Guide for applicants in PDF format (opens in a new window).
Introduction
FAS’ International Postdoc Fellowship Programme consists of two types of grants: FAS Outgoing International Postdoc fellowships (FOIP) and FAS Incoming International Postdoc fellowships (FIIP)
The purpose of the FOIP fellowships is to give researchers at Swedish research institutions within FAS’ areas of responsibility the possibility to spend time at a foreign research institution. The purpose of the FIIP fellowships is to give qualified researchers in countries outside of Sweden the opportunity to exchange knowledge and competence with the Swedish research society within FAS’ research areas of responsibility. The objective of the programme is to develop competence and at the same time promote international research mobility and cross-border research collaboration.
The International Postdoc Fellowship Programme has been created to increase international mobility and collaboration, but it is also an extension of the broad range of grants open for researchers in order for them to pursue a career path in science.
FAS contact persons
For further information please contact:
Cecilia Grevby, international coordinator,
tel: +46 8 775 40 74, e-mail: cecilia.grevby@fas.se
Instructions for Outgoing International Postdoc fellowships (FOIP)
The purpose of the fellowships is to give researchers within FAS’ areas of responsibility the possibility to spend time at a foreign research institution. The objective is to develop competence and at the same time promote international research mobility and cross-border research collaboration.
The receiving institution abroad should have a good reputation in the applicant’s research area and the time abroad should add significantly to his/her knowledge and competence in view of future research within FAS’ areas of responsibility. For more information about FAS’ areas of responsibility, please refer to: http://www.fas.se/aboutfas.
Eligibility criteria
For the fellows: Researchers with a PhD degree obtained during the last five years (childcare and military services subtracted) counted from the date of the deadline of the call, are eligible to apply for a fellowship in the COFAS program.
All nationalities are accepted according to EC Rules for Participation1, but for the FOIP programme, the applicant should be connected to a Swedish research institution, the host institution, e.g. being a former research collaborator with the department in question.
For the host institutions: The host institution can be any public or private non-profit organisation in Sweden, carrying out research (universities, research institutes etc).
For the receiving institution abroad: The receiving institution can be situated in any country and be a legal entity established in a member state or an associated country, as well as a legal entity in an third country following the EC “Rules for participation” , but should be a well known research body, carrying out excellent research in the area of the research project in question.
General information
Applicants can apply for up to 24 consecutive months abroad, with a repatriation period of maximum half the time spent abroad (maximum 12 months). Applicants who find it difficult to spend longer periods of time abroad, e.g. for family reasons, may divide the time abroad with work at the home institution.
The grants include:
- Living allowance calculated from the allowance of the FAS national postdocs, which amounts to 63 100 euro/year;
- Travel allowance, which follows the Marie Curie rates as stated in the People work programme Table 3.2. Families will receive the double amount;
- Mobility allowance to cover costs linked to the relocation of the researcher and his/her family. The flat rates are 10,000 euro/year for researchers with family, and 6,000 euro/year for researchers without family;
- Research cost contribution, which amounts to 2,250 euro/year.
Additional funding from other sources will reduce the size of the grant. The grants may only be used for the purposes they were applied for. If the stay abroad is discontinued or if the grant has not been used during the time of the project, it may not be used for anything else and must be reimbursed.
FAS accepts no employer responsibility for the receivers of the grant. The employer will be the Swedish host institution. A grant agreement (form provided by FAS), should be concluded between the host institution and the research fellow. The agreement shall determine the conditions for implementing the research training activities and the respective rights and obligations of the researcher and the host institution in the project.
Treatment of ethical issues
The application for ethical approval will be submitted by the responsible research body, i.e. the state authority or the physical or legal entity under whose auspices the research is to be conducted. A university or a county council is always deemed to be the responsible research body when the research is carried out by one of its employees. The research body in question is responsible for ensuring that research which is subject to the provisions of the law is not conducted without approval.
