Please note that this text is a translation. The official version is in Swedish.
With this call, Formas aims to support research, innovation and collaboration that contributes to a better environment in our coastal and marine areas, strengthens the resilience of marine ecosystems and society, and creates opportunities for a sustainable blue economy. The projects are expected to be based on societal challenges, such as eutrophication, emissions and the accumulation of hazardous substances, or how we can achieve sustainable fishing. The challenges may relate to issues we see today, but may also be emerging or potential challenges in the future. Each project must involve the active participation of the societal actors needed to address the issue and reverse the trend. To achieve radical change at the societal level, technical solutions can be one piece of the puzzle. However, social innovation and development are also generally required, for example in terms of behavioural changes, governance and management, regulations and other instruments, as well as financing and business models.
Our Swedish coastal and marine areas are important in many ways, both for us as individuals and for a number of industries. The seas also provide a habitat for a diversity of marine plants and animals. At the same time, there are many problems and challenges associated with the marine environment and marine ecosystems. Knowledge and action are needed to manage the effects of climate change, improve the state of the environment and create conditions for a sustainable blue economy. The purpose of the call is to support research and innovation projects that address these, often complex, challenges. The call is aimed at researchers, public organisations, companies and civil society organisations. The projects are to be carried out in collaboration between researchers and relevant societal actors. Each project should generate knowledge that can contribute to concrete measures and technical solutions as well as changes at the societal level, for example in the form of new policy instruments and management and business models, but also changes in behaviour, culture and norms.
Extensive Swedish and European legislation governs the management and use of coasts and seas, including the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive. The recently adopted European Ocean Pact will also entail revised or new EU legislation. In addition, there is an international regulatory framework that is particularly important for shipping and in the exclusive economic zone beyond the territorial sea.
Major efforts have been made to improve the environmental status of the coastal and marine areas surrounding Sweden. Among other things, the nutrient load has been reduced through the expansion of wastewater treatment plants and reduced emissions into the air from industry and transport. Emissions of environmental toxins from industry, mainly point source emissions, have been reduced, which is reflected in a decline in the levels of certain, but by no means all, environmental toxins in the marine environment.
Despite progress in some areas, many problems and challenges remain. Measures are needed, for example, to reduce eutrophication, restore fish stocks and create conditions for sustainable fishing, protect biodiversity and ecosystems, develop safe and sustainable shipping, and expand wind power and other fixed installations in the sea in a sustainable manner. Capacity and solutions are also needed to deal with ongoing climate change and its consequences, for example for marine ecosystems, the resilience of coastal communities and various types of activities. In addition, demands on the coast and the sea are increasing, leading to conflicts of objectives and interests, for example in relation to tourism and leisure, coastal development, food supply and preparedness. The ongoing war in Ukraine and tensions between Russia and the rest of the world are complicating the situation, especially in the Baltic Sea and in regional cooperation between the countries around the Baltic Sea.
For radical social change – or transformation – to happen in practice, it is not enough to know what measures are needed, or to focus solely on developing scientific or technical solutions. We need to better understand the interaction between human societies and ecosystems. The complexity and challenges increase when different social interests are in conflict with each other. Transformative change encompasses technological innovation, changes in behaviour, culture and norms, as well as changes in legislation and other governance. Unclear responsibilities, conflicts of goals and interests, and limited business opportunities can be obstacles that need to be addressed. In many cases, there is also a lack of understanding of the consequences of inaction, which reduces the incentive for actors to contribute to change.
The purpose of the call is to support research and innovation projects that tackle the complex challenges associated with Swedish coastal areas and the seas surrounding Sweden. With this call, Formas wants to contribute to a transformation that means that we as a society move from negatively impacting the marine environment and overexploiting resources to conducting sustainable activities and, where necessary to achieve good environmental status, restoring and protecting the marine environment. This will strengthen the resilience of both marine and coastal ecosystems and coastal communities.
In the short term, the call is expected to lead to strengthened capabilities and increased capacity, as well as new working methods, services and solutions that can be scaled up and used in society. In the longer term, the call is expected to lead to changes in the behaviour and actions of relevant actors, thereby contributing to an improved environment and a sustainable society.
