Doctoral programme grant within the infection area

Application procedure

In order for a person to access the call and start the application process, they have to be authorised to create organisation applications on the organisation’s Prisma account. If this is not the same person who will be the project leader and responsible for completing the application, the project leader must be invited to the application once the process has been started (see under the heading “Applicant” below, and under the tab “Participants” in the application form).

Requirements for applicants

The following requirements must be fulfilled in order for the organisation to be eligible to apply for the grant. We carry out checks, and reject applications that do not fulfil the requirements.

Framework for the graduate school

The graduate school shall

• be linked to an HEI with main and coordinating responsibility
• be operated by a minimum of two Swedish HEIs in cooperation
• have access to well-functioning research environment/s with international connections
• form a structured and coherent range of educational programmes, with joint courses and seminars of high scientific and educational quality, which have to be accessible nationally, and preferably internationally
• have a clear organisation and leadership, including a board or governing body with overarching responsibility for quality assurance of the graduate school’s activities in collaboration with the participating departments
• cover a minimum of 10 doctoral students at Swedish HEIs. These do not have to be admitted at the time of applying
• have a plan for internationalisation of third cycle education
• have a sufficient national supply of research students.

The graduate school may offer doctoral studies on a part-time basis.

Focus

The call has two subsidiary focuses: antimicrobial resistance, and viruses and pandemics. The application shall relate to one or both of these.

Antimicrobial resistance

Research in antimicrobial resistance aims to preserve access to effective treatment of infections in humans and animals. It covers research into mechanisms for emergence and transfer of resistance, and infection prevention and control in humans and animals and in the environment. The area also includes research that supports improved diagnostics of resistant infections, and development of surveillance of the use of antimicrobials, resistance, and healthcare-associated infections. Access to effective medicines and vaccines is also an important research area.

In addition to medical, natural science, and technical perspectives, research questions from the social sciences and humanities are also needed. An interdisciplinary and/or One Health perspective strengthens the opportunities for understanding the complex societal problem of antimicrobial resistance, and for finding new and innovative solutions.

Viruses and pandemics

Research about viruses and pandemics shall contribute to new knowledge about viral diseases, how different viruses infect and spread, and about transfer of viruses from animals to humans. The area also includes prevention, monitoring of infection transmission, and aims to provide knowledge of how changes to climate and environment affect the risk of new pandemics emerging. Research in the development of new medicines, vaccines, and therapies, and knowledge about how equal and gender-equal health can be safeguarded during a pandemic are important components. To build up preparedness ahead of future pandemics, knowledge is also needed about the economic and social effects of large and long-lasting societal spread.

Applicant

The applicant must be a Swedish higher education institution (HEI) with degree-awarding powers at third cycle higher education level, that we have approved as an administrating organisation for grants from the Swedish Research Council. The HEI shall coordinate the national graduate school, and shall also be responsible for activity reporting and for scientific and financial final reporting of grants awarded. The graduate school shall be operated by no less than 2 HEIs in cooperation.

The application shall include one named researcher, who shall be the coordinator of the graduate school and responsible for coordination and follow-up of studies. The coordinator shall be employed by the administrating organisation at the start of and throughout the grant period and any further additional availability period. The employment must equal at least 20 per cent of a full-time equivalent. The coordinator does not have to be employed at the time of applying. A named representative of each participating HEI shall be listed (see instructions under “Research programme” below), and be included as participating researchers in the application.

Number of applications and previous grants

General information about overlaps between applications and grants

The application must not cover costs for purposes that are already funded by the Swedish Research Council or any other funding body. Overlaps with other grants or applications may impact on the grant amount awarded, or be a reason for us to reject the application.

There is no limit to the number of applications a single HEI may submit or participate in. However, only one application per graduate school can be submitted.

Participating researchers

A representative of each HEI participating in the graduate school shall be included as a participating researcher in the application. The participating researchers shall be researchers with a doctoral degree or corresponding competence (not doctoral students), whose scientific competence will be crucial for implementing the proposed graduate school’s activities.

Participating researchers shall provide the necessary information themselves in Prisma, and upload these to the application.

Costs and grant amounts

The application may cover costs for joint coordinating activities for the graduate school, including salary costs for the coordinator. The grant may not be used for research expenses, doctoral student salaries or scholarships.

Application may be made for a maximum of 2 000 000 SEK per year, including indirect costs.

The grant amount includes cover of indirect costs as a percentage of the direct costs, according to the model used by the administrating organisation.

