Postdoctoral salary grants

What is funded?

The Swedish Research Council for Sport Science (CIF) is announcing postdoc salary funding for research with relevance to sport. The aim is to support research merit to qualify for a docentur. Sports research can be conducted in any scientific field. An application must clearly demonstrate relevance to sport to be eligible for funding. CIF uses a broad definition of sport. Read the CIF sport definition here.

The grant includes salary funding for part of a postdoc position, including the overhead costs that the salary funding generates. The grant can not be used for stipends. Additional funding can be applied for to be used for operating costs, including the overhead costs that the operating costs generate.

Additional funding for research on sports for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders

For this year’s call, CIF is allocating an additional SEK 2 million for research on sports for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NPF). The extra funds are part of CIF's regular call for proposals and cover both project grants and postdoctoral salary grants. The eligibility criteria, application process, and quality requirements are the same as those for other CIF grants. Also, the evaluation of the applications will be done in the regular evaluation procedure, together with applications from other areas.

To apply for the additional funds, submit your application as an application for a project or a postdoc grant. In the application, you specify “Sports for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders”. This is a multi-year initiative from the government to strengthen research in this area.

Who can apply?

The applicant should hold a Swedish doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree obtained between October 15, 2020 and October 15, 2025. Extended career breaks due to parental leave, long-term sick leave, positions of trust, service in the total defence, or clinical training (AT or ST) can be credited. Career breaks should be specified in the CV (type, dates, number of months).
Docents are not eligible to apply, as the aim of the grant is to promote research merit to obtain a docentur.
The main applicant should be employed by a Swedish Higher Educational Institute at the start of the grant period. Exceptions are made for clinical researchers, for whom the administrating organisation and another employer can agree on affiliation.
The main applicant should conduct the research as part of their employment.
The main applicant should be the project manager and should be scientifically responsible for and active in the project.
The main applicant should ensure that the research complies with the Swedish Research Council's requirements on conducting ethical research and obtain ethical review permission if required.
Main applicants with a prevoius CIF grant for which the availability period has expired must submit the final report before application deadline.
Researchers may submit one application for a project grant, one application for a postdoctoral salary grant and one application for a grant for associations, collaboration and networking as the main applicant. A researcher who is granted both a postdoctoral salary grant and project grant cannot also be granted the basic grant of 100,000 that can be applied for within the postdoctoral grant.
Researchers who have been granted a 2-year postdoctoral salary grant cannot apply for an additional postdoctoral salary grant.

How do I apply?

To apply, you will need to use CIF's online grant management system. Make sure to apply well in advance. Your application must be written in English and signed with BankID before the application system closes. If you are unable to obtain a BankID, please contact CIF's office well ahead of the application deadline.

Read more about the application requirements in the guide for applicants for project and postdoc grants.

How are applications assessed?

The CIF Scientific Review Panel assesses the applications in two stages. Firstly, the relevance to sport is evaluated, and then the quality of the application is assessed. If an application is deemed irrelevant to sport, it will not proceed to the quality assessment stage.

For applications that are relevant to sport, four criteria are assessed: (a) innovation and originality, (b) scientific quality of the project, (c) applicant's competence for the project, and (d) feasibility. The assessment of criteria (a) to (c) is done using a seven-point scale, where seven represents the highest grade. Criterion (d) is assessed using a three-point scale, with three being the highest grade.

The final decision on grant approval is made by the board of CIF.