The projects should be carried out in collaboration between researchers and relevant societal actors. Within each project, knowledge is to be developed that can contribute to both concrete measures and technical solutions, as well as changes at the societal level, such as policy instruments and management and business models. The knowledge, solutions and measures developed shall be of benefit to industry, civil society, public authorities and/or political decision-makers. The projects cannot achieve all the necessary change on their own, but shall constitute a unifying force within their field and be a source of knowledge and inspiration.
The projects should have a transformative approach. As the challenges are complex, change is needed at many different levels, and sometimes even of a more disruptive nature. The vision for the projects should be to bring about lasting change at the societal level. The projects should take into account that in many cases there is a sense of urgency. If progress is too slow, the problems may worsen and have even greater consequences for ecosystems and society.
Public organisations, companies and civil society organisations have important roles to play in the transition and are therefore important participants in the projects. Depending on which challenge or challenges the project chooses, different sectors of society and commercial and non-commercial activities will be in focus. Three types of activities are covered by the call and may be included in projects:
- Marine-based activities, such as fishing, shipping, aquaculture and wind power
- Land-based activities that use resources from the coast and sea, e.g. processing and manufacturing industries
- Land-based activities that affect the marine environment due to their coastal location, e.g. agriculture, tourism and construction
In general, actors who have authority and influence need to be included in the projects, i.e. actors who can influence the implementation of solutions, legislation, financing, behavioural changes, etc.
In this call, Formas welcomes interdisciplinary perspectives and project teams with expertise from several different scientific disciplines. Researchers are expected to provide the scientific basis and, in close collaboration with relevant societal actors, contribute to the development of both concrete solutions and the transformative approach. The results and solutions produced within the projects are expected to be at the forefront of their respective fields.
Participating parties in the projects must have a clear need for, and interest in, the project results and participate actively in the project. This should be reflected in the project budget for each party and made visible in the implementation/project description, for example in the design of the project work packages.
This call for proposals is being implemented within the framework of the national research programme on oceans and water, and is part of the implementation of the strategic research agenda Mobilisation for healthy oceans and water.
The call is aimed at a wide range of actors working with issues related to the coast and the sea, e.g. universities, colleges, research institutes, companies, municipalities, regions, county administrative boards, central government agencies, private companies (but not sole proprietorships) and civil society organisations. The project must consist of at least three (3) and a maximum of seven (7) project partners. The project group must include at least one academic partner (university or research institute) and at least one project partner from another sector (business, public sector or civil society). At least one participating researcher must have a doctoral degree. In this call, we encourage both academic partners and partners from other sectors to be the main applicant.
The main applicant organisation must be able to receive and manage the funding from Formas to an approved project, i.e. be a fund manager. In this call, we encourage both academic partners and partners from other sectors to be main applicants.
All participating project partners must have a clear share in the budget and in the implementation of the work, with costs corresponding to their contributions to the project. Funding for participating partners can be applied for through the call for proposals and/or financed through in-kind contributions, for example through their own working hours or financial resources.
Please note that even if a participating project partner does not apply for funding from Formas and only contributes their time in kind, the partner must still be included in the application and listed as a separate item in the budget in order to be counted as part of the project.
For actors engaged in economic activities, Formas applies the EU rules on state aid. Read more under the heading Rules on state aid to companies and other organisations in the call for proposals.
International collaboration is encouraged, especially with organisations in neighbouring countries with which Sweden shares maritime areas. However, a foreign organisation can only be a party to the project if it participates in kind. Foreign parties are not eligible for funding from Formas. Due to the war in Ukraine, it will not be possible to obtain funding for projects involving collaboration with state or federal organisations in Russia and Belarus.
Before you apply
It is not permitted to submit the same application with different principal applicants to the call. All final applications with the same content will be rejected.
Principal applicants may only submit one application in this call. However, it is possible to be a participating applicant in several applications as long as the applicant's total salary, distributed across the projects, does not exceed 100% funding.
Principal applicants may simultaneously have an ongoing project grant from one of Formas’ other targeted national and international calls, as well as the annual calls Explore and Career Grant, as long as the applicant’s total salary, distributed across the projects, does not exceed 100% funding.
