Activities to strengthen research
The Faculty of Education continues to invest in the strategic program for the development of research and postgraduate education.
The Faculty of Educational Sciences actively works to develop research and doctoral education, as well as to disseminate new knowledge about education, learning, the conditions of children and young people, and diet, sports, and health.
Some of the activities include:
Support Programme for Early Career Researchers
The Faculty of Educational Sciences' support programme for early career researchers is offered in the form of a series of meetings, usually held over an academic year from September to April. The programme meetings address various aspects of project formulation, application writing, and overall career planning. The primary target group for the programme is researchers without a docent title, especially within five years of their PhD, and doctoral students who have completed their final seminar; other researchers are offered participation subject to availability.
The programme is organised as a faculty-wide complement to the departments' own efforts to ensure long-term competence provision. The aim is to establish a more informal support function for individual researchers, leveraging the breadth of competence and experience within the faculty. The programme offers individual staff members, who are prepared to engage in their development as researchers within the framework of normal competence development time, support in both formulating their own project applications and reflecting on their own career plans and research interests. Participants are expected to actively work on developing an idea intended to be submitted as a project application to a major research funder such as the Swedish Research Council, the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, Formas, Forte, various EU programmes, or similar.
Those interested in the support programme are recommended to contact their department's deputy head for research and the faculty's research coordinator, hjalmar.falk@gu.se.
Support Programme for Developing Major Research Applications
Call for Grants for International Research Visits
The Faculty Board of Educational Sciences annually announces grants for research visits to foreign universities. The grant is intended to enable permanent faculty members with a PhD to spend time at a foreign research institution for research and further qualification. The aim is to develop competence while promoting international researcher mobility and research collaboration across national borders. The visit should contribute to building and maintaining the research networks of the departments and KAM environments. The host institution should be well-renowned in the applicant's research area, and the visit should provide significant knowledge and competence to the faculty's research. Applications for grants are processed by the faculty's Research Committee. Decisions are made by the Dean. Granted funds are paid to the applicant's department.
Currently, the faculty funds a maximum of two grants per year, intended to cover additional costs for travel and accommodation for a three-month research visit at a foreign university. The applicant's department covers salary costs through department-funded research and/or competence development time. The maximum amount that can be applied for from the faculty is SEK 100,000 excluding overhead, and the amount should cover a continuous stay of at least three months starting the following year. The call for grants usually takes place in the spring, with the application deadline early in the autumn. The call for grants is announced via email to all faculty staff. Any questions can be directed to the faculty's research coordinator, hjalmar.falk@gu.se.
Strategic funds to strengthen research
The Faculty Board of Educational Sciences annually allocates environmental strengthening stimulus funds for the development of the departments' research environments. Environmental strengthening funds are intended to support the departments' development of their research environments and may involve research collaborations, doctoral education activities, or the development of research infrastructures.
Formally, it is always a department that applies for environmental strengthening measures through the head of department to develop a specific part of the operations. Note that these are not research project funds allocated to an individual researcher.
Research environments (with a responsible researcher at the faculty) draft proposals for strategic research initiatives, choosing one of the following three categories:
- Research collaborations (cross-faculty, national, Nordic, and/or international)
- Doctoral education activities
- Infrastructure
According to the current process, grants of up to SEK 500,000 per year are awarded for two years. Each department may submit a maximum of two applications per call. Grants are usually announced in the spring, processed during the summer, and the Faculty Board of Educational Sciences (UFS) decides on the allocation in the autumn.
Quality assessment and prioritisation of applications are carried out by the faculty's International Scientific Advisory Board (IAB) to ensure a qualified external review process. The process is prepared by the Research Committee (BF), and the decision on the allocation of funds is made by the UFS.
Ethics Council for Researchers and Doctoral Students
Seminar on Ongoing Research
A seminar is held at the end of October each year The Conference on Practice-Based Research in Collaboration is a regular joint event between the University of Gothenburg, the Gothenburg Region, and the City of Gothenburg, aimed at both academia and the school system. Those who, in their role, either participate in practice-based research or create conditions for such activities are welcome to be inspired by and engage in dialogue with others. Those generally interested in practice-based research and collaboration issues between universities and schools/preschools are also welcome.
During the conference, discussions are held on how practice-based collaborative research can be conducted, as well as the results of such research. Both projects within the ULF activities and other examples of practice-based research are presented and discussed. The conference also highlights the central role that the development of training schools within teacher education can have in promoting school development and providing insight into practice-based research.