Extreme weather: effects, measures and solutions for a long-term sustainable and resilient society

WHAT CAN YOU APPLY FOR?

Research projects focusing on effects of extreme weather on societies, people and nature as well as measures and solutions that strengthen society's ability to manage as well as prepare for a future where extreme weather events are more common. Projects should be within Formas’ areas of responsibility Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning.

WHO CAN APPLY?

The main applicant must have obtained a doctoral degree by the close of the call at the latest. The administrating organisation must be a Swedish higher education institution or research institute.

HOW MUCH CAN YOU APPLY FOR?

You can apply for a grant for projects lasting 1, 2 or 3 years. Grants can total a maximum of SEK 2 million per year over the years stated in the application. Funding can be sought for a maximum of 3 years and a maximum of SEK 6 million. The total budget of the call is approximately SEK 60 million.

Given decision: 2023-12-19 14:00

Preliminary decision (only decision notifications through Prisma guarantee awarded funding. It may take several days before individual decisions are published in Prisma. Errors in the project database and the list below may occur).

Extreme weather: effects, measures and solutions for a long-term sustainable and resilient society

Dnr

First Name

Last Name

Organization

Title

Total Granted Amount (SEK)

2023-02410

Johanna

Hedlund

Stockholm Environment Institute

Extreme weather effects on global food supply chains: modelling and managing risk to Swedish and global food security

6 000 000 kr

2023-02436

Torbern

Tagesson

Lund University

Resilient Ecosystems of Sweden: Promoting Sustainability through Continuous Cover Forestry and Wetland Rewetting

5 928 821 kr

2023-02438

Johannes

Rousk

Lund University

Building soil resilience to future drought and extreme weather by microbial management

5 972 172 kr

2023-02447

David

Harnesk

Lund University

Embracing extreme weather and compound events in landscape planning: the case of reindeer husbandry in Northern Sweden

5 992 095 kr

2023-02457

Alistair

Auffret

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Strengthening society’s ability to mitigate biodiversity loss from extreme weather events

6 000 000 kr

2023-02463

Mare

Löhmus Sundström

Karolinska Institutet

Stockholm in heatwave - housing, people and public health

5 998 715 kr

2023-02501

Gunnel

Göransson

Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)

Transition capacity to manage extreme weather events by making room for the water - from mind to map (room4water)

5 977 679 kr

2023-02509

Igor

Drobyshev

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Integrating risks of severe drought and fire into management of Swedish production forests (RISK-DF)

5 999 641 kr

2023-02516

Thomas

Pugh

Lund University

Water stress in Swedish forests: identifying risk areas to target management action (WiSdoM)

5 998 663 kr

2023-02528

David

Nilsson

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

Imagination as a tool for climate action: towards preparedness in the Swedish water sector

5 976 900 kr

2023-02529

Maria

Viklander

Luleå University of Technology

Closing the water cycle to increase Urban Resilience to Extreme Events (CUREE)

6 000 000 kr

2023-02530

Pia

Nilsson

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

The economic potential of AgroEcological farming practices in times of severe climatic and economic disruptions

5 996 345 kr

2023-02536

Anna

Gårdmark

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Marine heatwaves and extreme weather: effects on exploited ecosystems and risks for fisheries

5 996 992 kr

2023-02542

Despoina

Teli

Chalmers University of Technology

Effects, measures and solutions for resilient housing to extreme heat

5 997 000 kr


Formas welcomes researchers from all disciplines to design research projects that focus on the effects of extreme weather on people, society and nature as well as measures and solutions for a long-term, sustainable and resilient society. We encourage interdisciplinary, collaborative projects that bring together researchers from different scientific fields and foster collaboration with other societal stakeholders. The projects are expected to contribute new knowledge that strengthens the Swedish society’s ability to manage and prepare for a future where extreme weather events are more common.

Global warming and climate change have increasingly profound implications for ecosystems, people and societies. One of the most obvious consequences of a changing climate is the increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, heat waves, fires, torrential rain, and floods. In turn, extreme weather events give rise to complex and unmanageable social and economic disruptions to society, such as buildings, infrastructure and food production. Today's severe situation and the fact that the risks associated with extreme weather will become even greater in the future make it important to continue to develop knowledge about measures and solutions to strengthen society’s resilience.

