Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities Agreement - Notes for Applicants

Please print out these notes before downloading the application form from the link below.

The Academy has an Agreement with the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities to support research visits to Sweden by senior British scholars. The British Academy pays the scholar's return fares and the Royal Swedish Academy provides a maintenance allowance and assistance with accommodation. No contribution can be made by the Academy to meet the expenses of accompanying family members.

Eligibility

• Grants are available for advanced research in the fields of the humanities and social sciences.
• Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
• Applicants must be senior scholars (by convention this is taken to cover scholars at the level of Reader or Professor).
• Awards will not be made retrospectively; applications must be made in time for them to be considered and approved by both sides well before the research is due to begin.

Timing and closing dates

• The Agreement offers scope either for a single visit of one month in length, or two separate visits of two weeks in length, to Sweden each year
• Applicants should apply at least six months before the planned visit, to allow time for nomination to the Royal Swedish Academy.
• The closing dates for the receipt of applications by the British Academy are 30 September, 15 January and 15 April. Applicants will be notified of the outcome approximately three months after the closing date.
• If an application is approved, the scholar is then asked to confirm the dates of the visit and the scheme of research before formal nomination to the Swedish Academy.

Referees

All applications for Academy grants are considered in the light of referees' comments. No application will be considered without the required number of references, which must be received by the closing date for applications. One reference is required for this scheme. The applicant is responsible for sending the referee form to the referee to complete. Your referee should be familiar with your project and able to comment on its significance and feasibility, and on your abilities. Please note that your referee should be drawn from outside your own employing institution and from outside the employing institution of your co-investigators. Failure to observe this rule will result in the application being ruled ineligible. (Scholars who have only very recently obtained postdoctoral status may, where necessary, be permitted to use an internal referee.) Applicants are requested to explain the relevance of their choice of referee to their application.

Application procedure

• Before submitting an application, it is advisable to consult the International Relations Department of the British Academy by telephone or email to check the availability of quota and the timing of the application.
• Applications should be made on the Agreements with Partner Academies - Individual Research Visits application form. The form should be completed in full, and typed throughout. Please note that additional material will not be forwarded to the awarding committee (except where indicated on the application form).
• Please send the completed form to the International Relations Department, The British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH, to arrive in time for the closing date. Faxed applications are not acceptable. Applications may be emailed, but a signed hard copy must also be sent. Applications received after 5 pm on the closing date will not be accepted. (Where the deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday, applications will be accepted that arrive at the Academy by 9 am on the next available working day, or that are postmarked no later than 29 September, 14 January or 14 April, as applicable to the scheme and closing date.)
• Please send a copy of the application form, together with a reference form, to your referee. The referee is asked to return the reference form direct to the Academy. Please ensure that the referee is aware of the closing date for applications, and allow sufficient time for the referee to write the report.
• If acknowledgement of the receipt of the application by the Academy is required, please enclose a stamped addressed postcard with the application form.
• If the application is successful, the form will be copied to the receiving Academy, and it is therefore important to ensure that the form is legible and that the description of the project is structured to be appropriate for the receiving side as well as the British Academy's awarding committee.

Other relevant information

• It should be noted that although the proposing of scholars to the receiving institution is usually a formality, the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities reserves the right to refuse a nomination considered inappropriate.
• Funding: The British Academy will meet the travel expenses, from home to Sweden, of the British scholar. It is expected that the scholar will, as far as possible, keep travel expenses to a minimum by the use of Apex and economy fares. The Royal Swedish Academy will provide a maintenance allowance and assist with accommodation.
• Applicants applying to this programme may not submit simultaneous applications to the Academy's Small Research Grants scheme. Because the funding available under this programme is very limited, unsuccessful applications under this scheme may be referred to the Small Research Grants scheme for support.

Assessment criteria

Assessors will evaluate the proposal on the basis of its academic merit, taking into account its originality, its relationship to, and the volume of, research already in the field, the scholarly importance of the research proposed, the suitability of the methodology, the feasibility of the research programme, the specificity of the scheme of research, the presentation, and intended outcomes. Assessors will evaluate the ability of the investigator(s) to undertake the proposed research, taking into account their track record in terms of publication, their academic age and stage of career. Backlogs of publication (including any reasons given by applicants) may be taken into account in assessing the current proposal.

The primary assessment of quality will be based on the specific research objective of the proposal, and whether the methodology amd research programme outlined are likely to lead to the successful achievement of the objective. The details of how the objective will be achieved - whether through research visits, use of research assistance, workshops, or any combination of eligible activities/costs - will be assessed only in relation to each individual application.

Assessors may take into account evidence of language competence where the understanding of material in a foreign language is crucial to the achievement of the research objective.

Comparative judgements about value for money may be taken into account at the final stage of assessment.

Code of Practice

The Academy has adopted a Code of Practice for assessing research applications, setting out the principles of equity, integrity and confidentiality governing the treatment of all applications for research support. Information regarding Data Protection, the Ethics Policy and the Appeals Procedure are to be found in the Code of Practice.

With regard to Data Protection, please note that a copy of a successful applicant's completed application form will be sent to the partner Academy. While the British Academy passes on this information in the understanding that it will be used solely for the purpose of liaison with regard to the project, applicants should be aware that some countries outside the European Economic Area may not provide an individual's data with the same protection as in the UK.

Feedback is not a feature of this programme, and the Academy is, regretfully, unable to enter into correspondence regarding the decisions of the awarding Committee, which are governed by the Code of Practice.

Submission of the signed application form constitutes the applicant's agreement to all terms, conditions and notices contained in the Notes for Applicants.

Contact the International Relations Department for further advice.