Information for external experts
In your role as an external expert, your commitment and expertise are crucial for our efforts to create strong research environments. Your assessments affect our direction, our decisions, and who we welcome as new members of our teams. Hence, the role of the external expert is central to our continued success and development.
Below, you will find the information needed to carry out your assignment. Please do not hesitate to contact the HR specialist if you have any questions. We look forward to reading your assessment!
ASSIGNMENT
Your task is to assess the eligibility, expertise, and suitability of candidates applying for our academic positions. Your work is an important part of ensuring that we hire the most qualified applicant. In promotion proceedings, your assessment shall be based on the submitted documents in relation to Karlstad University’s Appointments Procedure and the qualification requirements and assessment criteria stated therein. For information about our procedures, refer to the Supplementary Regulations for the Appointments Procedure at Karlstad University.
The recruitment team and the Appointment and Promotion Committee conduct an overall assessment based on your recommendation as well as any interviews, performance tests and reference checks. Included is also an assessment of the personal qualities listed in the advertisement, as well as any other criteria which are difficult to assess by reviewing application documents alone.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND DISQUALIFICATION
There must not be any conflicts of interest between an external expert and any of the applicants. All circumstances that might question a person’s impartiality could be seen as a conflict of interest. The following situations are considered conflicts of interest and are grounds for disqualification:
- Scholarly collaborations or co-productions within the last five years are grounds for disqualification. This includes co-authored articles, books, and joint applications for funding.
- If the collaboration is deemed a close collaboration, the window for what is considered a conflict of interest can be longer than five years.
- Exceptions from the five-year rule can be made if it is a collaboration between many participants (multi-centre study). This is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
- The relation between supervisor and PhD student is always considered grounds for disqualification, regardless of time passed.
- It could also be considered a conflict of interest when a person participates in the assessment of a candidate employed at the same department (especially small- and medium-sized departments) or similar financially independent unit.
- Any circumstances concerning family members (partners, parents, children, siblings) or other persons with close ties to the PhD student or his/her supervisor are considered conflicts of interest.
- Obvious friendship, animosity, or disagreements are also grounds for disqualification.
At the Faculty of Health, Science and Technology, you fill in a form where you confirm that there are no conflicts of interest in relation to any of the applicants. The dean then makes a decision regarding the appointment of the external experts.
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has no such form. Instead, any potential conflicts of interest are discussed with each potential external expert.
APPLICATION DOCUMENTS – VARBI
Karlstad University utilises the recruitment tool Varbi, in which you will find the application documents pertaining to your assignment. Login information will be supplied by the HR specialist when you have been formally appointed by the dean. If you already have a Varbi license from your university, you can easily switch universities when you have logged into Varbi, in order to access the documents needed for the assignment.
CHOOSE A SECURE PASSWORD
Protect your login details and information by choosing a secure password. The purpose of a password is to protect information on IT services so that attackers and unauthorised persons cannot read or destroy it. Therefore, it is important that you create a strong password that makes it difficult for attackers and unauthorised persons to access your information. The following are instructions on how to create a strong password:
- Choose a unique password and avoid reusing passwords from other accounts. This helps prevent unauthorised access to all your accounts in the event of one of them being hacked.
- A password should be long, preferably including 16 characters. It might make it easier to remember if you think in phrases with four randomly chosen words. However, remember to use unusual words and nothing that can be linked to you as a person.
- If you write down your password, you shall treat it as a valuable document and must never disclose your password to anyone. For example, you should never give away your password if someone asks for it via email or over the phone.
ASSESSMENT
We would be very grateful if you wrote your assessment in accordance with the instructions and the pre-existing template.
- Template expert statement
- Guidelines for experts – recruitment
- Guidelines for experts in the assessment of promotion applications
The assessment document shall be signed and then uploaded to Varbi. If there are any technical difficulties, the signed document can also be sent by e-mail to the HR specialist or by mail to the following address:
Karlstads universitet
HR-avdelningen
State the name of the HR specialist
651 88 Karlstad
SWEDEN
REMUNERATION
Remuneration for serving as an expert varies depending on the position being recruited for, as well as the number of applicants that need to be reviewed. In the document below the rates for acting as an expert in recruitment and promotion matters are listed, in Swedish. If a person has applied to several positions within the same field, compensation is paid for one application.
- Rates for acting as an expert (in Swedish)
PAYMENT
If you live in Sweden and have a Swedish bank account. Use the form the form called Compensation for Assignment and fill in all the information pertaining to your assignment as an expert. You do not have to sign anything.
In order to receive your payment directly to your bank account, you need to register it at Danske Bank (this applies even if you have registered an account at Danske Bank before). BankID is required.
Link for registering a bank account with Danske Bank:
Login to Danske Bank, find where to add a new payment receiver and fill in the information needed.
You are free to choose which account you want to receive your payment to. State the customer number 79156 when you register your account.
If you do not live in Sweden and have a foreign bank account:
Everyone who live abroad while working in Sweden pay a special income tax (SINK tax). The Swedish Tax Agency’s handling of such matters can delay the salary payment. Consequently, we recommend that you submit the document below as soon as possible.
- Compensation for Assignment (Fill in all the information pertaining to your assignment as an expert)
- Template SINK
- Registering account at Danske Bank for Payment Abroad (Fill in IBAN and BIC/SWIFT details)
- Copy of passport
The Swedish Tax Agency automatically sends out a letter in Swedish, requesting that you appear for an identity check. This letter is sent out in a number of instances, despite it only being relevant to a small number of people. You can safely disregard this letter as your case will be handled in accordance with standard procedures regardless of whether you appear or not. Your compensation will be paid as soon as we have received the Swedish Tax Agency’s decision regarding special income tax for persons living abroad.