Formas announces approximately SEK 60 million to for research projects that are expected to lead to new results that help society, on a scientific basis, to take measures that strengthen its ability to prepare for and manage a future in which extreme weather events become more frequent and more extreme. A requirement in this call is that the research projects are formulated and implemented in continuous collaboration with actors outside the research community.

The early summer of 2023 was characterised by high temperatures and drought in many parts of the country. The heat and drought were followed by a period of strong winds and above average rainfall, causing severe flooding and, in some places, landslides and severe damage to buildings and infrastructure. Agriculture, in particular, had major problems in dealing with both the drought and the extreme rainfall, with negative effects on production in large parts of the country. Globally, 2023 has been marked by a long series of temperature records and extreme weather events, heat, and violent and deadly fires. The month of July set a new milestone as the hottest month ever recorded globally, and the anomalous weather conditions have continued into August. The warmer climate is more unstable and will have different consequences in different parts of the world. Extreme weather is becoming more frequent as a result of climate change and the interaction between multiple natural events and cascading effects may also create major difficulties in the future, both in Sweden and globally.

We need to continuously develop new knowledge about society's vulnerability and the consequences of various extreme weather events as part of developing solutions to reduce the vulnerability of individuals and society. In Sweden, many social functions are not adapted to deal with the high temperatures, droughts or floods that extreme weather events can cause.

Given the urgency of the topic and this summer's extreme weather in Sweden and globally, Formas opens the call Extreme weather: effects, measures and solutions for a long-term sustainable and resilient society. The call's total budget is approximately SEK 60 million.

The purpose of the call is to fund research projects whose results in a concrete way result in a clear shift in the state of knowledge regarding effects, measures and solutions to the difficult societal disruptions and challenges caused by extreme weather events. The research projects funded in the call are expected to strengthen the ability of Swedish society and its stakeholders to make decisions and take measures on a scientific basis that strengthen society's capacity to manage the current situation as well as prepare for a future in which extreme weather events have become increasingly common. The research projects will be carried out in continuous collaboration with actors outside the research community, such as municipalities, regions, civil society and industry. The goal of the research projects is to contribute, in a concrete way, to achieving a long-term sustainable and resilient society.

All applications must directly address:

1) measures and solutions to increase preparedness for extreme weather events.

2) the knowledge and information gaps, before, during and after extreme weather events, the project will fill.

3) one or more of Formas' areas of responsibility: agricultural sciences, environment, and spatial planning.

and contain:

4) a well-developed plan for how the project will be carried out in collaboration with societal actors.

5) a plan for how the project results will be communicated and utilised in collaboration with end users.

6) a concrete plan for how the expertise and competence linked to extreme weather, that is developed within the framework of the research project, can contribute to strengthening society's competence in the short and long term.

Extreme weather affects a wide range of societal actors and can be managed and analysed from all dimensions of sustainability - environmental, economic and social. Formas is looking for research projects with questions that have a clear and direct link to different aspects of extreme weather. We encourage new thinking and innovative approaches that bring together researchers from different research fields.

Given how extreme weather gives rise to difficult societal disruptions that affect many citizens and stakeholders, the call intends to fund research projects with a developed plan for how relevant stakeholders, outside the research community, can contribute to the rapid application of the knowledge developed by the projects. The proposed research projects are therefore encouraged to collaborate with Swedish societal actors from the public sector, industry and civil society. The importance of continuous collaboration and communication efforts between research projects and different target groups, including a broader public, is of great importance in the assessment of the projects.

Examples of relevant areas for the call, with the common perspective of effects, measures and long-term solutions to increase preparedness for extreme weather events, are:

  • sustainable adaptations and solutions to the impact of extreme weather events on nature such as droughts, heat waves, extreme rainfall and floods and their effects on agriculture, forestry, land and water use, ecosystems and biodiversity.
  • society's public administration and preparedness with preventive measures and crisis management capability for extreme weather, conflicting objectives and synergies, division of responsibilities for climate adaptation to extreme weather, citizens' roles and conditions for managing the effects of extreme weather.
  • adapting to a changing climate in the form of extreme weather in the built environment, preventing damage to buildings and infrastructure and counteracting negative health effects resulting from, for example, urban heat islands.
  • individuals and social communities affected by extreme weather in their immediate environment: experiences, impact, and vulnerability.
  • linkages between society, ecosystems and extreme weather; risks, vulnerability, stresses and consequences from a broad systems perspective, cascading effects where interconnected systems are affected due to disruption of one of the systems.