The organisation that receive and manage the funds paid out by Formas if the project application is approved is called the administrating organisation. Formas distinguishes between administrating organisations that can receive funds in all Formas calls and administrating organisations that can be approved to receive funds for a single project. Universities, colleges, government agencies with research assignments and most research institutes are approved as administrating organisations in all Formas calls. Most other public and private organisations need to obtain individual approval as administrating organisations.
Who can become an administrating organisation?
Companies and other organisations that conduct economic activities and wish to apply for funding are subject to State aid rules.
Please note that sole proprietorships are not eligible for funding in this call or to participate as a party. Applications with a sole proprietorship as the main applicant or project party will be rejected. .
All projects applying for funding from Formas must have a responsible project manager and be carried out by the persons specified in the application. The project manager should be affiliated with the administrating organisation. At least one participating researcher from a university, college or research institute must have obtained a doctoral degree by the closing date of the call. The project must include individuals who together possess the relevant expertise to carry out the project’s activities and achieve the project’s objectives. These individuals may be employed by participating project partners or may be engaged as consultants. It is important that the project team includes organisations that have influence and control over the challenges that are the focus of the project, i.e. actors who can influence the implementation and dissemination of the project's results. It is up to the project to put together a suitable project team, distribute the partners' contributions to different parts of the project and decide how the budget between the participating partners should be allocated.
The total number of partners in the project, including the main applicant, must be at least three (3) and no more than seven (7). It is possible to link a reference group or similar to the project in order to engage more societal actors or include complementary expertise, e.g. other researchers. Participants in the reference group shall not be counted as partners in the project and shall therefore not be included with their own budget in the application.
State aid rules apply when Formas awards grants to companies and other organisations engaged in economic activities. The purpose is to protect competition in the EU internal market.
In this call, Formas will apply Article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER, EU Regulation No 651/2014).
For projects under Article 25, the level of support depends on the project's research activity (basic research, industrial research, experimental development or feasibility studies) and the size of the company. In this call, Formas assumes that the projects will fall within the category of "industrial research" or "experimental development". Formas will not approve a higher aid intensity than the basic level in this call.
In the category “industrial research”, the basic level of aid intensity amounts to a maximum of 50 percent of the eligible costs, and in the category “experimental development”, a maximum of 25 percent, in accordance with Article 25 of the GBER.
Prior to making a decision, Formas conducts credit checks on companies and other entities engaged in economic activities that may be eligible for funding.
Project partners who receive state aid when carrying out projects, in the event that the project application is granted funding from Formas, need to be aware that the requirements for transparency reporting of state aid granted have been tightened in 2023. This means that state aid exceeding €100,000 to a project partner in a project (or €10,000 if it concerns primary agricultural production or the fisheries and aquaculture sector) must be reported publicly within the EU. Formas is responsible for this transparency reporting. The applicant is deemed to be aware of this transparency reporting requirement and is deemed to have authorised such public reporting above the applicable thresholds.
Rules for organisations that partly engage in economic activities
Organisations that conduct both economic and non-economic activities, such as research institutes, municipal companies and civil society organisations, may apply for funding in the call for proposals and receive grants without state aid, provided that they intend to participate in their non-economic activities. An organisation that engages in both economic and non-economic activities shall be considered a company only in relation to its economic activities.
If an organisation applying for funding conducts both economic and non-economic activities, it must keep these activities clearly separated through separate accounting. It is crucial that the costs and financing of the organisation's various activities are kept separate. The organisation may not use the results of activities conducted within the framework of its non-economic activities and financed by Formas in its economic activities. In summary, in order for Formas to be able to grant the organisation support in the form of funding within the framework of its non-economic activities, the applicant organisation must certify that its non-economic activities are kept clearly separate from any economic activities and that the project for which funding is applied for will be conducted within the non-economic part of its activities.
For applicants that conduct both economic and non-economic activities, and that intend to participate in the non-economic part of their activities in the call, Formas requires that a certificate of separate accounting be signed by an authorised representative of the organisation and attached to the application. During the processing of the application, Formas may also request a certificate of separate accounting or subordinate economic activity for projects when Formas deems it necessary. Read more under the heading What the application must contain.
