Step 4: Submitting your proposal

Before the application can be sent to the funder, some internal procedures must be fulfilled. Form for external funded projects and the SUHF budget must be completed and signed in accordance with The Karlstad University Delegation of Authority. If Karlstad University's share in the project exceeds SEK 10 million (including co-financing), you should book time at the rector's decision meeting to present your application and get the approval of the Vice-Chancellor.

Form for external funding

Every application from Karlstad University must be accompanied by a completed and signed Form for external funded project, which includes a registration number and a financial budget. The form should also be filled out when it comes to applications where Karlstad University is co-applicant. In most cases, electronic signing is used for certificates and budgets. Karlstad University has signed an agreement with Sunet to use the e-signing service eduSign. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit the documents to their faculty for registration.  Please find out more about the Internal form for external funding in Step 3: Develop your proposal.

Who should sign the Form for external funding?

The Form for external funding is signed off in accordance with The Karlstad University Delegation of Authority:

  • Total project budget below 250 TSEK is signed by the financial officer, main applicant and Head of Department/Departmental manager or Centre director.
     
  • Total project budget exceeding 250 TSEK but below 10 MSEK (including co-financing and transfers): The project budget and the form for external funding must be signed by the financial officer, main applicant, Head of Department, and the Dean.
     
  • Total project budget exceeding 10 MSEK (including co-financing and transfers) also require a signature from the Vice-Chancellor in addition to the signatories mentioned above. For detailed instructions about the routines for obtaining the Vice-Chancellor’s signature see below.

All applications submitted within the Prisma portal (The Research Council, Forte, Formas and The Swedish Institute for Educational Research) and the Funding & tender opportunities (Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe) are signed off electronically. However, electronically signed applications do not replace the University’s internal routines with the form for external funding and the SUHF- budget.

If the Vice-Chancellor’s signature is requested, this must be done in a Vice-Chancellor’s decision meeting. For more information see the section The Vice-Chancellor’s decision meetings below.

Funders that always request a Vice-Chancellor’s signature

Applications to Horizon 2020, the Knowledge Foundation, the Wallenberg Foundations, the Ander Foundation, Omvärldsnämnden Karlstad municipality and the Wettergren Foundation must be signed off by the Head of Department and Dean and then by the Vice-Chancellor, regardless of the requested funding amount.

The Vice-Chancellor´s decision meeting

The Vice-Chancellor’s decision meetings are held on Mondays between 09:00 and 10:00. Matters requiring the Vice-Chancellor’s signature must be submitted to the Vice-Chancellor’s secretary, Kristina Eriksson, the week before the meeting. At the latest by 09.00 on the Thursday immediately prior to the meeting. Bring all your documents that needs to be signed, for example form for external funding and project budget to the decision meeting. Applicants will be asked to make a brief presentation of their project during the decision meeting.

Documents to be submitted:

  • application (all documents, attachments requested by the funder)
  • Form for external funded projects
  • SUHF budget

Bring all the documents that should be signed, such as Form for  external funded projects and SUHF budget to the meeting. As the documents are sent in advance, you can, when you present you application, assume that the documents are read. The presentation itself can therefore normally be made short and limited to what is most important to draw attention to.

The Funding & Tenders portal 

The Funding & Tenders portal is the applicant’s entry point for electronic administration of EU funded research and innovation projects (eg. Horizon 2020), and hosts the services for managing proposals and projects throughout their lifecycle.

To be able to submit a proposal within the Funding & Tenders Portal you first need:

Prisma

Prisma is the application system jointly used by The Research Council, Formas, Forte and The Swedish Institute for Educational Research. Here researchers can apply for grants and manage awarded projects. This is also where reviewers will find application materials and details of review tasks. 

What you should do after submitting your application

When submitting an application to a funder, the project leader is responsible for ensuring that following documents are sent to the registrar:

  • Application (including applications in which KAU is a co-applicant)
  • Form for external funded projects
  • SUHF budget
  • Relevant communication between you and the funder

What you should do when you receive a decision from the funder

It is the researcher's responsibility to send the decision from the funder (both granted funding and rejections) to the registrar.

What you should do when a project has been granted

Now you will be able to do your research and enters what is commonly referred to as the post-award phase. You can find detailed information what to do now within The Post-award Checklist or in the sections below.

What you should do when a project application has been rejected

If you receive a rejection of project funding, please follow up the reason behind the decision in order to improve the application. Understanding why an application was rejected is often the key to obtaining future funding. The Grants and Innovation Office is available to give support and advise on how to act to be successful within the next call or to identify an appropriate funder.