In case of conflict between local/national legislation and FP7 legislation, a careful examination of the project in question will be carried out. If the conflict persists the FP7 legislation will prevail. A FP7 ethical check list can be found at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ethics_en.html#ethics_cl
Submitting an application
The last day for submitting an application for FOIP fellowships is January 18, 2012 (see http://cofas.fas.se ), 17:00 CET.
The application, together with the requested appendices, should be submitted electronically via the COFAS website at http://cofas.fas.se. At the same time, a printed and signed hard copy should be sent by post to FAS, Box 894, SE-101 37 Stockholm, Sweden, together with the required documents.
You should also include a host institution declaration and for the FOIP a Receiving institution declaration. A letter of recommendation may also be included (not compulsory).
Applications that have not been received by FAS in a signed hard copy version will not be taken into consideration.
Assessment
The international postdoc grants are applied for in open competition. The selection is primarily based on the research merits of the applicant but also on the applicant’s research plan. The assessment criteria for outgoing fellowships are:
- competence of the applicant
- substance and quality of the scientific programme abroad
- choice of host institution abroad
- substance and quality of the research programme during the repatriation period
- expected added value of the collaboration for the applicant and host institution, as well as added competence to the research area
A multidisciplinary approach to the scientific programme is encouraged. The international postdoc grant applications are assessed by one of the three thematic groups of our international review committee. FAS uses a two-step evaluation process. The review committees rank the applications and present a proposal to the FAS Board, where the final decisions are made.
All applicants, including those who were not successful in the last selection round, will receive their evaluation results.
FAS contact persons
Questions are answered by:
Cecilia Grevby, international coordinator,
tel: +46 8 775 40 74, e-mail: cecilia.grevby@fas.se
Application form and instructions
The application is submitted online at http://cofas.fas.se.
The application consists of the following documents:
A. Web form, to be filled in on the web when submitting the proposal
The following documents should be filled in and attached to the web form. A Proposal Form (B) found on the website, a Project description (C), a CV (D) , a Commitment by Host Institution (E) and a Commitment by Receiving Institution Abroad (F) for the mobility period.
B. Proposal Forms
General information on the proposal.
Proposal title in English/Swedish
The project title may not exceed 200 characters in length including spaces. The project title is often used on its own and should therefore be formulated with care.
Total duration in months
Maximum 24 months for FIIP, and 36 months for FOIP.
Scientific area
Fill in which of the four main FAS areas best corresponds with your project, Working life, Welfare, Social research or Public health research.
Start date of project
Give an estimated date for the start of the project.
Total amount applied ; Amount applied Year 1; Amount applied Year 2; Amount applied Year 3 /FOIP only
Fill in the total from the table on page 2.
Keywords
Free keywords up to 120 characters.
Abstract
Up to 1,800 characters including spaces. The abstract should be able to stand on its own, which is why you should make no references to other parts of the application. The purpose of the abstract is to inform FAS’ evaluators and decision makers about the project. It is also important that laymen understand the abstract.
Information on the researcher
Fill in the required information concerning the applicant. Fill in degrees and your place of activity for the last five years.
Indicate if you are eligible for family mobility allowance. Also indicate if you apply for a return phase.
Amounts applied
Fill in the amounts you are entitled to in euro. If the proposal will result in a contract. the grant is payed to the grant holder in Swedish kronor. The conversion rate used will be the one published by the European Central Bank, at http://www.ecb.int/stats/exchange/eurofxref/html/eurofxref-graph-sek.en.html#4, that applies to the first day of the months following the date of the contract between FAS and the Host organisation.
Living allowance
Calculated according to the amount for the national postdoc salary, and is 63 100 euro/year, including social costs.
Travel/mobility allowance
Travel allowance follows the Marie Curie rates as stated in the table 3.2 in the People work programme. Researchers eligible for a travel allowances, are entitled to an allowance based on the direct distance (in a straight line) between the place of origin and the host institution of the researcher. Researchers with a family will receive the double amount. The amount is per contract, and not per year.