Here you can read more about the state aid rules that apply when Formas awards grants:
Support levels according to Formas’ support scheme (in Swedish) External link.
You can apply for the following costs:
- Personnel costs
- Equipment, land and buildings
- Costs for consultants and licences, etc.
- Other direct costs, including travel
- Indirect costs
The funds must be clearly linked to the project for which you are applying for funding and finance activities beyond your regular operations.
More information is available here: Project costs that qualify for funding.
The total budget for the call is up to 200 million Swedish kronor. Within the call, it is possible to apply for a maximum of 30 million Swedish kronor for a four- or five-year project. The project must start on 1 July 2026. The projects must be completed by 30 June 2030 (for four-year projects) or by 30 June 2031 (for five-year projects). The availability period after the end of the project is 12 months.
You are adviced to write your application in English, as the review panel that will assess the application is international. If you write your application in Swedish, only the part describing the project work itself will be translated into English. The text will be machine translated and you will not have the opportunity to see or change the translated text before the application is reviewed by the review panel. However, the popular science description must be written in Swedish, while the summaries must be in both Swedish and English. The budget specification and CV will not be translated.
Under Swedish law, your application (including appendices) is considered a public document once it has been submitted to Formas. This means that anyone can request and access your application. Information can only be concealed if it is covered by confidentiality under the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400).
Formas has limited opportunities to classify personal data as confidential. Therefore, the application should not contain personal data for anyone other than those participating in the application.
The popular science description and project summaries in Swedish and English will, if the project is granted funding, be published in open project databases without confidentiality review. The content of these fields should therefore not contain sensitive information.
We currently see no problem with AI being used as an aid in the preparation of the application. However, it is important to point out that the responsibility for fulfilling the commitments made in the application lies with the applicant. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that the content of both the application and the project plan is correct and that the research is carried out as described. You certify this when submitting your application. Applicants must follow good research practice in the application process, which means that plagiarism, falsification or fabrication of content in the application must not occur.
Formas is very keen to ensure that the projects we fund are carried out in a way that maximises positive and minimises negative impacts on the environment and climate. We therefore encourage applicants to design the project so that collaboration takes place primarily through digital meetings and that necessary travel is carried out as climate-smart as possible. We also suggest that the project planning includes measures that minimise energy and other resource consumption, emissions and waste. However, this will not be part of the assessment of your application.
Please read about Formas' own sustainability work.
How to apply
You submit your application to Formas in our application system Prisma. There you enter the information needed for your application.
Personal account
If you are the main applicant who will fill out the information in the application and register it in the application system, you need a personal account in Prisma. If you do not have a personal account, you must create one in Prisma as soon as possible.
Apply for a personal account in Prisma External link..
Organisational account
The coordinating party is responsible for all administration in Prisma and must be specified throughout the application as the coordinator/fund manager.
The organisation that will receive and manage the funds paid out by Formas if the project application is approved is referred to in Formas’ application system as the administrating organisation. The organisation must have an organisational account at the time of application.
Formas distinguishes between administrating organisations that can receive funds in all Formas calls and administrating organisations that can be approved to receive funds for a single project.
Applicants from administrating organisations approved for all Formas calls
Universities, colleges, most research institutes and authorities with research assignments are approved as administrating organisations for all Formas calls and already have an organisation account.
Applicants from administrating organisations that need to be individually approved
Most other public and private organisations need to be individually approved as administrating organisations in this call.
Organisational accounts for organisations that can become administrating organisations for an individual project
- If your organisation already has an account in Prisma, please contact the responsible research officer Emily Dock Åkerman so that your organisation can be added as a potential administrating organisation for this call. Please include your Swedish organisation number in your message. This also applies if your organisation has been approved as an administrating organisation for a project in one of Formas’ previous calls.
- If your organisation does not already have an account in Prisma, an appropriate representative (organisation account manager) must apply for an organisational account on the Prisma website. In the justification for the application, state that you want to apply for the call ‘Blue Transformation – Coast and Sea’, what type of organisation it is and the Swedish organisation number. It is important that the main applicant applies in good time for an organisational account for the intended coordinating project partner (administrating organisation) if there is no such account in Prisma, but no later than 24 November 2025. Apply for an organisation account in Prisma. External link.