As this call specifically solicits knowledge dissemination and collaboration, the consortia awarded funding in the call will together actively participate in two open events organised by Formas. One joint open seminar will take place in mid-2025 and one in late 2026.

Although extreme weather events in Sweden are the focus of the call, it is possible to study international contexts if these are used in a comparative perspective with the aim of generating knowledge that can support the ability in Sweden to manage and prepare for a future where extreme weather events are expected to become increasingly common.

Applicants are asked to formulate their research project (their application) within the framework of the call and Formas' areas of responsibility Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning. Research projects that do not address the purpose and focus of the call or are not within Formas' areas of responsibility, i.e. do not clearly relate to the environment, agricultural sciences or spatial planning, cannot be granted funding and will be rejected prior to review.


The call is aimed at researchers who have obtained a doctoral degree by the close of the call at the latest. The administrating organisation must be a Swedish higher education institution or research institute that meets Formas’ criteria for administrating organisations.

Who can become an administrating organisation? - Formas External link.

The overall competence and organisation of the project group must be appropriate for the implementation of the project.

This call is aimed at researchers with the ambition to contribute to knowledge and skills development among societal actors. We expect funded projects to be implemented in early and continuous collaboration with actors outside the research community.

Researchers that are working in and are employed by companies and other organisations that carry out economic activities cannot be invited as participating researchers (co-applicant) and cannot be included in the budget for the grant you apply for.

Before you apply

All information about the contents of an application, the application process and the assessment process is described in the sections below.

To apply for a grant in this call for proposals, the following applies:

Main applicant (project leader)

  • The main applicant must hold a doctoral degree by the close of the call at the latest.
  • A licentiate degree or research competence corresponding to a doctoral degree is not counted as a doctoral degree.
  • The proposed grant recipient must be stated as the main applicant in the application.
  • The main applicant may register a maximum of one project application to Formas in the call. If the main applicant has more than one final registered application in Prisma after the close of the call, all the main applicant’s applications in the call will be rejected.
  • A main applicant is allowed to simultaneously apply as a participating researcher (co-applicant) in other applications in the call.
  • It is not permitted to submit the same application with different main applicants in the call. Submitted applications that have the same or similar content will all be rejected.
  • There is no upper age limit for the main applicant and participating researchers. However, researchers who are full-time pensioners are ineligible to receive funding towards salaries, without first reducing their pension by the corresponding percentage.

Participating researcher

  • A participating researcher is a researcher with a doctoral degree that is a co-applicant for the project. Participating researchers must hold a doctoral degree by the time the call closes and be affiliated with a Swedish or foreign academic institution such as a university, university college or research institute.
  • Researchers that are working in and are employed by companies and other organisations that carry out economic activities cannot be invited as participating researchers (co-applicant) and cannot be included in the budget for the grant you apply for. However, it is possible to have funds from other sources in the project, from companies in-kind, which means that they do not take part in the grant from Formas.
  • Note that a licentiate degree or research competence corresponding to a doctoral degree is not counted as a doctoral degree. Therefore, doctoral students cannot be participating researchers. Applications where participating researchers do not have a doctoral degree will be rejected. Other staff involved in the project do not need to have a doctoral degree.
  • There is no upper age limit for the main applicant and participating researchers. However, researchers who are full-time pensioners are ineligible to receive funding towards salaries, without first reducing their pension by the corresponding percentage.
  • All participating researchers must have a user account in Prisma. The main applicant must invite participating researchers to the application in Prisma.

Other staff members

  • Having obtained a doctoral degree is not a requirement for other staff involved in the project.
  • Other staff in the project may, however, be researchers with a doctoral degree, but they do not act as participants in the project (i.e., they are not invited by the main applicant to the application). Since these people do not have a Prisma account linked to the application, their participation and competence must be described in the research programme. It is not possible to attach a CV for other staff.
  • The main applicant can also add a participating administrator who is not part of the project but who will help fill out the application in Prisma using the ‘Invite participating administrator’ feature. Search for their given name, surname, and email address in Prisma (note that exact spelling of names and email addresses is required).

Administrating organisations

Grants for research projects in the call may only be administered by a Swedish University, university college or public agency that meets Formas’ criteria for administrating organisations.

Become an administrating organisation for all types of calls External link.

When you apply for project funding, you can apply for grants to cover both direct and indirect costs. Direct costs include costs for salaries, equipment, and travel. Indirect costs are costs that are shared with others in your organisation, such as for administration, IT and renting of premises. Indirect costs are sometimes called overhead costs.