The Swedish Research Council assumes that the administrating organisation will cover any costs in excess of the amount received.

Grant period

The grant period is 4 years, starting in January 2025. The first payment will be made in January 2025 at the earliest.

The coordinating HEI shall submit a report to the Swedish Research Council no later than 28 February 2027, stating how the graduate school has developed and the result of the admission of doctoral students to the graduate school. If the results do not correspond to the preconditions that the grant was based on, the grant amounts may be reviewed.

What must the application contain?

Please refer to the application form in Prisma in parallel with reading the instructions below, which describe the call-specific contents of the application. More information on what to do in practical terms is available in our Guide for applicants.

Foreign experts are involved in the scientific evaluation of the applications. To ensure fair and equitable assessment and efficient processing, please therefore complete the application in English (except the popular science description, which must be in Swedish).

The information we request under each tab in the application form is described below.

Descriptive information

Abstract

The abstract shall include a brief description of the following:

• the focus of the graduate school
• the organisation planned
• the significance to the research field.

The text shall provide an overview of the purpose and implementation of the graduate school. Please use wording to ensure persons with another subject specialisation can understand the information.

The description may cover a maximum of 1 500 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately one third of an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Popular science description

Describe the activities of the graduate school in such a way that a person who is not familiar with the subject can understand it. Describe what is to be done, and why. Explain also in what way the graduate school will contribute to strengthening the research competence in the field of infection.

The popular science description is important when we inform about the research funded by the Swedish Research Council.

The text must be in Swedish and may cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately half an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Subsidiary focus

Please mark which of the two subsidiary focuses, Antimicrobial resistance or Viruses and pandemics, that your project relates to.

Research description

Research programme

The research programme shall consist of a brief but complete description of how the graduate school will be designed. It shall cover a maximum of 10 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins, including references (not as hyperlinks) and any images.

The research programme must include the following headings and information, listed in the following order:

Objective:

Describe the theme and focus of the graduate school.

Research environment:

Describe the research environment/s supporting the graduate school. Describe the environment/s in terms of focus and management, and the focus of research in progress. Describe in particular how the environment/s may contribute to the development of the graduate school.

Programme description:

Summarise the planned educational activities of the graduate school, and describe the recruitment basis.

Organisation:

Describe in detail how the graduate school will be organised and administrated (courses offered, seminars, course development, coordinating, study follow-up, work allocation between supervisors, examiners and course providers). Describe also the planned dimensioning of the graduate school in terms of number of doctoral students.

Significance:

Describe the national graduate school’s plan for achieving the aim of strengthening the national recruitment base and the research competence in the field of infection (antimicrobial resistance, and viruses and pandemics).

National coordination:

Describe the Swedish HEIs that are participating in the operation of the graduate school, and list the person/s (name, position, organisational unit) who will be responsible for this participation at each HEI. Describe briefly the planned allocation of roles, tasks and responsibilities for the operation to the persons participating (including the coordinator), and what specific competences each participant will contribute.

International and other national collaboration:

Describe the collaboration with Swedish and foreign research environments and/or other graduate schools.

Report the following under separate headings if relevant to the application:

Equipment:

Describe the basic equipment relevant to the programme that the graduate school has at its disposal.

Need for research infrastructure:

Specify the graduate school’s need for international and national research infrastructure. If choosing to use other infrastructure than those supported by the Swedish Research Council, and that are thereby open to all, this must be justified (also applies to local research infrastructure).

Relevance

Describe how the graduate school is relevant for the focus on the field of infection (see the definition in the introduction to the call text) and how the project promotes the development of this field.

The description may cover a maximum of 4 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately one A4 page in Arial, font size 11.

Description of merits

Describe how the merits stated in the project leader’s/coordinator’s CV and list of publications and other research outputs confirm their competence as coordinator and responsible for implementing the proposed activities. The description may cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately half an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Publications and other research outputs

The project leader’s/coordinator’s publications and other research outputs

Please attach the publication list drawn up according to the headings and information below. The list shall cover a maximum of 5 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins.

Sort the outputs under each heading in reverse chronological order, so that the latest publication is at the top of the list. Please only include articles or equivalent that are published or accepted for publication at the time of applying. The author name order shall be identical to that of the published work. The application cannot be supplemented with publications after the deadline for the call.