- If you do not know whether your organisation has an account in Prisma, please contact the responsible research officer Emily Dock Åkerman before applying for a new account. Please state your Swedish organisation number.
Project site – create a structure to describe the organisation
In order to register an application, a project site within the organisation must be specified, such as a department or a unit. The person responsible for the organisational account must build a structure with units and sub-units (project sites) on two levels. If the organisation has no departments or units, specify a sub-unit with the same name as the organisation. Information on how to do this can be found in Prisma's user support External link..
All maximum character limits refer to characters including spaces. We recommend using Arial font size 12 for the information entered in all text boxes.
Please note that if you write your application in a word processing software and then paste it into Prisma, the formatting may be lost.
Tables and figures with advanced formatting or formulae should be uploaded as an attachment in PDF format to avoid the risk of losing valuable information.
The application must contain a clear description of the project in the following sections:
Basic information
- Number of years requested (4 or 5 years)
- Project title in Swedish and English (200 characters each including spaces)
- Popular science description in Swedish (4,500 characters including spaces). The popular science description will, if the project is funded, be published in open project databases without a confidentiality check. The content of this field should therefore not contain sensitive information.
- Summary in Swedish and English (1,500 characters each including spaces). The project summaries will, if the project is funded, be published in open project databases without a confidentiality check. The content of these fields should therefore not contain sensitive information.
Project description
The project description must clearly address all assessment criteria. In the assessment, great importance will be attributed to how well the applications provide a complete picture of both the problems and proposed solutions, the commitment of the stakeholders of the project, and how the project conducts its impact analysis of the proposed measures.
If you wish to attach images, tables, figures, etc. to your application, these should be uploaded as a PDF attachment (max. 10 MB).
The following must be described in detail:
The relevance of the project (max. 5,000 characters including spaces)
- Describe the context of the project and why it is important from a broader perspective.
- Describe the research and knowledge that underpins the project.
- Describe how the project can contribute to the purpose and focus of the call.
- Specify the problems or challenges that the project addresses.
- Describe how the current needs of industry, authorities and other relevant actors are met.
The project's potential (max. 5,000 characters including spaces)
- Describe the innovative aspects of the project's focus and results.
- Describe the changes in society that the project will contribute to in the short and long term. For example, the project may develop a plan, theory of change or simple impact logic that describes interventions, results and societal impacts. Feel free to visualise the components of the impact logic and logical connections.
- Describe the expected scientific results
- Describe the project's potential for scalability, dissemination and societal transformation.
Project implementation (max. 10,000 characters including spaces)
- Describe and justify how you will implement the project, for example through work packages, activities, methods, collaboration activities and a timetable.
- Describe the project's plan for communication and utilisation.
- Describe any ethical considerations and how these are addressed in the project.
- Reflect on how gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities for all have been integrated into the implementation of the project.
- Reflect on how risks may affect the implementation, timetable and budget of the project, how likely it is that the risks will arise, and how they will be managed.
Actors (max. 5,000 characters including spaces)
- Describe and justify the choice of project partners, their expertise, roles and participation in the project.
- Describe how the needs and interests of the project partners and other relevant societal actors are taken into account in the design and implementation of the project.
- Reflect on the composition of the project team (key individuals) in terms of gender and the distribution of influence between women and men.
Reference list (max. 5,000 characters including spaces)
- References included in the running text under the above bullets are listed in a separate field.
Budget and other information
The project costs, financing and other information about all organisations participating in the application are to be reported in Prisma. Please note that the budget and budget specification should be written in English. A Swedish budget specification is not submitted for translation but is reviewed by the international review panel as it is. In Prisma, amounts are stated in figures, for example, 1 million Swedish kronor is written as 1,000,000 Swedish kronor.
Please note that even if a participating project partner does not apply for funding from Formas and only contributes its time in kind, e.g. foreign organisations, the partner must still be included in the application and listed as a separate item in the budget in order to be counted as part of the project.
