We at the Research Support and Collaboration Office can help you with:
Feedback on your application
We have extensive experience of providing feedback on all parts of research applications, whether directed to a major or minor funder.
Do you want feedback?
- Send your application to our shared mailbox: rso@umu.se, and one of our research coordinators will get back to you.
- Contact us for a personal meeting via rso@umu.se.
- Sign up for our seminars and workshops.
We offer specific courses on applying for as well as managing funding from various EU programmes, such as the European Research Council and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions.
The Funding & Tenders Portal
We manage the official information about Umeå University in the Funding & Tenders portal. This is the EU's official website, where virtually all information about calls within the EU is published. In the portal you can search and apply for funding/tender opportunities, as well as manage your grants.
To be able to submit a proposal, you will need:
- A PIC number (Participant Identification Code)
This is a unique identifier for Umeå University, which will be used as a reference by the European Commission in any interactions. By entering the PIC number, basic information about the university will be filled in automatically.
Umeå University's PIC number is: 999881821.
- An EU Login account
This is your individual user account.
Don't have one yet? Create an account
You may also need to enter:
- LEAR (Legal Entity Appointed Representative)
A LEAR acts as the administrative liaison with the Commission. Appointed LEAR for Umeå University is Agneta H. Plamboeck, EU expert at the Research Support and Collaboration Office.
- The Umeå University short name
Our official short name is UmU.
Go to the Funding & Tenders Portal
Certificates and letters of support
We organize the necessary certificates/letters of support, and arrange for the Vice-chancellor's signature.
The application procedure to the ERC
Do you want to apply for funding from the European Research Council (ERC)? In that case, a special process is required for your application to be approved and submitted.
- Connect with us at the Research Support Office (RSO)
We provide feedback on all parts of your proposal. Therefore, we urge you to get in touch as early as possible, so that we can plan the support together with you.
Shared mailbox: rso@umu.se
- Submit a certificate signed by your head of department
In order to proceed with an application to the ERC, you need to submit a Certificate from the Head of the Department (prefektintyg) to us at RSO. The template is available at:
Documents and templates
- Produce and present a budget
Start by downloading the budget template for ERC (which is also available on the Documents and templates page) and then work out a budget together with the financial administrator at your department. This must then be reviewed and approved by Lacey Näsman, financial advisor at RSO, in order for us to be able to set up the required HI commitment letter.
Email: lacey.nasman@umu.se
- Meet the requirements for letters of support
Please note that your proposal, when submitted to the ERC, must be accompanied by a letter of support from your host institution (HI commitment letter), wherein the institution declares its commitment should your proposal be funded.
We at RSO will draw up this letter and obtain the necessary signature from the Vice-Chancellor, provided that
a) your draft budget has been approved, and
b) the final title and acronym of your project have been submitted to us no later than 2 weeks before the deadline.
Budget
It is important to take into account that the exchange rate can change from the time of application until the project is reported. Therefore, we advise you to start from an exchange rate that is SEK 0.5–1 below the exchange rate at the time of application. Example: If the exchange rate is SEK 10 for EUR 1, you should use SEK 9 when you make the budget in the application phase.
Go to the European Central Bank's (ECB) website to find current exchange rates:
European Central Bank
In most cases, the financial administrator at your department can help if you need support in the budget process. Should something feel unclear, you are always welcome to discuss the budget with us at the Research Support Office.
If your application requires a central letter of support/certificate/nomination, your budget must also be reviewed and approved by us at the Research Support Office. Therefore, it is vital that you contact us well in advance of the application deadline.
Templates
Your Head of Department must be notified and approve that your application is submitted by signing a Certificate from the Head of the Department (prefektintyg). This is important, since your department will be responsible for any co-financing and indirect costs. The Head of Department hereby also certifies that you, as head researcher, actually have the time and resources to complete the project.
Download the Certificate from the Head of the Department template
Click here to access all documents and templates
Tips on useful tools
Research Professional
With the help of the online database Research Professional, you can search for calls that suit your research area and your interests. Here you will find thousands of funding opportunities from research funders around the world.
We at the Research Support Office offer brief introductions to Research Professional for interested departments and/or groups of researchers.
Go to Research Professional
Eufonder.se
The site eufonder.se is a guide for you who want to know more about the programs of the European Structural and Investment Funds affecting Sweden, and in which programs Swedish organizations, governments and companies can participate.
Go to eufonder.se
Quick guide: How to register your EU proposal
The Funding & Tenders Portal is the official website where stakeholders of the EU research and innovation programmes manage EU funding. To apply for funding, you need to go through the following steps.