Travel allowances
| Distance (km) |
Fixed-amount contribution
(euro) |
| < 500 |
250 |
| 500 – 1,000 |
500 |
| 1,000 – 1,500 |
750 |
| 1,500 – 2,500 |
1,000 |
| 2,500 – 5,000 |
1,500 |
| 5,000 – 10,000 |
2,000 |
| >10,000 |
2,500 |
Mobility allowance, cover costs linked to the relocation of the researchers and his/her family. The reference rates are 10,000 euro/year for researchers with family, and 6,000 euro/year for researchers without a family.
Research cost contribution:
The research cost contribution amounts to 2,250 euro/year.
Information on Host organsiation
Fill in contact details of the Participating organisation, the Scientist in charge of the project, as well as of the person that will act as your Scientific mentor during your postdoc.
Information on Receiving organisation abroad
Fill in contact details for the participating organisation and the scientist in charge of the project.
C. Project description
The appendix should be written using the template Project description. You may add one page of references. To this document you may also add a recommendation letter (recommended but not compulsory). In total the appendix can include a maximum of 20 A4 pages, including one A4 page with references and a recommendation letter.
The project description must include:
Competence of the applicant – Research experience, research results, independent thinking and match between the applicants profile and project description.
Scientific quality and substance of the research project, including research methodology, originality and innovative nature of the project, and relationship to the “state of the art” of research in the field in question. Timeliness and relevance of the project. Implementation, feasibility and credibility of the project, including work plan.
Training – clarity and quality of the research training objectives for the researcher.
Receiving institution abroad, scientific expertise in the field, quality of infrastructures/facilities and international collaborations, practical arrangements for the implementation of the project.
Host institution: Substance and quality of the research programme during the repatriation period, as well as expected added value of the collaboration for the applicant and the host institution.
If you have applied for or received funding from other sources for the period, information on the names of funding agencies, amounts and year should be added, under the heading Other sources of funding.
D. CV
The CV should include information about education (including information about doctoral courses, dates for defence of thesis and receiving the certificate), employment, research publications and research funding in your own name. The CV may not exceed a maximum of four A4.
E. Commitment by the Host Institution
The form should be downloaded from the website (Commitment Host Institution), filled in and attached to the application. A hard copy with the original signatures should be sent in to FAS, together with the application.
F. Commitment by Receiving Institution abroad
The form should be downloaded from the website (Commitment Receiving Institution abroad), filled in and attached to the application. A hard copy with the original signatures should be sent in to FAS together with the application.
Submit and print the application
When the form has been filled in and the appendices are in place, click on the button Submit. As a confirmation of receipt, you will receive an e-mail message, with instructions to send the signed hard copy of the application, to the following address:
FAS
COFAS International Postdoc Programme
Box 894
SE 101 37 Stockholm
Sweden
Instructions for Incoming International Postdoc fellowships (FIIP)
The purpose of funding incoming postdoc fellowships is to give qualified researchers in countries outside of Sweden the opportunity to exchange knowledge and competence with the Swedish research society within FAS’ research areas of responsibility.
Eligibility criteria
For the fellows: Researchers with a PhD degree obtained during the last five years (childcare and military services subtracted) counted from the date of the deadline of the call, are eligible to apply for a fellowship in the COFAS program. All nationalities are accepted according to EC Rules for Participation. For the FIIP programme the applicant, at the time of the relevant deadline for submission of proposals, must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work,studies, etc) in the country of their host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.
For the host institutions: The host institution can be any public or private non-profit organisation in Sweden carrying out research (universities, research institutes etc).
The grants are primarily open to recently graduated researchers. Applicants can apply for up to 24 consecutive months at the Swedish host institution. Applicants who find it difficult to spend longer periods of time abroad, e.g. for family reasons, may divide the time with work at the institution in their country of origin.