Companies and other organisations engaged in economic activities may apply for and be awarded grants up to the levels specified in the section Rules for state aid and other economic activities.
The following information must be included in the project budget:
Information about the main applicant's organisation and each project partner
This is mandatory information that must be provided for each party involved in the project. The information is collected and entered by the main applicant. The main applicant's organisation must be the same as the one specified as the fund manager.
- Name of the organisation
- Swedish organisation number
- Address, postcode, town, country
- Annual turnover (refers to the university, college, institute, company or organisation's total turnover or sales during the current tax year, stated in figures, e.g. 3,500,000)
- Balance sheet total (refers to the sum of assets or the sum of liabilities and equity in a company's or organisation's balance sheet, stated in figures, e.g. 5,500,000)
- Number of employees
- Contact person
- Email address of contact person
- Name of workplace, address, postcode, town, country where the majority of the work will be carried out.
Costs
- Personnel costs for researchers, technicians and other staff to the extent that they work on the project. For employees at universities, colleges or research institutes, the amount may never exceed one hundred per cent of a full-time position. This also means that someone who already receives full salary funding from a financier cannot receive additional funds for salary. Researchers who are fully retired cannot receive funding for their own salary.
- Equipment, buildings and land to the extent and for the duration that they are used for the project. If the instruments and equipment are not used throughout the entire life cycle of the project, only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life cycle of the research project, calculated on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles, are considered eligible. In the case of buildings, only the depreciation costs corresponding to the life cycle of the research project, calculated on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles, are considered eligible. For land, costs of transfer on commercial terms or actual capital costs are eligible.
- Costs for consultants and licences, etc., purchased or hired from external sources on market terms, as well as costs for consultancy services and similar services used exclusively for the research activity.
- Other direct costs, such as costs for materials, inputs and similar products, incurred as a direct result of a project. Other direct costs also include travel and conferences, as well as publication in open access journals and databases. Formas only grants funding for certain author fees. Read more under the heading Costs of publication.
Project partners applying for funding equivalent to three million Swedish kronor or more may also apply for funding of up to 30,000 Swedish kronor for auditor’s certificates from authorised/approved auditors. Auditor’s certificates from internal auditors are accepted for municipalities, county councils, government agencies, universities and colleges. - Indirect costs:
- Universities and colleges may add a surcharge for indirect costs in accordance with the full-cost principle they apply. Universities and colleges only need to report eligible costs corresponding to the grant amount separately in their accounts.
- The following organisations may, when participating in the project with non-economic activities, include actual indirect costs up to a maximum of 45% of their eligible personnel costs:
- research organizations that are
- llimited companies or partnerships in which the state exercises direct or indirect legal control, or
- foundations in which the government appoints one or more board members
- governmental authorities (other than universities and colleges) which, according to their instructions, are to conduct their own research.
The condition of a maximum of 45% applies provided that the organisation receives funding for independent research through a government decision. If the organisation also conducts economic activities such as contract research, these activities must be reported separately. If the organisation participates in the project with economic activities, the condition regarding other project partners below applies.
- research organizations that are
- Other project partners may claim actual indirect costs, but only up to an amount corresponding to 30% of their eligible personnel costs.
Formas does not grant funds for overheads on depreciation costs for equipment or premises.
- Universities and colleges may add a surcharge for indirect costs in accordance with the full-cost principle they apply. Universities and colleges only need to report eligible costs corresponding to the grant amount separately in their accounts.
Funding
Four types of funding can be specified in the application:
- Grant applied for from Formas: Specify the amount applied for from Formas within the framework of the call. The amount may not exceed the total costs. If the amount applied for is less than the total costs, the remaining amount will automatically be calculated and reported under Own funding.
- Other support (public): If funds for related projects have been obtained with funding from Formas or another public funder.
- Other support (private): If funds from another private company or organisation are contributing to the financing of the project.
- Own funding: If the project partner contributes its own funding to the project, this is automatically calculated in the field for own funding.
Justification of personnel costs in the budget
Here you specify the average hourly cost for budgeted staff costs per project partner. Staff costs refer to salaries including social security contributions and other mandatory contributions linked to salaries. (Maximum 500 characters including spaces.)