1. Selection of research outputs:

List the 10 publications or other outputs that are the most important for confirming the coordinator’s competence as project leader and responsible for implementing the proposed activities. For each publication, please state how the researcher contributed to it, and its relevance to the graduate school described (maximum 4 lines per publication). Highlight the researcher’s name in bold in the author list.

2. Relevant peer-reviewed research outputs from 2016–2024:

In this part, the outputs listed under Item 1 shall also be included if they were published during the period in question. Sort them with the researcher’s name highlighted in bold in the author list/corresponging under headings (type of output) in the following order:

• Original articles
• Conference contributions, the results of which are not included in other publications
• Edited volumes
• Research review articles
• Books and book chapters
• Artistic work
• Other outputs that do not fit under any of the headings above Please note that intellectual property rights shall be shown in the CV section of the application.

3. Relevant non peer-reviewed research outputs from 2016–2024

In this part, the outputs listed under Item 1 shall also be included if they were published during the period in question. Sort them with the researcher’s name highlighted in bold in the author list/corresponging under headings (type of output) in the following order:

• Artistic work
• Publications including popular science books/presentations
• Preprints
• Other outputs that do not fit under any of the headings above Please note that intellectual property rights shall be shown in the CV section of the application.

Participating researchers’ publications and other research outputs

Attach all participating researchers’ publication lists joined together into a single file.

The list for each researcher shall include the 10 publications or other research outputs that are the most relevant for the implementation of the activities described, and shall cover a maximum of 1 A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins. The name of the researcher in question shall be highlighted in bold and also be included in the page header of each list.

The outputs may be of the following types and must be published or accepted for publication at the time of applying. The author name order shall be identical to that of the published work. The application cannot be supplemented with publications after the deadline for the call.

Peer-reviewed

• original articles
• conference contributions
• edited volumes
• research review articles
• books and book chapters
• artistic work
• other outputs

and

Non peer-reviewed research outputs

Budget and research resources

Personnel

State the activity level (per cent of a full-time equivalent) of all personnel active within the operation of the graduate school, that is to say the project leader/coordinator, other researchers responsible for participation in the graduate school at other HEIs, doctoral students and other personnel.

Please also state the salary applied for, for the project leader/coordinator or other personnel active within the graduate school, both as a percentage of a full-time salary and as actual annual amounts (including social security contributions). Please state the amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Other costs

Describe any other costs of the project (premises costs, running costs and depreciation costs). Please state annual amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Depreciation costs for equipment to be used in the operation may be included, provided that

• the equipment has an economic life of at least three years
• the equipment has an acquisition value above a certain amount
• the need cannot be fulfilled by using national or international research infrastructure supported by the Swedish Research Council and open to all.

Only the proportion of depreciation costs that corresponds to the use of the equipment in the proposed operation may be included. Depreciation costs for equipment that is wholly financed via other grants may not be included.

Total cost of the graduate school

Prisma will automatically add up the budget items listed in a table. The total amount applied for shall also include indirect costs. These shall be added to the table by the applicant (project leader). Here the applicant (project leader) can also add any additional costs that the graduate school entails (for which funding is not applied for under this call).

Justification of the budget applied for

Justify briefly each cost applied for in the budget stated. The description may cover a maximum of 4 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately one A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Other funding

Please state any other funding of the project over and above what is applied for in this application. Please state the amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Administrating organisation

Please state the location of the graduate school.

Participants

Under this tab, the person invited to be the project leader/coordinator may in turn invite participating researchers and participating administrators to the application.

CV

Under this tab, the project leader/coordinator shall upload the relevant CV information from their personal account in Prisma. The information/merits shall confirm the project leader’s/coordinator’s competence as coordinator and responsible for implementing the proposed activities. Participating researchers must upload their own CV information to the application.

The following information, where available, must always be included in each CV, taking into account the stated limitation in numbers:

Education

First, second and third cycle higher education and specialist degrees.

Work

• Current employment (including information on employment format)
• Longer relevant employment
• Post-doctoral visits (state also as employment if applicable)
• Researcher exchanges of relevance to the research described
• Any longer interruptions in the research that have impacted on the opportunity to gain merit as a researcher.

Merits and awards

• Docentship/associate professorship
• Persons supervised (postdoctoral and doctoral students; state the number of persons in each category and list the names of the maximum 10 most relevant)
• Relevant grants received in competition (list maximum 10)
• The most relevant prizes and awards (list maximum 10)
• Any other merits of relevance to the application, such as invitations to lecture, leadership assignments, representative assignments, membership of scientific associations and similar.

