Ship Time
A core objective of SWERVE is to enhance the accessibility of Swedish research vessels for Swedish marine research. SWERVE will therefore coordinate an open call for ship time, whereby high-quality research proposals will be allocated ship time on one of six SWERVE vessels.
Call for Ship-time applications – 2025 and 2026
The call for applications for ship-time funding for 2025 and 2026 is now open.
This funding covers the cost for the hire of the vessel to undertake research where the PI is from a Swedish research institute or organisation. This call is for research that will be carried out in 2025 and 2026.
The application Process
Applications are invited using the form downloadable here.
**Applications are due to Lovisa Thoursie at the SWERVE secretariat on the 13th of October.
In the future, SWERVE will be using the Marine Facilities Planning (MFP) software to manage all ship-time applications, scheduling, planning and reporting. This software takes time to implement so this initial call will be run through a simple word document. If you are awarded ship time, you will be asked to transfer the project information to MFP once it is established.
Review Process
Allocation of ship-time will be based on scientific excellence of the applications as well as logistics feasibility of the project, with the decision to be made by the SWERVE SC.
An independent Review Panel will undertake a scientific review of the applications and provide the SC with a prioritised ranking of the proposals. At the same time, each of the ship operators will provide a logistics review of the applications to determine which voyages are possible for them to support on their vessel. Following this, the SC will allocate as much ship-time as possible by matching the highest ranked proposals with the vessels that can support their voyages.
It is possible that there will be the need for compromise between what you want for your science and what is possible logistically/economically. If this is the case, the SWERVE Director will contact you to ensure that your research can still be conducted within the conditions of the funded ship-time. SWERVE will strive to maximise the scientific and economic use of the research vessels, whereby voyages may be shared by more than one project, especially on the larger research vessels.
Criteria
Criteria for the scientific review
The criteria used for the scientific review are based predominantly on those used by VR for their review of research proposals:
Has the project received research funding from a renown Swedish or other funding body for the research that is being proposed (i.e. has it already been through a scientific review process) (yes; No)
1) Scientific quality of the research (1 – poor, 2 – weak, 3 – Good, 4 – Very good, 5 – excellent)
2) Novelty and originality (1 – poor, 2 – weak, 3 – Good, 4 – Very good, 5 – excellent)
3) Merits of the applicant(s) (1 – poor, 2 – weak, 3 – Good, 4 – Very good, 5 – excellent)
4) Feasibility of research to achieve the scientific objective (1 – not feasible, 2 – partly feasible, 3 – feasible)
Criteria for the logistics review
The logistics review will be undertaken by the operators of each of the vessel to determine which applications their vessel could support:
– Does your vessel have the required built-in/on-board facilities to undertake the science plan (i.e. sensors, platforms, lab space, berths)
– Does the requested time frame of the voyage fit in with your vessel schedule?
– Can your vessel travel to the requested location?
– Can the vessel store, deploy or support the additional equipment that will be brought onboard by the user?
– If this project can be accepted on your vessel, do you agree it can be carried out within the amount of ship-time requested?
– If this project can be accepted on your vessel, what is the likely number of transit days to the area of interest?
– If this project can be accepted on your vessel, are there other planned voyages that it could be paired with?
Frequently Asked Questions
Which SWERVE vessels will be providing ship time in this call?
This call is for ship-time applications onboard KBV181, Electra, Svea, Ocean Surveyor, and Skagerak. The call for applications for berths on Oden will take place in Feb of the year being applied for.
Who can apply?
The Primary Investigator of the proposed research can be a researchers of any nationality, but they must be based at a Swedish university or research organisation. Other participants in the research can be international, but the funding will only be awarded to a researcher living/working in Sweden.
What are the rules for applications from Early Career Researchers?
SWERVE strongly encourages applications from Early Career Researchers (ECR). For the sake of our ship-time applications, SWERVE defines an ECR as within 11 years after completion of your PhD.
What type of research is supported?
All disciplines of marine research are supported. This includes not only the more traditional marine disciplines of biology, geology, chemistry, and physics, but also research fields such as marine archaeology, blue economy/growth and biomedicine, for example.
How many days can I apply for?
There is no maximum limit to the number of days that an individual project can be awarded, however you should ensure the number of requested days are well-justified by the requirements of the research. For research in areas that require a long transit to the study site, your ship-time application will be considered equally to shorter-transit voyages with regards to scientific review, however vessel capabilities, budgets and schedules may limit the number of long-distances voyages that can be supported.
Where can we go?
Each of the SWERVE vessels have different regions of operations. Some vessels also undertake different regional campaigns each year based on their non-SWERVE schedules. Visit the webpage for each vessel to see more information on their upcoming plans. If you are unsure of whether the region you are interested in will be supported, please contact the SWERVE office for guidance.
What dates are available for voyages?
The vessel schedules are shown here. Some vessels have specific windows of availability based on existing schedules; others will build their schedules based on the research applications received.
Can I select the ship I want?
Applicants will be asked to indicate their preferred vessels, and to provide justification as to why they made this selection. The Steering Committee for SWERVE will make the final decision on which projects are allocated to which vessels.
How is the funding for ship time provided?
Ship time is funded at 50% by VR and 50% by the Partner organisation that owns or operates the infrastructure. Researchers will not receive any funds directly. All funds will be managed between SWERVE and the vessel operators.
Will there be costs I must cover?
Depending on the vessel that you are allocated, there may be other costs associated with your voyage that you will need to cover. See the table below for a description of some of these costs. Regardless, all applicants should have the funding required to analyse the samples or data following the voyage.
Click here to see a table over the costs.
How many people can I have onboard?
This will depend on the vessel that your project is allocated to. You will be asked to indicate a minimum number of people required to undertake your science and we will endeavour to place you on a vessel that can support that minimum number. Where additional berths are available, each vessel operator will make an independent decision on how to fill those berths.
What if I don’t have the equipment that I need?
All vessels have ship-based (or built-in) equipment that can be made available to you. Many also have other equipment available for their ship users, or available for use by other Swedish researchers. This equipment will be listed in the application for you to select. If you require equipment that you currently do not have, please indicate this in your application and the SWERVE Office will investigate if that equipment is available from the SWERVE community. In the future, a list of available equipment will be provided on the SWERVE website.
What if I need additional collaborators to make my voyage possible?
If you have a research plan or idea but require additional expertise or would like to work with other research groups, please contact the SWERVE secretariat. We will communicate to our network and invite collaborators for your application.
How many projects will be awarded ship time?
The number of ship-days awarded (or number of projects awarded) will be a balance between the budget available and the vessels that are able to support the research that is given the highest scientific ranking. Each vessel has a different day rate therefore it cannot be determined ahead of time how many days on which vessels will be allocated.
Who can I contact with more questions?
SWERVE is a new national infrastructure, and it will take time for the research community, vessel operators and SWERVE management/leadership, to get all procedures and guidelines in place, so we expect that we will get a lot of questions! Please don’t hesitate to contact the SWERVE secretariat if you have any questions that you cannot find the answer to in this document or on the website. Contact Lovisa Thoursie (SWERVE Project Manager; Lovisa.thoursie@gu.se).