  • Grants for research projects can be used to cover salaries for researchers, doctoral students, and other staff.
  • Funds can be granted for annual salary increases.
  • Grants for research projects can include, in addition to salary funding, funding to cover operating costs (for example consumables, purchase of services, equipment, travel, conferences, publication in peer-reviewed journals and open access databases), depreciation costs for equipment and premises costs. The maximum amount allowed for equipment and depreciation costs is a total of 500 000 SEK for both costs.
  • If funds will be transferred from the grant administrating organisation to another organisation that participates in the project, the receiving organisation’s overhead costs can be applied to the funds transferred. Explain and report the various overhead costs in the budget specification. The total overhead cost of the project should be entered into the budget table.

International collaboration. Grants from Formas can be used to fund research that is partly conducted outside Sweden, although the research must be initiated and managed from Sweden. The administrating organisation must be in Sweden and approved by Formas and is responsible for hiring any foreign staff or paying for activities or services outside Sweden in accordance with the administrating organisation’s guidelines.

Exception - due to the war in Ukraine, Formas will not grant research funds to projects involving researchers working at state or federal research institutions in Russia or Belarus. Neither can funds from Formas be transferred to Russia or Belarus.

  • Grants for research projects can cover a maximum of 2 million SEK per year, on average, over the years the application is valid for. So, applicants can apply for more than 2 million SEK for one calendar year as long as the amount applied for during another year of the project period is less than 2 million SEK. Applicants may not apply for 6 million SEK in total for a period shorter than 36 months.
  • If the total amount applied for exceeds the average amount of 2 million SEK per calendar year, the application will be rejected.
  • Note that the total salary amount for a single researcher, doctoral student or other staff must not exceed 100 percent of full-time employment. This means that additional salary funding cannot be granted to researchers, doctoral students or other staff who already receive grants or contributions with full salary funding.
  • You can apply for 12, 24, or 36 months, that is one, two, or three years. You can apply for funding for a maximum of three years (36 months).
  • A research project in this call can start on January 1, 2024, at the earliest and is expected to start during the 2024 calendar year. In Prisma the default start date is January 1, 2024, and cannot be changed.

You should write the application in English since the review panel consists of many international reviewers. For applications written entirely in Swedish, only the research program will be translated by professional translators into English. In such cases, it will not be possible for applicants to view or make linguistic adjustments to the application after it is translated and submitted to Formas’ review panel for assessment. The popular science description must be written in Swedish, while the abstract should be in both Swedish and English. Please note that you should always write the budget specification and your CV in English. Any Swedish budget specification or CV will not be translated. You should write the budget specification and your CV in English, even if you write the application in Swedish and you are working in the Swedish version in Prisma.

Please note that if you have installed an automatic translation plugin in your browser, you risk having your text translated into the language you have set as default when you paste your text into Prisma. We recommend that you check the language in the text well in advance of your final registration of the application.


According to Swedish law, your application and its appendices are considered as general public documents once they have been submitted to us. This means that anyone can request and read your application. Before we disclose any applications, we always conduct a confidentiality assessment, but we can only hide information as legislated for in the Public Access and Secrecy Act (2009:400).

The popular science description and project abstracts in Swedish and English will, if the project is granted funding, be published in open access project databases without a confidentiality review. Therefore, the contents of these fields should not contain sensitive information.

We at Formas are very keen to fund projects that maximise positive and minimise negative impacts on the environment and climate. We therefore encourage grant applicants to design their projects so that collaboration takes place primarily through online meetings and that any necessary travel takes place in a climate-smart way. We also suggest that you include measures that minimise energy use and other resource consumption, emissions, and waste in project planning. However, this will not be part of the assessment of your application.

Sustainability at Formas External link.

Formas is tasked with working to achieve sustainable societal development. Crucial to such development is that it is equal and inclusive. Formas, therefore, encourages grant applicants, to design projects so that they can contribute knowledge that reflects and is relevant to different groups in society. Formas also encourages applicants to consider that the project group has an even gender distribution and that it includes participants with different backgrounds and experiences. However, this will not be part of the assessment of your application.

How to apply

To apply for a grant from Formas, you as main applicant should register an application online in the Prisma application system. To create an application in Prisma, you need a user account. We recommend that you create an account and an application as early as possible and contact Formas with any questions in good time.

