From research to implementation for a sustainable society 2023

We face major challenges that must be solved as we transition towards giving up fossil fuels, adapting to climate change, and creating the conditions for socially, environmentally and economically sustainable communities.

The national research programmes for sustainable spatial planning, food, climate, and oceans and water are 10-year programmes that aim to promote the transition to a sustainable society and achieve significant real-world impact, meaning changes that benefit society. Each programme has a strategic research agenda that serves as the basis for the actions the programme chooses to implement.

Research is a vital means of enabling the transition to a sustainable society, but the challenges that need to be solved lie in our communities. Hence, end users such as public organisations, businesses and citizens have important knowledge and experience to bring to the process of translating research into practice. Thus, collaboration between researchers and end users is a key enabler.

In collaboration with one or more end users, researchers should harness research results and other knowledge and experiences to develop solutions and processes that can be used to contribute to a sustainable society. A key prerequisite for the success of such a process is a joint commitment on the part of researchers and end users. An end user can, for example, come from civil society, the public sector or the business sector. All project participants must understand the contexts and systems in which the research results will be used. This can involve needs, perspectives, requirements and obstacles that must be understood and addressed in order to develop impactful solutions that enable long-term sustainable development.

The purpose of the call is to translate research results, as well as knowledge and experience among both researchers and end users, in order to achieve real-world impact for the intended target group and support a sustainable society in the long term. Therefore, the call places great emphasis on multi-stakeholder collaboration between academia (higher education institutions, research institutes or other research-performing organisations) and different end users so they can develop relevant solutions and processes that focus on increased sustainability. The projects can, for example, develop solutions that include policies, technologies, attitudes, drivers or norms.

In the projects, the researchers and end users must collaborate in a common process to significantly enhance research results in order to develop solutions or processes that can achieve real-world impact. The projects should enable testing of the solution under appropriate conditions together with relevant stakeholders. The projects should also investigate the opportunities and obstacles for the solution’s real-world impact.

The projects must fall within one or more of the themes and perspectives highlighted in the research agendas and clearly contribute to the objectives of one or more of the national research programmes for sustainable spatial planning, food, climate, and oceans and water.

The participants’ complementary skills, level of involvement and degree of collaboration must be based on the needs of the specific project. It is vital for participants to have both an understanding of the contexts in which the solution or process will be used and a common interest in the expected results and effects. Project activities must be designed in relation to the specific maturity level and challenges of each individual project.

The project’s proposed solution must (when applicable) be, or have the potential to become, scalable and disseminated to relevant stakeholders in order to make a lasting contribution to national research programme objectives. A scalable solution is one that can be scaled up for implementation and use in society, and if possible used in the same type or similar applications nationally or internationally. For the project to be considered, the applicant must clearly show that the sustainability perspective is integral to the project and must indicate how it will be followed up.

Applicants must be able to clearly demonstrate that the solution meets a need of the end user and any other stakeholders and how this promotes the transition to a sustainable society. The composition of the project team and the participants’ activities should provide the project with the best conditions for developing the described solution or process and its potential for practical application.

The research results or collective findings that underpin the solution should be of high quality. This means that they rest on a solid scientific foundation, have a novelty value and an innovation height, and fill a gap for solutions within or outside Sweden.

Applicants in the call “From research to real-world impact for a sustainable society 2023” will not be able to receive a grant in the 2023 call “Blue Innovation – Implementation Projects” for projects that are related to this one. Any such applications will be rejected.

The projects must fall within one or more of the themes and perspectives highlighted in the research agendas and clearly contribute to the objectives of one or more of the national research programmes for sustainable spatial planning, food, climate, and oceans and water.

National research programme for food

The national research programme for food was established to strengthen needs-driven research, promote the dissemination and commercialisation of research results, and increase knowledge in order to educate food system actors. Its purpose is to help increase productivity and innovation across the food chain as well as achieve sustainable food production and consumption.