The host institution should have a good reputation in the applicant’s research area and the time abroad should add significantly to the applicant’s knowledge and competence in view of future research within FAS’ areas of responsibility. For more information about FAS’ areas of responsibility, please refer to www.fas.se/aboutfas.
General information
Applications should be written in cooperation with a Swedish host institution.
The grants include:
- Living allowance calculated from the allowance of the FAS national postdocs, which amounts to 63 100 euro/year;
- Travel allowance, which follows the Marie Curie rates as stated in the People work programme Table 3.2. Families will receive the double amount;
- Mobility allowance to cover costs linked to the relocation of the researcher and his/her family. The flat rates are10,000 euro/year for researchers with family, and 6,000 euro/year for researchers without family;
- Research cost contribution, which amounts to 2,250 euro/year.
Additional funding from other sources will reduce the size of the grant. The grants may only be used for the purposes they were applied for. If the stay abroad is discontinued or if the grant has not been used during the time of the project, it may not be used for anything else and must be reimbursed.
FAS accepts no employer responsibility for the receivers of the grant. The employer will be the Swedish host institution. A grant agreement (form provided by FAS), should be concluded between the host institution and the research fellow. The agreement shall determine the conditions for implementing the research training activities and the respective rights and obligations of the researcher and the host institution under the project.
Treatment of ethical issues
The application for ethical approval will be submitted by the responsible research body, i.e. the state authority or the physical or legal entity under whose auspices the research is to be conducted. A university or a county council is always deemed to be the responsible research body when the research is carried out by one of its employees. The research body in question is responsible for ensuring that research which is subject to the provisions of the law is not conducted without approval. In case of conflict between local/national legislation and FP7 legislation, a careful examination of the project in question will be carried out. If the conflict persists the FP7 legislation will prevail. A FP7 ethical check list can be found at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ethics_en.html#ethics_cl.
Submitting an application
The last day for submitting an application for FIIP fellowships is January 18, 2012(see http://cofas.fas.se), 17:00 CET.
The application, together with the requested appendices, should be submitted electronically via the COFAS website, http://cofas.fas.se. At the same time, a signed hard copy should be sent by post to FAS, Box 894, SE-101 37 Stockholm, Sweden, together with the required documents. You should also include a Host institution declaration. A letter of recommendation may also be included (not compulsory).
Applications that have not been received by FAS in a signed hard copy version will not be taken into consideration.
Assessment
The international postdoc grants are applied for in open competition. The selection is primarily based on the research merits of the applicant but also on the applicant’s research plan. The assessment criteria for incoming fellowships are:
- competence of the applicant
- substance and quality of the scientific programme
- choice of Swedish host institution
- expected added value of the collaboration for the applicant and host institution, as well as added competence to the research area
A multidisciplinary approach to the scientific programme is encouraged. The international postdoc grant applications are assessed by one of the three thematic group of our international review committee. FAS uses a two-step evaluation process. The review committees rank the applications and present a proposal to the FAS Board, where the final decisions are taken.
All applicants, including those who were not successful in the last selection round, will receive their evaluations results.
FAS contact persons
General questions are answered by:
Cecilia Grevby, international coordinator,
tel: +46 8 775 40 74, e-mail: cecilia.grevby@fas.se.
Questions concerning proposal submission are answered by:
Susanne Gabrielsson, programme administrator,
tel: +46 8 775 40 84, e-mail: sg@fas.se
Application form and instructions
The application is submitted online at http://cofas.fas.se.
The application consists of the following documents:
A. Web form,
to be filled in on the web when submitting the proposal.
The following documents should be filled in and attached to the web form: a Proposal Form (B) found on the website, a Project description (C), a CV (D) , and a Commitment by Host Institution (E) for the mobility period.
B. Proposal Form
General information on the proposal.
Proposal title in English/Swedish
The project title may not exceed 200 characters in length including spaces. The project title is often used on its own and should therefore be formulated with care.
Total duration in months
Maximum 24 months for FIIP.
Scientific area
Fill in which of the four main FAS areas best corresponds with your project, Working life, Welfare, Social research or Public health research.