Apply in Prisma External link.

In order to register an application, you as main applicant must have one, by Formas approved administrating organisation for all types of calls.

Become an administrating organisation for all types of calls External link.

All limits for the maximum number of characters refer to characters including spaces. A recommendation is to choose Arial font in font size 12 for the information you enter in all text boxes.

Note, that if you write your application in a word processing program and then paste your application into Prisma, there is a risk the formatting will disappear. Please note that if you have installed an automatic translation plugin in your browser, you risk having your text translated into the language you have set as default when you paste your text into Prisma. We recommend that you check the language in the text well in advance of your final registration of the application.

To ensure you do not risk losing valuable information, tables and figures with advanced formatting or formulas, should be uploaded as an appendix.

Your application must include a clear description of the project under the following sections:

Basic information

  • A research project in this call can start on January 1, 2024, at the earliest and is expected to start during the 2024 calendar year. In Prisma the default start date is January 1, 2024, and cannot be changed.
  • Project title in Swedish (max. 200 characters including spaces).
  • Project title in English (max. 200 characters including spaces).
  • Popular science description in Swedish (max. 4 500 characters including spaces). The popular science description will, if the project is granted funding, be published in open access project databases without a confidentiality review. Therefore, the contents of this field should not contain sensitive information.
  • Abstract in Swedish (max. 1 500 characters including spaces).
  • Abstract in English (max. 1 500 characters including spaces).

The project summaries will, if the project is granted funding, be published in open project databases without a confidentiality check. The content of these fields should therefore not contain sensitive information.

Research programme

  • Aims and objectives of the proposed project, and a background description containing an overview of the research area (max. 7 000 characters including spaces).
  • Description of the project, including a summary of the structure, theory, methods, performance, and a concrete and realistic plan for scientific publication and communication of results (max. 15 000 characters including spaces). Include the following points if you consider them relevant to the project:
  • a short description of existing and future needs for basic equipment
  • a brief description of national and international collaboration
  • confirmation of compliance with international agreements and regulations
  • supervisor if funding is sought for a doctoral student.
  • Description of the societal value of the research question (max. 8 000 characters including spaces).

Describe the societal relevance of the research, how the project in the short or long term can contribute to sustainable development, how stakeholders and/or end users' needs have been taken into account in the design of the project. In addition, describe how the research and its results are communicated with and benefit stakeholders and end users. See detailed information under Criteria for societal relevance as well as the chapter Purpose and focus in the call text.

  • References. List the in-line references pertaining to the above sections in a separate field (max. 5 000 characters including spaces).

Budget

You report the project budget in Prisma Note that you should always write the budget and budget specification in English; any Swedish budget specification will not be translated but will instead be reviewed as it is by the international review panel. In Prisma, amounts should be written in full. For example, 1 million SEK should be written as: 1 000 000 SEK.

The budget should include:

  • Salaries including social fees for each person in the project, that is, researchers, doctoral students, and other staff for whom there is an employment relationship.

Note that the total salary amount for a single researcher, PhD student or other staff must not exceed 100 percent of full-time employment. This means that additional salary funding cannot be granted to researchers, PhD students or other staff who already receive grants or contributions with full salary funding.

Researchers who are full-time pensioners cannot, in addition to their pension, receive funding for their own salary, without first reducing their pension by the corresponding percentage.

  • Percentage of salary refers to the percentage of the applicant’s full-time salary that is equivalent to the salary in the project.
  • Activity level in the project refers to the percentage of full-time service a project participant contributes. It indicates whether the applicant contributes in-kind services or other funding for completing the project.
  • Running costs can include the cost of consumables, travel, conferences and publication fees for open access journals and databases. This also refers to research services, technical knowledge, consulting services and corresponding services that have been purchased or licensed from external actors on market terms and that are used exclusively for the project. These purchased services must be reported excluding VAT. Specify running costs in accordance with practices at the administrating organisation.
  • Equipment costs and depreciation costs. Specify depreciation costs for equipment if relevant to the application. The total maximum amount you can be granted for equipment and equipment depreciation costs is 500 000 SEK in total.
  • Premises. You can apply for funding for premises if this is not already included in the overhead cost in the project budget. Specify premises costs in accordance with practices at the administrating organisation.
  • Total applied/Subtotal regard data already completed in previous budget tables and will be automatically transferred to this table.
  • Indirect costs relate to overhead costs. Specify the indirect costs in the project budget in accordance with the practices at the administrating organisation. If funds will be transferred from the grant administrating organisation to another organisation that participates in the project, the receiving organisation’s overhead costs can be applied to the funds transferred. Explain and report the various overhead costs in the budget specification. The total overhead cost of the project should be entered into the budget table. Formas does not allow overhead for equipment depreciation costs or costs of premises.
  • Other costs refer to funds that are not sought for but that are relevant for completing the project. An example is co-funding from collaborative partners. Also specify whether the project receives funding from other sources.
  • Total cost refers to a budget summary.
  • Budget specification (max. 7 000 characters including spaces). Provide a brief justification of the budget in words. Indicate how the amount applied for is divided into the amount per year and the total amount per organisation if several organisations are applying. Provide a brief justification for all salary costs and other costs. A description of the total project budget, including funding from other sources, should also be included. All other costs must be clearly justified, such as costs for participating in conferences, publication fees for open access to publications and data, etc. Please note that a budget specification in Swedish will not be translated to English but is a part of the evaluation of the international review panel.