Go to the Funding & Tenders Portal
Start by going to the Funding & Tenders Portal and registering your account.
Don't have an EU Login yet? Create an account for EU Login.
Search for calls
To find a specific call, click Search Funding & Tenders.
Select a programme
If you are interested in funding opportunities within say the framework programme, simply select Horizon Europe in the drop-down menu to the left, and then choose Filter by programme (only for grants), to see open, closed and forthcoming calls.
Filter by area
It is now possible to filter by programme part, as for example the ERC or Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions.
Select a call
Click on the call you are interested in to get more information.
Read the description
Read the Topic description, as well as the Topic conditions and documents. This gives you an idea of what the call means and requires of you as an applicant.
If you would like to find partners for your project ideas, a Partner Search function is also available for each call. This function allows you to:
- look for organisations which have received funding in the past.
- create and check partner search requests by call/topic.
Start submission
Simply click Start submission under Select your type of action to start submission.
Fill in the Umeå University specific information
It is Umeå University, and not you as an individual researcher, who is a party to EU projects. However, the Principal Investigator (PI) at UmU is in charge of the scientific and technical aspects of the project. For Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions, this is not the fellow, but the researcher employed at Umeå University.
Describe Umeå University
When you apply for EU funding, you are asked to briefly describe "your" university (i.e., the university you work at). Below is a template text that you can use as a starting point:
"Umeå University was founded in 1965 and is Sweden's fifth oldest university. Today, it has a strong international and multicultural presence with students, teachers and researchers from all over the world (approx. 37,000 students and 4,500 employees).
The aim of the university is to continue becoming one of Scandinavia's best environments for study and research and meet the challenges of an ever-increasing global society. Umeå University is one of Sweden's most comprehensive universities within all areas of scientific research. This research takes place on a broad scale in order to compete in the international arena.
The university conducts groundbreaking research within several areas, e.g. Biogeochemistry, Ecosystem Dynamics, Energy, Infections, Plant and Forest Biotechnology and Social Welfare Research. A specific example of Umeå University's world class research is Emmanuelle Charpentier who was awarded the Nobel Prise in Chemistry for discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 genetic scissors and was active at Umeå University when she made her ground-breaking finding."
Use the templates available
For writing your proposal, use the templates available in the Funding & Tenders Portal for the specific call.
Please note that there are two types of deadline models available in Horizon 2020, i.e. single-stage or two-stage proposals. What applies for your specific topic is stated in the topic pages.
In two-stage submission schemes, at the first stage you only need to complete the parts indicated by a bracket (}) in the template. There is also a specific page limit, which is described in the template.
Submit your proposal
For calls with a specific deadline it is possible to submit your proposal several times before the call deadline, e.g. to make updates or changes. As long as the call has not been closed, the new submitted version will overwrite the previous one. For continuously open calls, only one submission is allowed.
We will help you further
If you are successful and receive funding from the EU, we will be there to support you throughout the project.
What to do when you are granted funding
Internationally funded research projects are a commitment for the entire university. Once you have been notified of funding for a Horizon Europe project, the Research Support and Collaboration Office will assist you through all the important steps.
- Add an administrator at the Research Support and Collaboration Office and one of the university's legal officers to the project via the Funding & Tenders portal, in the role of "Task Manager".
Responsibility: The Principal Investigator at Umeå University.
- Send the Certificate from the Head of Department to the Research Support and Collaboration Office, if this has not already been done during the application phase. Email the Research Support Office: rso@umu.se
Responsibility: The Principal Investigator at Umeå University.
- Sign the Declaration of Honor.
Responsibility: Deputy University Director Per Ragnarsson, after OK from EU expert Agneta Hånell Plamboeck.
- Sign the Grant Agreement (GA).
Responsibility: Per Ragnarsson, after OK from a legal officer.
- Sign the Supplementary Agreement (SA)
– applies to ERC.
Responsibility: Per Ragnarsson, after OK from a legal officer.
- Draw up, review and sign the Consortium Agreement (CA)
– applies to collaborative projects.
Responsibility: Per Ragnarsson, after OK from a legal officer.
- Start-up meeting – a meeting with the financial administrator at the department, and preferably also with the principle investigator.
Responsibility: The Research Support and Collaboration Office.
Do you want to work as an external expert?
We can guide you on how to become an expert evaluator of project proposals to the EU. Reading and evaluating other people's applications is an effective way of becoming better at writing them yourself.
Read more about working as an expert