1. Considerations When Planning a Research Project

Before you start writing your application, it is important to think about how your research can be of scholarly/scientific, economic, technical and social benefit.

It can take time to identify and create relations with necessary partners. If you need support, contact the Office of External Relations.

Do you need support with external contacts and to develop collaborations? The Office of External Relations provide support in the application of projects, and when it comes to, for example, contracted and follow-up research. The Office of External Relations has connections to various regional, national and international networks that may be of use for you.

Linnaeus University has strategic collaborations with both public and private actors, and experience in how you reach companies and organizations in the best way. Opportunities to apply for seed funding for project ideas are provided continuously. Please contact samverkan@lnu.se for more information.

Research funders increasingly expect that the research they fund will have an impact, that is, make a difference or make benefit, thus providing a return on their investment. Depending on the funder, this impact can range from new knowledge to direct effects in society, such as economic or technological progress. Impact of research is often an evaluation criterion already in the application phase, so you should describe the expected effects as clearly and specifically as possible.

Impact Planning Canvas (IPC)

Intellectual asset inventory (IAI)

Research often has many assets. At a 1–2 hour workshop with the research group or project, staff from Lnu Innovation together with the project, take an inventory of and identify these assets. It is important to know the different assets and their ownership before starting planning the project.

See an introduction video about IAI at Vimeo.

SDG Impact Assessment Tool

The SDG Impact Assessment Tool is a free tool that visualizes the results from a self-assessment of how an activity, organisation or innovation affect the SDGs. It aims to stimulate the user to get a better understanding of the complexity of sustainable development and the different aspects of the SDGs. In the end you will be better equipped to prioritize actions ahead.

Read more about the SDG Impact Assessment Tool here.

For more information and contact: Lnu Innovation.

Linnaeus University has support at various levels to support international collaborations. This may involve identifying international partners or finding funding for mobility and project collaborations. An overview of possibilities for international cooperations at Linnaeus University can be found at the page International collaborations. The page is being updated.

The Office of External Relations houses the team for International Relations (IR) who work with the university's international partnerships, networks, and funding programmes for international mobility and cooperation. The Office of External Relations also houses the Grants and Innovation Office (GIO) who advice in EU funding.

The faculties have contacts who work with matters regarding internationalization, and are responsible for the faculty's agreements with partner universities. A list of the contacts can be found at the page Administrative contacts at faculty level.

Contact the team for International Relations: intrel@lnu.se

Contact the Grants and Innovation Office: gio@lnu.se

Ethics

The Swedish Research Council takes initiative to draw attention to ethical issues in research contexts and to convey information on research ethical issues. Read more at the Swedish Research Council's website.

The Swedish Ethical Review Authority
On the Swedish Ethical Review Authority's website, you will find answers to many common questions about ethical review in their FAQ (in Swedish).

Vanliga frågor - Etikprövningsmyndigheten (etikprovningsmyndigheten.se)

The Ethical Review Authority publishes certain support material for research ethics on its website (mostly in Swedish). “Guide to the ethical review of research on humans” (in English) is a support for you as a researcher before and during research on humans. Keep in mind that the guidance is updated when necessary, so if you download a copy, it may be a good idea to check that no update has occurred.

Utbildningsmaterial - Etikprövningsmyndigheten (etikprovningsmyndigheten.se)

Ethical Advisory Board in South East Sweden
If you are a student at the bachelor’s, master’s, or master’s level, a clinician with R&D projects, a supervisor for essays or projects, a doctoral student or researcher and have questions about the research ethical aspects of your work, you are welcome to contact the Ethical Advisory Board in South East Sweden. They assist with advisory ethical review of the project regarding the relationship and information to research persons, as well as handling, collection, processing, publication, and archiving of data.

Read more about the Ethical Advisory Board in South East Sweden here.

Good Research Practice

As a researcher at Linnaeus University you are responsible for following good research practice. Good research practice is the ethical praxis that forms the basis for the research activities and is based on principles of reliability, honesty, respect and responsibility, which ensures the integrity of research. The principles are described in the European codex for the research integrity, published by All European Academies (ALLEA).

The Swedish Research Council's expert group on ethics that deals with government-specific issues and overall research ethics issues has published the publication "Good research practice". The publication will make it easier for researchers to make well-thought-out research and research decisions. The publication Good Research Practice by the Swedish Research Council can be read in pdf-format here.

Read more about how Linnaeus University handles suspected deviations from good research practice here.