Ethical considerations

You must specify whether there are specific ethical concerns in your project. If so, you must describe the relevant ethical considerations and how they will be managed. Examples include research that uses personal data, or experiments on humans or animals.

If you are researching people, human tissue or sensitive personal data, you must submit an application for ethical approval to the Swedish Ethical Review Authority External link. and get it approved. In the case of animal testing, you must also have approval from an ethical committee for animal testing. You can apply for this via the Swedish Board of Agriculture's e-service External link..

You must state in your application whether you have an existing ethical approval or not. If you do not have it, and your application is granted funding, you must have ethical approval before the described experiments begin. If your project is not expected to involve research that requires ethical approval, write this in your application, and justify how and why.

Classifications

Formas uses project classifications only in internal analyses and supporting documentation on an overall level. The classifications are made when the applicant states the subject area, SCB codes and at least one Sustainable Development Goal the project can contribute to.

  • Subject area. Select at least one and a maximum of three subject areas and add a sub-heading.
  • Research subject (SCB code). Select at least one and a maximum of three SCB codes with two sub-levels that together form the entire code.
  • Keywords. Select at least one and a maximum of three keywords describing the project.
  • Sustainable Development Goals. Select a minimum of one and a maximum of three Sustainable Development Goals that fit your project. When selecting more than one goal, set the goals in order of priority. As the meaning of the goals is sometimes narrower than what the title indicates, we encourage you to follow the link and read in more detail about the goal/goals you intend to specify to ensure that the intended research contributes towards achieving that particular goal.

Read more about the Sustainable Development Goals on the UN Development Programme website External link..

Administrating organisation – the organisation receiving the grant

In this call, only applicants who have an approved administrating organisation for all types of calls can register an application. Prisma contains a default list of approved administrating organisations.

  • Select your approved administrating organisation from the drop-down list.
  • Select your project site in the drop-down list.

An administrating organisation is the organisation that receives the grant from Formas when a grant is awarded. The main applicant must have a, by Formas, approved administrating organisation.

Become an administrating organisation for all types of calls External link.

Participating researchers in the application

  • The main applicant invites participating researchers.
  • A participating researcher is a researcher with a doctoral degree that is considered as a co-applicant for the project. A participating researcher must hold a doctoral degree by the close of the call at the latest. This must be outlined in the CV. See the CV section. Please note that a licentiate degree or research competence corresponding to a doctoral degree is not counted as a doctoral degree. Doctoral students cannot be participating researchers.
  • Each participant must have created a user account in Prisma.
  • The main applicant invites people to participate in the application process by searching for their given name, surname, and email address in Prisma (note that exact spelling of names and email addresses is required).
  • Please note that invited participating researchers must accept the invitation to be a participating researcher and transfer their CVs and publications in the application so that the main applicant can register the application when it is completed. See further details in the CV section.
  • Please note that main applicants cannot register their final application in Prisma if there are unanswered invitations to participating researchers or participating administrators in Prisma.
  • Please note that the main applicant cannot register their final application in Prisma if participating researchers have not filled in their mandatory parts correctly. If so participating researchers must go into their Prisma account and fill in these sections. If there is a lack of time, before the call closes, and the participant does not have the opportunity to complete the application, the main applicant must remove the participant completely in order to be able to register the application.

