Rules governing the endowments of the Society

Those eligible to apply

  1. Financial support is intended primarily for PhD students (who have been accepted for postgraduate education), and for younger researchers with a doctoral degree (with a maximum of 5 years post-PhD).
  2. Professor emeriti are eligible for research grants, based on relevant stipulations, and the usual requirements for publication.
  3. Foreign members of the Society, who are working in Sweden, are eligible to apply for grants from the endowments of the Society.
  4. Certain endowments require that “the research be based at the University of Lund”. This refers to the applying researcher, and in the case of a research student, to the institution at which the student is registered.
  5. Further requirements for each specific endowment can be found on the web page provided for the endowment of interest.

General Instructions

  1. It is incumbent on the applicant, and also the supervisor, to acquaint themselves with the details of the instructions below, and with the information given under the heading “Advice for applicants”. It is very important that the applicant carefully addresses any specific requirements of the endowment to which the application is directed.
  2. A recommendation letter from the PhD student’s supervisor is required, and this letter must be personally signed by the supervisor. Applications which lack this letter will not be considered. Regarding the formulation of the supervisor's recommendation letter, see the Memorandum for Supervisors of Research Students. In their application, PhD students must state their date of acceptance to postgraduate studies and the name and address of his/her supervisor. The supervisor´s recommendation letter shall clearly state how far the student´s research project has currently advanced, and whether it is at an initial stage, midway or approaching completion.
  3. Applications from younger researchers with a doctoral degree must specify the type of position currently held, the start and end dates of the position, and how the position is financed. The younger researcher must also state whether they are employed at the same institution where they obtained their doctoral degree, and whether they head their own research group. The young researchers must also describe their research activities, and if applicable, how these activities are related to those of the applicant’s research group leader and the research group as a whole. This description - which should be maximally 500 words long and signed by the applicants - should also include what the applicants wishes to achieve in their research project and how this differs from their doctoral work.
  4. The Research Program should be around 1-2 A4 pages long, but not longer.
  5. The application form associated with each specific endowment must be used. 
  6. In the application form all squares have to be filled in. Incomplete applications will be rejected.
  7. Confidential applications will not be dealt with.
  8. Two years, at the latest, after award funds have been received, a Report on the work financed by the grant must be submitted. Please note: Verifications of costs, for instance via invoices, bank account statements, etc., must be included with the report.

 

What one can apply for

  1. There are two types of grants: research grants and travel grants
  2. An application for a research grant must give a clear specification of the intended use of the grant. Every main cost in the application must be separately specified. Funds can be awarded for materials, laboratory animals, costs associated with special studies and for trips to special laboratories, data processing costs and costs related to field work. One can also apply for a daily living allowance during travel.
  3. Applications for expensive apparatus must include information about other complementary sources of financial support, and a quotation from the company selling the apparatus must be enclosed. It is important to give a clear motivation for why the apparatus is needed. Priority will be given to apparatus that is expected to come into wide use.
  4. Where the grant is intended for research at another institution, the application must include a formal invitation to work at the institution in question.
  5. A research grant of up to 300,000 SEK is a reasonable amount to apply for.
  6. Grants to cover wages, or for the rent of premises of any kind, are not awarded. Applications including such costs will be rejected.
  7. Applications lacking a clear specification of the requested funds, for example by specifying them as “Indirect Costs”, will also be rejected.
  8. Funds will not be awarded for travel or investigations that have already begun or have already been undertaken. Moreover, grants will not be awarded for courses, either at the undergraduate level or the postgraduate level.
  9. Funds will not be awarded for unspecified requests for general financial support for a person, a research group, a department or similar recipients. Applications must be submitted by a researcher/research student, and must describe a well-defined research project.
  10. Concerning overhead costs:
    1. For grants awarded under the category of "Research grants", the following applies: Grants awarded for travel and conference attendance must not be subjected to overhead costs.
    2. Grants for equipment (exceeding 25,000 SEK excluding VAT or MOMS) must not be subjected to overhead costs.
    3. For running costs, an overhead of no more than 15% may be charged – this will be automatically calculated by the electronic application form. The maximum overhead of 15% is based on decisions made by the Board of Directors of the Society, from which the Board makes no exceptions.

 

What happens once an application has been registered?

  1. Each endowment has a dedicated panel that assesses applications.
  2. All applications that fulfil the general requirements, as well the specific requirements of the endowment, will be assessed by the panel.
  3. Each year, funds are allotted for award from each endowment. The size of this fund varies from year to year.
  4. Following assessment, the panel proposes which of the applications (or parts of applications) should be funded. The final decision is taken by the Society in full, with the exception of travel awards from the Young Researchers Travel Fund, which are decided by the Board of the Society.
  5. The applicant will be notified of the outcome of their application by email.
  6. An Inspector Stipendii will be appointed to every successful application. The task of the Inspector is to review the Work Report.
  7. If, for whatever reason, the applicant wishes to reallocate their awarded funds to another purpose they must first approach their Inspector Stipendii to determine whether this is even possible. Following this discussion, the Inspector Stipendii will send their judgement/statement to the Society’s Permanent Secretary who then takes the final decision.
  8. A requisition for the awarded funds must be made no later than one year from the date of the award.
  9. It is the applicant’s own responsibility to correctly make a requisition for the awarded funds.
  10. Unless otherwise agreed, the awarded funds are to be administered by the host institution according to the laws and regulations governing financial administration at the university in question.
  11. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit a Work Report no later than two years from the date that award funds were received. The applicants will be unable to apply for further funds until their Work Report has been submitted.