Current call for funding for taxonomic research

This year's call closes 28 May 2024.

The research focus of the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative

Research funded by the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative (STI) focuses on the taxonomy or systematics of poorly-known eukaryotic organism groups in Sweden or the Nordic countries. Where justified, the projects may also include the investigation of higher systematics and a larger geographical area. However, the emphasis should be on Swedish species. Inventories are often an important part of a research project and are included in this call if they have a clear connection to continued research within the context of the project for which funding is sought. Smaller grants to cover the operating costs of one-year inventory projects of a networking nature, e.g., the mapping of poorly-known groups, cannot be applied for here; such projects are referred to the call for funding for networking activities.

Terms for applying for funding

The highest amount to apply for is SEK 3,500,000 for 4 years at maximum.

The administrating organisation is responsible for the management of the funding received, implementation, reporting and accounting. An approved organisation must meet the following criteria:

• The administrating organisation should be a legal entity with a Swedish corporate identity number.
• The administrating organisation should be a conductor of research. This means having documented research activities.
• The administrating organisation should have the ability to manage the commitments described in the conditions of the call. Among other things, these conditions prescribe that the project leader for a project that is granted funding should be employed by the administrating organisation. The conditions also prescribe that the administrating organisation should receive and manage the funding granted, and be responsible for project leaders and other affected personnel gets access to premises, equipment and other resources required for the project to be carried through.
• The administrating organisation should guarantee academic freedom within the scope of its mission, for example as a governmental agency or higher education institution. This means that research problems may be freely chosen, methods may be freely developed, and results may be freely disseminated.
• The administrating organisation should ensure that the results from the research having been carried out with the support of the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative are made openly available for other researchers and businesses as well as interested members of the public.

Organisations that conduct both economic and non-economic operations can be administrating organisations if funds are exclusively used in non-economic operations. The accounting for the economic and non-economic operations must be separate.

The project leader is scientifically responsible for the content of the project. The person in question is evaluated on their own merits and must meet the following criteria:

• has – at the time of applying – completed their doctoral degree
• has documented experience in taxonomic and/or systematic research
• is employed by the administrating organisation at the start of, and during, the grant period
• should have their workplace in Sweden. Partners and actors contributing other funding may, however, be based in another country.

Making data available

In addition to publication according to current practice in scientific journals, relevant data are submitted to SLU Swedish Species Information Centre for knowledge dissemination regarding species and organism groups. The material is made available through the web services of SLU Swedish Species Information Centre, from which open data are delivered to GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility).

Assessment of applications

Applications are assessed by a scientific committee consisting of at least four researchers with taxonomic expertise. The three main assessment criteria are relevance, scientific quality, and feasibility. Relevance refers to the way in which the project contributes to reaching the goals of the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative. Scientific quality is assessed based on the merits of the project leader, the quality of the project, and documented experience with similar projects. In the case of equivalent applications, for example equality aspects and the possibility for junior researchers to establish themselves within taxonomy and systematics are taken into consideration.

Guidelines for assessment (Swedish)

Application

Applications are to be submitted following relevant instructions and by using the online form that can be reached via the button above.

The application form must be signed by the administrating organisation and submitted via the online form together with all appendices. The latter are to be merged as one pdf.

Signing can be done either electronically via https://edusign.sunet.se/ or manually.

When signing manually, the original application, complete with all appendices, must also be sent by mail to the address below:

SLU Artdatabanken
Svenska artprojektets forskningskansli
Box 7007
750 07 Uppsala

• Application form including instructions for the application (.pdf)
• CV template (.docx)

Agreement

If funding is granted, an agreement is entered into by the SLU Swedish Species Information Centre and the administrating organisation, whereby the pertinent general conditions e.g., accounting (§7) and copyright (§10) are approved.

Contract template with related conditions (Swedish)

The processing of personal data

The processing of personal data is carried out in accordance with SLU’s guidelines for the processing of personal data. For data stored in the web applications of the SLU Swedish Species Information Centre, see the Terms and Conditions for Account Holders.