Participating administrators

  • It is also possible to have participating administrators, they are not involved in the project but help you fill in the application form.
  • The main applicant invites people to participate in the application process by searching for their given name, surname, and email address in Prisma (note that exact spelling of names and email addresses is required).

CVs

  • The main applicant retrieves the data from their personal profile in Prisma.
  • Participating researchers (Co-applicants) add their CV details from their profile to the application in Prisma. A participating researcher must hold a doctoral degree by the close of the call at the latest. This must be outlined in the CV. Please note that a licentiate degree or research competence corresponding to a doctoral degree is not counted as a doctoral degree. Doctoral students cannot be participating researchers.
  • Applicants should review their CV in Prisma in good time to ensure that it is complete and up to date.
  • If participating researchers have not filled in the required fields correctly, the main applicant will not be able to complete the registration of the application.
  • Participants who are not co-applicants do not have the opportunity to attach their CV information, instead their competence for the project should be described in the research program.

The CV information should include:

Education. Postgraduate (doctoral), undergraduate and graduate level.

Professional history. Current position and relevant previous longer-term positions, postdoctoral residencies, research exchange visits relevant to the described research project, and any significant period of interruption in the research (such as parental leave, illness, military service, or political duties).

Merits and awards:

  • Associate professorships.
  • Supervision. Doctoral students, postdoctoral students, and exam project students; add as an individual or/and a group. When adding a group, state the total number in each respective category. When adding an individual provide the names of the most relevant supervisions (max. 10).
  • Grants awarded in competition. Specify the most relevant grants (max. 10).
  • Merits and awards. Specify the most relevant ones (max. 10).
  • Other merits, including summary of publications. Here the main applicant and participating researcher’s publication history, for the last five years and in total if the applicant's active research period is longer than five years, should be summarised (max. 800 characters including spaces).

This summary should include:

  • The number of publications of various types (such as articles in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, books and other monographs, conference papers and popular science contributions).
  • Any citation measures must be stated without self-citations and from which database these are retrieved.
  • The summary should not contain information about the H-index, Journal Impact Factor or any other type of measure used to rank publishers or journals. Under “Other merits,” you can list other qualifications that are relevant to the application, such as any popular science publications or proven experience of collaboration and research communication (max. 10).
  • Intellectual property: For example, patents and open source software that you have developed (max. 10).

List of publications

The main applicant and participating researchers should list up to ten of their most relevant publications. Note that the publications should be linked from the applicant’s personal profiles in Prisma. You must report the publication summary in Prisma under “Other merits”.

Appendix

Appendix for illustrations. If you need figures, tables, or images to describe the project, you can upload them as attachments here. A maximum of one PDF attachment of 4 MB can be uploaded. Please note that a CV should not be attached as an appendix. Letter of intent or other types of documents that proves your project should not be included as an appendix.

After you have submitted your application

You can make changes to your registered application (unregister it and re-register) until the call closes at 14:00 on Thursday October 19, 2023. After that, the status of your application will change from “registered” to “finally registered”. Unless any errors have been identified in Prisma, no changes may be made to the final registered application. Furthermore, you cannot make any additions via, for example, email or by phone, and the application will be assessed in its existing condition.

Your submitted application is automatically sent to the administrating organisation when the call is closed. The administrating organisation has seven days to sign the application digitally in Prisma.

We first verify if your application fulfills the criteria of the call. If it does, it continues to a review panel for assessment. If it does not, it is rejected. Your application will be rejected if:

  • If your application does not fall within Formas’ areas of responsibility and the scope of the call.
  • Your application does not meet the requirements described in the section “applicant and organisation requirements”.
  • It contains procedural errors or is incomplete, meaning that it lacks the necessary information in the application form. The basic requirements that must be met in this call can be found in the section “Applicant and organisation requirements”.
  • It has not been signed within 7 days or is rejected by the administrating organisation.
  • The main applicant has not finalised their reporting for completed projects in any of Formas’ other calls.
  • The main applicant has applied for more than two million per year, on average.

All applications are assessed by an external review panel for the call on the basis of what is described in the application. It is therefore important that the application is as clear as possible in its content and that all important and relevant information is included.

The application assessment process External link.

Applications will be assessed by an international review panel broadly defined to cover the current theme of the call and social, economic and environmental objectives within Formas' areas of responsibility. The review panel includes both active researchers and users of research results, with a majority of the review panel consisting of researchers. The review panel has the expertise required to review humanities, natural, social, health and technical sciences within Formas' areas of responsibility. The review panel can also review multi- and interdisciplinary research.

