Consolidator grants for junior researchers

Purpose

KI is investing to give the most prominent younger researchers the opportunity to consolidate their research and broaden their activities.

As part of this initiative up to 14 Consolidator grants are announced, each with five years' funding for researchers employed at KI whose doctoral degree is not more than twelve years old. The focus is on research in medical science in a broad perspective, including medicine, Health care and Health.

Eligibility

At the time of application, the applicant must be employed at KI with at least 50 percent employment.

The applicant should not hold a position as Senior lecturer/adjunct Senior lecturer, Professor/adjunct Professor or Visiting Professor at the time of the application deadline, or previously received funding for position as Senior researcher (5 years) or Consolidator grant through previous calls by the Board of Research/Faculty board at Karolinska Institutet.

A doctorate or equivalent scientific competence should have been obtained on 1 January 2012 or later.

Applicants must conduct internationally leading research within their subject area. Applicants must have their own research line and have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of very high quality, as well as demonstrate future development opportunities with continued high qualitative research and the ability to attract external funding.

Applicants who have received a PhD degree earlier than 2012 may be eligible if there are special grounds for deductible time.

Special grounds refer to:

• parental leave
• positions of trust in trade union organizations
• mandatory service in the total defence,
• long-term illness
• general medical internship
• further training/specialist medical internship for clinically active professionals

Ground, dates and extent must be clearly specified in the application and verified with relevant documentation.

What does the funding entail?

The Consolidator grant should be applied for by individual researchers and the amount is up to 1.2 million SEK per year for up to five years.

As a minimum, 50 percent of the grant per year should be used for salary and wage costs related to the employment at Karolinska Institutet. Up to 50 percent of the grant may be used for research-related costs per year. The researchers who receive a Consolidator grant are expected to conduct research in a subject area within medical science and act as a research group leader.

The Consolidator grant will be issued corresponding to the extent of the employment at KI. The grant will end in case the employment at KI ends.

Payment of the Consolidator grant will be made to the applicants´ current department and distributed mainly through the allocation of resources.

For more information about the conditions regarding payment of funding, please check the links below.

Assessment process and assessment criteria

The Committee for research at KI has been assigned the responsibility for preparing the announcement of the Consolidator grants and conduct the assessment process.

The applications will be assessed by researchers with expertise in a variety of fields in Medical science. The internal panel and the group of external reviewers are composed of researchers with expertise within different areas.

Applications will be assessed in four stages:

1. Assessment of eligibility

2. Review of the publications 

An internal review group will review the publication lists provided in the application.

3. Prioritization of the group of applications to be reviewed by external experts

Prioritization of the approximately 30-40 applicants that will be sent for external review will be performed by an internal panel. The selection will be done according to an overall assessment of applicants’ competence and research plan. Applications sent for external review will have no order of ranking.

4. Review by external experts

The external review includes two assessment criteria which are judged on a seven-point scale:

Applicant’s competence

• Publications. Which quality and quantity does the applicants publications and other scientific achievements have in relation to the phase he/she is in in his/her career.
• Academic studies and research merits. Does the applicant have adequate experience of research, competence and a scientific network and degree of independence enough for implementing the proposed project?
• Funding. Has competitive funding been obtained?
• Distinctions. Are there awards and invitations that indicate national/international recognition?

Scientific quality of research plan

• Innovativeness/originality. Are there any particularly ambitious or unconventional aspects to the proposal (including multi- or interdisciplinary)? Will it open up new perspectives and opportunities for science?
• Goals. Does the project have clear and groundbreaking goals in relation to the latest scientific knowledge and techniques in the field?
• Relevance and potential. In what ways is the proposed project important to the field? What impact will it have if successful?
• Feasibility. Is the proposed project feasible? Is the proper expertise, group members and established partnerships available and in place? If relevant, are proposed research methods, infrastructure, equipment and field work appropriate and available? Are the explanation and justification of the chosen method described in a relevant way and in relation to the scientific questions asked?
• Methodology. Does the project include the use of relevant techniques/methods or the innovative application of existing methods/techniques?

5. Interviews with applicants ranked highest by the external experts

When the external experts' score assessments are compiled into a ranking list, the highest ranked applicants are invited for an interview. About twice as many applicants as there are Consolidator grants will be invited.

Interviews are made by an internal panel consisting of a chairman and internal KI members. The internal panel's assessment (interview and application) accounts for 50 percent of the total assessment score. The internal panel makes an independent assessment and does not have any access to or knowledge of the external experts' assessments prior to the interviews.

The interviews address:

• Applicant's competence (including independence)
• Quality of performed research
• Future potential and financing

Decision

The Committee for Research decides which applicants are to be awarded with a Consolidator grant based on the external review (50 percent weight) and interviews (50 percent weight).

After the decision regarding the funding all applicants, including the applicants that has not been awarded, will be informed. Notice will be given through Varbi.

Thereafter, the departments to which the awarded applicants belongs can request the funds by contacting academic-appointments@ki.se.

Application procedure

Applications should be submitted in the recruitment system Varbi no later than August 12th, 2024. You can reach the ad and can apply here.

The application shall comprise the following documents, written in English:

• A personal letter
• Application form  
• Certificate from the head of the host department at Karolinska Institutet which shows that the applicant may conduct research at the department (e-mail message will be accepted).
• Relevant certificates in case deductible time is stated in the application
• PhD certificate

Scientific publications

Applicants affiliated to Karolinska Institutet can create a list of publications from the KI Bibliometric Verification Toolkit. Visit Instructions for creation of a publication list for internal applicants for more information.

In the Application form, please present your publications with your name in bold text and indicate your shared authorships with a star (*). Authorship order should be same as in the published version.

If you have any questions relating to the Consolidator grant, please contact us.