Call to support research on Democracy and higher education

The purpose of this call is to fund research that explores questions of the relation between democracy and higher education, and give researchers the opportunity to initiate, perform, or finish research within this theme.

Support can be sought for individual researchers or research groups. With support for research groups, we want to encourage interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary questions and work, and give researchers a chance to collaborate to develop research programs and applications that can be competitive in external funding calls.

In this call, support can be sought for research time by individual researchers and research groups (up to 4) working on a common research problem. The main applicant must have a permanent position at a department/unit within the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences, Uppsala University.

Funds will be granted to research that explicitly, and clearly, explores the relationship between democracy and higher education, and where there is an interest to participate in activities that develop the overall theme of the research program. The scientific aims of the project should be clearly formulated. We encourage plans for applications for external funding, or plans to in other ways carry the research forward at the end of the funding period.

Funding can be granted for research for which salary is currently not covered. Researchers are obliged to report in the case money is granted from external funding agencies for the project during the time of this assignment. Grants will primarily be given to fund salary costs, but can also be granted to cover related, and clearly specified, additional costs needed to do the research.

The application should contain the following (in one file, max. 6 pages.

• Project description, maximum 3 pages. (Should contain a clearly stated research problem, purpose and RQ, main methods, theoretical positioning in a relevant field of research, and elaboration on the theoretical and empirical relevance. It should also be clear how the proposed research moves the research frontier forward.)
• A detailed workplan (including allocation of tasks among researchers), and a specified research related output (such as publications, research application to external funder, or report). Maximum 1 page.
• Ethical considerations, when applicable.
• Previous and current available funding, or plans for external applications.
• Short CV including information on current position at Uppsala University for the main applicant (maximum 1 page)
• Named participating researcher(s) and budget figures for salary costs, LBK and OH.

You will also be asked to submit, in a separate file:

Acceptance letter from the head of department of the main applicant’s home department.

The deadline for application is 5 February 2025. Submit your application

Some general principles for funding:

• Main applicant needs to have a current employment at a department/unit within the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences, Uppsala University. For associated researchers no ongoing employment is required, but the host department/unit have to accept full employment responsibility, including providing workspace and making sure that the research can be performed in relation to other duties. For associated researchers at other departments inside Uppsala University, the host department is responsible for coordinating with the other departments and distribute the funding according to the application. Funds can only be used within Uppsala University. A signed agreement from the head of department of the host department/unit is required.
• Funding can be granted for research time between 20%-40%, including salary costs, LBK, and overhead (room and IT costs are not included). Desired amount of research time should be specified, although a lower amount can be granted based on availability of funds (minimum 20%). The funds should be used within 24 months from the date of decision, unless otherwise agreed with the program management team. All researchers in the group (main applicant and associated researchers) must have a PhD by the start of the project.
• If needed, requests for additional funding for extra costs related to data collection, analysis or publication, should be specified in the application. Such requests should be clearly motivated. Funds will not be granted for equipment, assistant work, or workshops.
• The main applicant is responsible for the final report, both scientific and economic, to be submitted at the end of the project. Funds will be paid twice (one for each academic year) to the main applicant’s home department. A short mid-term report should be submitted after 12 months, which needs to be approved before the remaining funds are paid.

Researchers who receive funding from the program are obliged to:

1. Submit a final report including the report/publication(s) or other output specified in the application and to report to the program management team any additional publications, grants or other output that may come from the project.
2. Actively participate in research program activities during the time of funding.
3. Present their project in the area covered by the activities of the Programme.

A final economic and scientific report should be submitted by the end of the project time. In the case of unused funds, this should be reported to the program management team, who will decide on a case-by-case basis how these are to be handled. The final report should be sent to dohu@uu.se.

Additional funding can be sought for organising network activities or events, after consultation with program management team (see separate instructions).

The programme board will make the final decisions on funding based on the committee proposal. For more information on the assessment and decision procedure, please see: uu.se/dohu/forskning/forskningstod (Swedish)

The following criteria will be used for the assessment of proposals:

• Relevance of research for the research theme with clear significance for knowledge of the relationship between democracy and higher education.
• The potential of the proposed research to make a significant contribution to research and the knowledge frontier, and to contribute to the overall aim of the research program.
• A clear, well-motivated and realistic research plan with a specified output.
• In case of equal quality, applications involving researchers from two or more faculties of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences will be favoured.

• 5 February 2025: Last day for submission. Submit your application.
• 26 November: Information meeting about the call, 12:30-13:15 on Zoom. Register for the information meeting before 25 November.
• End of March 2025: Program board makes grant decisions
  
• Funds can be used until: 30 June 2027
• 1 August 2027: Deadline for final report, including scientific and economic report