the applicant is employed by the university, a co-applicant is required; said co-applicant must be a healthcare services professional. The applicant may also hold a position that involves work in more than one of these areas. For example, he/she may work 20% at Sahlgrenska Academy and 30% at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
- No employment requirements are imposed on professors emeriti, but such applicants must always have a co-applicant who is a healthcare services professional. Emeriti who receive ALF funding must submit an annual report on the progress of their projects.
- As in previous years, the grant rate is expected to be roughly 67%. However, the minimum grant amount that one can receive is slightly higher than before, and the maximum amount is slightly lower. The largest amount of funding one may receive this year is SEK 2 million per annum over the course of 3 years, and the minimum amount that one may receive is SEK 500,000 per annum over the course of 3 years. In between these sums, grant amounts are to be allocated on a sliding scale (SEK 500,000, SEK 750,000, SEK 1,000,000, SEK 1,250,000, SEK 1,500,000, SEK 1,750,000, and SEK 2,000,000).
- From the beginning of next year, the outcome of research collaborations between county councils and universities throughout the country is slated to be evaluated. This assessment will be spearheaded by the Swedish Research Council, which will establish three panels, each consisting of twelve people, to carry out the evaluations. Bibliometrics will be assigned the most weight in the evaluation procedure (50%). The other two panels will evaluate the clinical significance of the research and its benefit to society, as well as the clinical research opportunities posed by each project. On the basis of these evaluations, 20% of national ALF funding will be reallocated among the county councils, starting in 2018. A certain amount of reallocation has already taken place, but the effects of these changes have been allayed. In order to better prepare ourselves in advance of the upcoming evaluations, the application contains additional fields requesting extra information; these must be filled in
- During the autumn or winter of 2017, a special call for grant applications by young researchers who are not yet associate professors will take place. This funding can provide young researchers with SEK 300,000 per year for three years, in order to facilitate their ability to publish their research work independently (a certain amount of independent publication is required in order to be offered an associate professorship) In the grant application, you will need to describe the articles you intend to publish with the help of the funding received. These grants are intended for those of you who are close to being awarded an associate professor position, but who cannot apply for funding during the primary ALF grant application round, due to the teaching requirements posed to applicants for such funding. The call for applications for the young researchers’ ALF grants is expected to take place in November.