Start date of project
Give an estimated date for the start of the project.
Total amount applied ; Amount applied Year 1; Amount applied Year 2
Fill in the total from the table on page 2.
Keywords
Free keywords up to 120 characters.
Abstract
Up to 1,800 characters including spaces. The abstract should be able to stand on its own, which is why you should make no references to other parts of the application. The purpose of the abstract is to inform FAS’ evaluators and decision makers about the project. It is also important that laymen understand the abstract.
Information on the researcher
Fill in the required information concerning the applicant. Fill in degrees and your place of activity for the last five years.
Indicate if you are eligible for family mobility allowance. Also indicate if you apply for a return phase.
Amounts applied
Fill in the amounts you are entitled to in euro. If the proposal will result in a contract, the grant is payed to the grant holder in Swedish kronor The conversion rate used will be the one published by the European Central Bank, at http://www.ecb.int/stats/exchange/eurofxref/html/eurofxref-graph-sek.en.html#4, that applies to the first day of the months following the date of the contract between FAS and the Host institution.
Living allowance
Calculated according to the amount for the national postdoc salary, and is 63 100 euro/year, including social costs.
Travel/mobility allowance
Travel allowance follows the Marie Curie rates as stated in the table 3.2 in the People work programme. Researchers eligible for a travel allowances, are entitled to an allowance based on the direct distance (in a straight line) between the place of origin and the host institution of the researcher. Researchers with a family will receive the double amount. The amount is per contract, and not per year.
Travel allowances
| Distance (km) |
Fixed-amount contribution
(euro) |
| < 500 |
250 |
| 500 – 1,000 |
500 |
| 1,000 – 1,500 |
750 |
| 1,500 – 2,500 |
1,000 |
| 2,500 – 5,000 |
1,500 |
| 5,000 – 10,000 |
2,000 |
| >10,000 |
2,500 |
Mobility allowance
Covers costs linked to the relocation of the researchers and his/her family. The reference rates are 10,000 euro/year for researchers with family, and 6,000 euro/year for researchers without a family.
Research cost contribution
The research cost contribution amounts to 2,250 euro/year.
Information on Host organisation
Fill in contact details of the Participating organisation, the Scientist in charge of the project, as well as of the person that will act as your Scientific mentor during your postdoc.
C. Project description
The appendix should be written using the template Project description. You may add one page of references. To this document you can also add a recommendation letter (recommended but not compulsory). In total the appendix may include maximum 20 A4 pages, including one A4 page with references and a recommendation letter.
The project description should include:
Competence of the applicant – Research experience, research results, independent thinking and match between the applicants profile and project description.
Scientific quality and substance of the research project, including research methodology, originality and innovative nature of the project, and relationship to the 'state of the art' of research in the field in question. Timeliness and relevance of the project. Implementation, feasibility and credibility of the project, including work plan.
Training – Clarity and quality of the research training objectives for the researcher.
Host institution – Scientific expertise in the field, quality of infrastructures/facilities and international collaborations, practical arrangements for the implementation of the project as well as expected added value of the collaboration for the applicant and the host institution.
If you have applied for or received funding from other sources for the period, information on the names of funding agencies, amounts and year should be added, under the heading Other sources of funding.
D. CV
The CV should include information about education (including information about doctoral courses, dates for defence of thesis and receiving the certificate), employment, research publications and research funding in your own name. The CV may not exceed a maximum of four A4 pages.
E. Commitment by the Host Institution
The form should be downloaded from the website (Commitment Host Institution), filled in and attached to the application. A hard copy with the original signatures should be sent in to FAS, together with the application.
Submit and print the application
When the form has been filled in and the appendices are in place, click on the button Submit. As a confirmation of receipt, you will receive an e-mail message, with instructions to send the signed hard copy of the application, to the following address:
FAS
COFAS – International Postdoc Programme
Box 894
SE 101 37 Stockholm
Sweden
