Formas' call for applications: Strategic Research Areas

Last day of application: 2009-04-28
Day of decision: 2009-11-23

FAQs

The Government bill on research and innovation proposed increased support for strategic research areas. More specifically, during 2009 to 2012 the additional resources for the 24 strategic research areas will mean an annual increase of 1800 million Swedish kronor (SEK) to Sweden’s higher education institutions. The Government used three criteria in prioritising the strategic areas, where strategic initiatives should address:

• Research that, in the long term, has the prerequisites to be of the highest international quality,
• Research that can contribute towards fulfilling major needs and solving important problems in society, 
• Research in areas that have a connection to the business sector.

Formas launches now, as a consequence of this Government bill on research and innovation, a joint call for applications in the strategic research areas: Climate Models; Effects on Natural Resources, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity; Marine Environment; and Sustainable use of Natural Resources. Formas welcomes applications reaching over one or more of these strategic areas.

Climate change impacts greatly on the environment. The combined effects of climate change and human impact on ecosystem functions, processes, dynamics, and services are poorly understood, but are expected to significantly alter the conditions for sectors using natural resources. There is an urgent need for increased knowledge in the area of future climate change and its scope, interaction, and impacts. Innovative research on sustainable use of natural resources and management of ecosystems is crucial in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Research of high priority on climate models and effects of climate change:

• Causes and effects in the complex interaction and feedback mechanisms between different processes in the climate system
• Improved global and regional climate models for more reliable and more detailed future scenarios, including fluxes of greenhouse gases and climate effects on, e.g. the biosphere, the cryosphere, and the hydrosphere
• Short- and long-term effects of global change on natural resources, ecosystems and species, including interaction between different environmental changes 

Research of high priority on sustainable management and use of natural resources:

• Sustainable management of natural resources, biodiversity and ecosystem services to  support resilience and to control fluxes of greenhouse gases, nutrients or pollutants
• Development of tools to support management decision with multiple objectives
• Effects of different marine management measures, and impact of terrestrial processes on the marine environment

Research of high priority for the agricultural sectors:

• Consequences of climate change for agricultural sectors, principally agriculture, forestry, reindeer herding, fishing and aquaculture
• Development of efficient and sustainable management systems, production methods, and tailor-made organisms to meet the demands of the society

Research within the strategic areas requires reliable data in long time series with good geographic coverage. There is a need for techniques and methods to analyse these data and to make them useful for, e.g., environmental monitoring, identification of new environmental threats and effects of remedial measures and recovery.

Research within the strategic areas should aim at stronger positioning of national and international cooperation, including EU and the Nordic region, and Swedish contributions to international debate, negotiations and policy-making.

Formas Handbook 2009 contains a detailed description of the policy and rules of Formas, the forms of project support and application procedure, and information on how the applications are evaluated. The format of the applications for this call should follow that of research and development projects described in the handbook, with the following additions: 

• Formas will finance a number of large research projects with an annual grant starting 2009 not exceeding MSEK 5 per year for up to four years. The proposed research should preferably use a multi- or interdisciplinary approach. The support is given in the form of a block grant where the research team itself decides how the funds can best be used to promote the research. Formas will however require a budget to be included in the application regarding the intended breakdown of the support over various items, e.g. researchers, visiting researchers, travel, workshops, sampling, analyses and expensive equipment.
• Correction 2009-03-17: Support can be given to a team of researchers at Swedish universities, university colleges, research institutes or authorities with research undertakings. Support may include research students at Swedish universities or university colleges which have the right to carry on research training in at least one of the relevant fields of science.
• The qualifications of the main applicant must be at least on associate professor level (docent) and he/she should have experience from leading projects and teams. Other applicants must be senior researchers.
• The team of researchers, including postgraduate students and young researchers, should describe in the research programme, appendix A, that the cooperation is already working well.
• The gender distribution among the researchers in the team must be at least the same as that in the departments represented.

Applications will be assessed by Formas' standing expert committees, which primarily are comprised by active and highly qualified researchers. The applications will be evaluated on scientific and societal values.

The call will close and the application has to be registered in FormasDirect at 24:00 hrs, 28 April 2009. Technical support from Formas is provided for until 16:45 on the last day of application. Please, make certain to submit your application in time before 16:45 in case that you will need technical support. Applications are to be made via an online form on Formas' website.

The Scientific Council of Formas will make its decision on applications on 23 November 2009. The results of the decision will be announced the next day on Formas' website.

For further information, contact:
Marie Emanuelsson, Senior Research Officer
Tel. +46 8-775 4026
E-mail:

Queries of a general nature will be answered on weekdays April 20 - 28, 8.00 -  16.45 hrs on Formas' duty telephone +46 8-775 4005.