An assessment of whether or not an application falls within the scope of the call is made on the basis of a complete application. Assessments are therefore only made after the call has closed.

In this call, Formas will apply a portfolio perspective to enable funding of projects that address a wide range of challenges and perspectives within the framework of the call. The portfolio perspective will be considered by the review panel only after each application has been assessed on its own merits.

Applications are assessed with respect to scientific quality and societal relevance

This includes the following five criteria:

Criteria for scientific quality:

  • Research question
  • Scientific relevance of the purpose.
  • Originality and novelty of the purpose, theory and hypotheses.
  • Possibility of significant scientific results.
  • Method and performance
  • Feasibility and suitability of the scientific methods.
  • Well-defined and realistic work plan.
  • Coordination of the project and the research group.
  • The appropriateness of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, where relevant.
  • Where the proposed research requires ethical considerations, how these are taken into account.
  • Reasonability of the budget in relation to the implementation of the project.
  • Scientific competence
  • Scientific quality of the publications.
  • Ability to carry out the project according to the project plan.
  • Experience of supervision.
  • Project management experience.
  • National and international activities, including projects, networks, commissions, honorary commissions, participation in or organisation of workshops and conferences.
  • Interest in, experience and ability to disseminate research and research results to stakeholders/end users.
  • Strength and competitiveness of the research group.

Criteria for societal relevance:

Societal value of the research question

  • The research question relates to important societal or sectoral issues linked to the purpose of the call.
  • The project's potential, in the short or long term, to be utilised and contribute to sustainable development.
  • The most important areas where impact can be expected are identified.
  • The objectives for impact are clear, realistic and appropriately formulated.
  • The project has the potential to generate a clear shift in the state of knowledge, regarding effects, measures and solutions to the difficult societal disruptions and challenges caused by extreme weather events, to societal stakeholders and users.
  • The nature of the project in terms of the implementation of its continuous interaction and anchorage with affected and relevant stakeholders.

Communication with stakeholders/end users

  • The work plan and potential for the project's involvement of societal actors and other users is concrete and realistic.
  • The plan to clearly communicate and utilise the results of the project is realistic and well developed.
  • The potential for how the significant expertise and competence developed within the framework of the project, among societal stakeholders and users, can benefit Swedish society, both in the short and long term.

All five criteria must be addressed in the application. We advise applicants to clearly relate their application to each of these five criteria as they are of equal importance. Each criterion is graded by each of the reviewers assessing the application. We also strongly advise applicants to structure and write the application clearly and accurately, as the review is based solely on the information contained in the application.

Formas is expected to reach a decision on December 19, 2023, concerning which projects will be granted funding. Decisions will be announced the following day, at the latest, on Formas’ website. Information that decisions have been made will be sent out via email from Prisma. The applicant’s decision is available in Prisma. Decisions about funding grants cannot be appealed.

The final financial and scientific reports for projects granted funding must be submitted to Formas within three months of the end of the availability period. For projects longer than 18 months, financial statements must be submitted each year.

How to report expenses and results External link.

Formas has a clear requirement for knowledge dissemination for the consortia awarded funding in this call, which is to actively participate in two joint open seminars organised by Formas, one in mid-2025 and one at the end of 2026. Formas may impose additional requirements regarding participation in conferences and similar events to create synergies and platforms for learning and knowledge exchange, and how the projects should report content and results to enable dissemination and utilisation. This will be stated in the project decision in the event of funding.

Results from research funded by Formas must be published with open access.

Open access to research results and data External link.

You need to have a data management plan for the data produced in the project. If you receive funding, you need to develop a plan for data management. The plan should not be sent to us but you should be able to present the plan upon request. We recommend that you follow the guidelines for data management plans developed by Science Europe. Read more about the guidelines in the report Practical Guide to the International Alignment of Research Data Management (pdf) External link.

Formas shares information about awarded grants to SweCRIS, a national database of grant-funded research that was instituted by request of the government.

Revision history

Any post-publication revisions to the call text are listed below.

2023-10-17: Expected decision date is updated to 19 December 2023.

2023-10-18: Update of Control of applicants. Your application will be rejected if the main applicant has applied for more than two million per year, on average.

Contact information

For Prisma technical support

Contact Prisma support External link.

För questions about the content of the call

For administrative questions and questions about Prisma

Updated:19 December 2023