Budget specification
Here, the principal applicant explains and justifies the budget in words. The overhead costs applied in the application are specified here. Formas does not grant funds for overheads on depreciation costs for equipment or premises.
Here you also specify any consultancy costs and the extent of the consultant's involvement. Also specify which project partner(s) are responsible for the consultancy costs.
Describe how much of the co-funding, i.e. other support (public), other support (private) or own funding, consists of your own time (in-kind), cash or other resources. If the co-funding consists wholly or partly of resources other than cash, clearly state how you calculate these contributions. Describe this for each project partner contributing to the co-funding.
Applicants are encouraged to clearly describe all costs in relation to the relevant activities within the project. (Maximum 9,000 characters including spaces.)
Ethics
Indicate if there are specific ethical aspects to the project. If so, please describe the ethical issues involved and how they will be addressed. For example, this could be research that utilises personal data or research that involves experiments on humans or animals.
For research involving humans, human tissue or sensitive personal data, an application for ethical review must be submitted to the Ethical Review Authority and approved. If the research involves experiments on animals, approval from an animal experimentation ethics committee is also required. The application for this is made in the Swedish Board of Agriculture's e-service.
Indicate in the application whether current ethical approval exists. If not, and the application is funded, ethical approval must be obtained before commencing the described trials.
If the research is not expected to involve anything that requires ethical approval, this should be stated and justified how and why.
Classifications
Formas uses the project classifications in analyses and documentation at an overall level. The classifications are made by the applicant specifying the subject area, research topic (SCB code), at least one global sustainable development goal to which the project can contribute, and keywords.
- Subject area
Select the project’s subject area and add a subheading.
- Research topic (SCB code)
Select at least one research subject and two sub-levels that create the merged code.
- Global sustainable development goals
Enter at least one and up to three global sustainability goals that the project can contribute to, in order of priority according to degree of relevance.
More about the meaning of the goals. External link.
- Keywords
Enter at least one and up to three keywords that describe the project.
Administrating organisation – the organisation that receives the grant
The organisation that will receive and manage the funds that Formas pays out to approved projects is called the administrating organisation.
- Select the administrating organisation from the drop-down list. If you cannot find the organisation that will act as administrating organisation, see the heading Organisation account under the section How to apply.
- Select your domicile from the drop-down list. If you cannot find the correct domicile, see the heading Applicants from administrating organisations who need to be individually approved in the section How to apply.
Attachments
Attachments are uploaded in PDF format in Prisma. It is not possible to upload documents in other formats.
Mandatory
Participants
List all project participants by name, organisation and role in the project. Fill out the information in any table format, save the document as a PDF file (max. 4 MB) and upload it under mandatory attachments in Prisma.
CV and list of qualifications
CVs, including relevant qualifications for key persons, should be uploaded as a single PDF file (max. 4 MB). Max. 1 A4 page per person.
In this call, researchers cannot link to CV information already entered in Prisma. This is to ensure that applications and CVs can be assessed on an equal basis.
The CV should include relevant information that demonstrates the competencies that are important in the project for each key person. For example, experience from relevant research, implementation, collaboration and project management.
The CV should contain the following:
- Name
- Gender
- Organisation
- Title
- Role in the project
- Relevant skills and experience
- Reasons why the person is a key person
- Other
Letters of support from participating community actors
Letters of support from the community actors who are partners in the project. The letters of support must confirm the organisation's active participation and commitment to the project, as well as any co-financing. The letters of support must be attached to the application as a single PDF file (max. 4 MB). Letters of support must be signed by the CEO, director-general or equivalent.
List of publications
Participating researchers shall list their ten most relevant publications. The list of publications shall be uploaded as a single PDF file (max. 4 MB).
Voluntary
Figures, tables and images
If figures, tables or images are needed to describe the project idea, these should be attached as a single PDF file (max. 10 MB).
After you have submitted your application
First, Formas checks that the application meets the formal requirements set out in the call. If the application does not meet the requirements, it will be rejected.
The following requirements will be checked in this call:
- The administrating organisation must have signed the application; this must be done within seven calendar days after the call has closed.
- At least one researcher has a doctoral degree.