Intellectual property rights

For example, patents and open access computer programs developed; state up to 10 of the most relevant.

How your application is assessed

Scientific quality is the fundamental criterion when the Swedish Research Council allocates grants to research. Your application is evaluated in competition with the other applications on the basis of the following evaluation criteria.

Evaluation process

The application for Doctoral programme grant within the infection area is evaluated by a review panel where the members are Swedish and international researchers.

At least three members review and grade your application individually. If extra competence is needed, your application might also be evaluated by an additional, external, reviewer. The entire review panel (not including any external reviewers) then meets at a review panel meeting to discuss and prioritise the applications, and to make a proposal for a decision to the Scientific council for medicine and health.

Review panel

Following the grant decision, the application will receive an individual final statement containing the grades and a summary of the review panel’s discussion and overall assessment of the scientific quality of the application.

Here you will find a more comprehensive description of the Swedish Research Council's assessment of applications.

Evaluation criteria and guiding questions

The evaluation of the scientific quality of the application is made based on four basic criteria (Scientific quality of the proposed research, Novelty and originality, Merits of the applicant, Feasibility). The purpose of using several components is to achieve a multi-faceted evaluation. The criteria are assessed on a seven-grade scale, except for feasibility, which is assessed on a three-grade scale.

In addition to the basic criteria, the application is also evaluated using two additional criteria; Research environment supporting the doctoral programme, which is assessed on a seven-grade scale, and Relevance, which is assessed on a two-grade scale.

For each criterion, there are guiding questions to support the panel members’ evaluation of your application. These can also function as guidance for you when you write your application.

Scientific quality of the proposed research (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent do the objectives, content and organisation of the graduate school add scientific value to the doctoral education within the specified research area?
• How does the proposed educational content, in terms of courses, seminars and other activities, support high scientific quality, methodologically and theoretically?
• Does the graduate school and the structure of the educational content ensure high pedagogical quality in the education?

Novelty and originality (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent does the graduate school contribute to novelty and originality with regards to the graduate education within the specified research area and the purpose of this call?
• To what extent does the graduate school support novel forms of collaboration and participation?
• To what extent do the objectives, content and organisation of the graduate school contribute to strengthening the originality and developing novel thinking in the scientific work and training of the graduate students?

Merits of the applicants (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• Does the programme coordinator and participating researchers have previous experience conducting doctoral education and graduate schools?
• Are the coordinator and participating researchers highly merited within their respective fields?
• To what extent may their joint merits and competences contribute to high quality in the doctoral education?

Feasibility (1–3)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent does the organisation and management of the graduate school ensure quality in implementation?
• How do the participating institutions each contribute to the graduate school?
• Have the applicants shown that there is an adequate number of potential graduate participants?
• How is access to staff, infrastructure and other necessary resources ensured?
• Is the budget realistic in relation to the objectives, content and organisation of the graduate school?

Research environment supporting the doctoral programme (1-7)

Guiding questions:

• Is the graduate school founded on relevant, state-of-the-art research of high quality?
• To what extent does the research at the participating institutions complement each other in terms of relevance and high quality research?
• Does the plan and budget reflect that the graduate school is a collaborative effort between the participating institutions?
• Can the graduate school promote international networking for its participating students?

Overall grade (1–7)

The above subsidiary criteria are weighed together into an overall grade, which reflects the review panel’s joint evaluation of the application’s scientific quality.

The different subsidiary grades are weighed together into an overall grade on a seven-grade scale. Normally, the subsidiary grade for Scientific quality is given the most weight in the overall grade. Research environment shall be weighted heavily, but a high grade for this aspect cannot outweigh any lack of scientific quality. The subsidiary grades for Novelty and originality or Merits of the applicants may only in exceptional cases balance weaknesses in scientific quality, and then only minor weaknesses.

Relevance (1-2)

The criterion Relevance to the call relates to the purpose of the call. The purpose of the grant is to arrange third cycle higher education with the purpose of strengthening research competence within antimicrobial resistance and/or viruses and pandemics in Sweden.

The relevance-criterion is not weighed into the overall grade. Instead, it is to be weighed into an application’s ranking in relation to others.

Guiding questions:

• Is the focus of the graduate school in line with the purpose and focus of the call?
• Will the graduate school contribute to development of new knowledge and increase competence relevant for antimicrobial resistance or viruses and pandemics?
• Will the graduate school strengthen and enhance the quality of research education at the participating research institutions?