- That the application has not been rejected by the administrating organisation.
- That the focus of the application falls within Formas' areas of responsibility.
- The focus of the application is within the scope of the call.
- The application complies with the call’s framework in terms of budget, project duration, type of project partners, composition of partners, etc.
- Credit checks on all project partners that are companies and other organisations with economic activities that may be eligible for funding.
- That the application is complete, i.e. that it contains all the mandatory information.
- That no other applications with the same content have been submitted.
The main applicant responsible for other projects or activities funded by Formas has submitted the requested reports within the specified time.
All applications are assessed by an external review panel based on the information provided in the application. Each application is reviewed by several reviewers. The review panel is composed of representatives from academia and relevant stakeholders in society. It is important that the application is as clear as possible in its content and that all important and relevant information is included.
Applications are assessed based on the following criteria:
Relevance
- The project is important from a societal perspective and can contribute significantly to the purpose and focus of the call.
- The research on which the project is based is relevant and well chosen.
- The project addresses significant problems and challenges and meets the needs of industry, authorities and other relevant actors.
Potential
- The project's expected results and/or solution are at the forefront of their field and have a significant novelty or innovation value.
- The project's expected results have significant scientific value.
- The application clearly states the expected impact of the proposed solutions in terms of benefits to society.
- The project has significant potential for scalability, dissemination and transformation at the societal level.
Implementation
- The planned activities and methods are appropriate for achieving the expected results.
- The timetable and budget are realistic and appropriate in relation to the project's purpose and objectives.
- The project's plan for communicating the project's results and how they will be utilised is clear and appropriate.
- The project's planned management of any obstacles or risks that may affect the implementation of the project is well thought out and appropriate.
- Ethical considerations are well described and the plan for how these will be addressed is appropriate.
- Gender equality aspects are well integrated into the implementation of the project.
Project organisation
- The project's organisation and overall expertise are appropriate for the implementation of the project, including the utilisation of the project's results.
- The project is carried out in collaboration with relevant stakeholders or users. The involvement of the project participants is well described and appropriate for the project's objectives.
- The project team (key persons) is well composed in terms of gender distribution and the distribution of influence between women and men.
Our reviewers are currently not allowed to use AI tools to support the review of applications. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, there is a high risk that uploaded information will be disseminated further. There are also risks associated with confidentiality and the processing of personal data. Uploading an application or information from an application to any form of AI tool constitutes unauthorised dissemination of information. This applies not only to AI tools but also to many other services and tools for storing and sharing data.
Decisions on which projects will receive funding are expected to be made in April 2026. We will publish the decisions no later than the following day on Formas’ website, and you will receive an email when you can view the decision in Prisma. Grant decisions cannot be appealed.
For projects that receive funding in the call, the project partners must, individually and after notification of approval, sign a written commitment to carry out the project in accordance with Formas’s decision to award funding. This is done via Prisma. A prerequisite for the first disbursement of funds is that a copy of all project partners' approvals has been received in good time and that any requested supplementary information has been submitted.
All approved projects must submit a report to Formas on finances and project results within three months after the end of the availability period. Financial status reports must be submitted to Formas annually. After three years, a progress report detailing the implementation of the project and the results achieved must be submitted to Formas. All reports are submitted in Prisma.
Financial reporting in Prisma External link..
Formas may have requirements on how projects are to be reported in terms of content and results to enable dissemination and utilisation. This will be stated in the decision (with associated conditions) for the project in the event of funding. Formas may also require participation in conferences and similar events to create synergies and platforms for learning and knowledge exchange.
Results from research funded by Formas must be published with open access.
Those who receive funding must also have a data management plan for the data produced in the project. The plan does not have to be submitted to us, but you must be able to present it on request. By signing our funding conditions, you certify that a data management plan will be in place before the research begins and that it will be maintained.
Formas shares information about awarded grants to Swecris, a national database of grant-funded research set up on behalf of the government.
Support and shortcuts
Information meeting October 8 at 14.00 (in Swedish)
Revision history
Any post-publication revisions to the call text are listed below.
Contact information
For questions about the content of the call
For administrative questions and questions about Prisma