The programme promotes a transition of the food system to one that is more sustainable from environmental, social and economic perspectives, one where long-term competitiveness builds on science-based knowledge and enhanced innovation for sustainably produced, healthy, tasty and safe food for all.

The national research programme’s agenda aims to provide a direction for knowledge building and innovation in order to achieve a sustainable and competitive food system. Four themes have been defined that require interplay and interaction. The programme’s four themes and six perspectives are listed below and are described in the programme’s strategic agenda, Towards a sustainable and competitive food system External link..

• Sustainable production systems
• Good food for good health and the environment
• Meals and the consumer
• Innovative and safe food

The cross-cutting perspectives highlight key areas of development that can simultaneously act as drivers in the transition to a sustainable, competitive Swedish food system. The perspectives are: a system perspective, knowledge and skills development, governance and leadership, digitalisation and technology development, regionally and globally, and gender equality and diversity.

• National research programme for food External link.

National research programme on climate

The national research programme on climate should create favourable conditions that enable research and innovation to contribute to climate change adaptation efforts, the transition to a fossil-free society, and attainment of climate goals nationwide and worldwide. The programme will fund research and innovation within six key themes described in its agenda, Knowledge for a climate transformation External link..

Climate change is a complex challenge. Greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced throughout society, and we have to shift more rapidly from words to deeds through governance and various types of measures, behavioural changes and innovations. Citizens and intended users of novel research need to be involved in climate efforts, which also must be perceived as fair and inclusive. In parallel, we need more knowledge about climate trends, the relationship of climate actions to other SDGs in Agenda 2030, and climate adaptation efforts.

In the agenda, six themes have been defined as central:

• Sustainable innovations for climate efforts
• System-integrated knowledge of climate change, ecosystems and society
• Production and consumption in line with the climate goals
• Governance for addressing the climate challenges
• Economic and financial drivers for climate action
• A democratic and just climate transformation

In addition, each of these themes should be highlighted using the key perspectives of international climate efforts, digitalisation, synergies and conflicts among the SDGs, and equity, gender equality and diversity.

• National research programme on climate External link.

National research programme for sustainable spatial planning

The national research programme for sustainable spatial planning funds research and innovation that can contribute to a transformative, sustainable built environment. We face major challenges, such as transitioning to a fossil-free society, adapting to climate change, and creating better conditions for socially, environmentally and economically sustainable cities and communities. Boosting the transition capability of all stakeholders is central to achieving more sustainable spatial planning in practice.

In its agenda Research for transformative and sustainable spatial planning External link., External link. the national research programme for sustainable spatial planning has identified a number of central themes and perspectives that should be prioritised in this transition. These themes and perspectives are based on the various challenges that the built environment and spatial planning currently face. More knowledge and new solutions are needed in these areas so that society can shift to transformative, sustainable spatial planning. The six identified themes are:

• Sustainable residential and public environments
• Sustainable mobility systems for all
• Human health and well-being
• Security and safety for people and societies
• Sustainable consumption and production
• Sustainable land and water use

In addition, each of these themes should be highlighted using five intersecting perspectives: governance, policy and economics; organisation, collaboration and leadership; accessibility, equity and gender equality; democracy and participation; and digitalisation and artificial intelligence.

• National research programme for sustainable spatial planning External link.

National research programme on oceans and water

By funding research and innovation as well as other activities, the national research programme on oceans and water aims to promote a strategic, long-term approach to water that takes a holistic perspective. The programme will contribute to efforts to address challenges in the marine and water environment nationally, as well as enable synergies with Sweden’s various engagements in the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and the implementation of the UN Decade of Ocean Science.

The programme’s strategic research agenda “Mobilisation for healthy oceans and water External link.” forms the basis for calls for proposals and other activities initiated within the national research programme on oceans and water. Healthy oceans and waters are needed to keep ecosystems in balance across the earth and achieve sustainable development throughout society. Many issues are thus important for the programme to address, and these have been condensed into three central themes in the agenda.

The themes included in the agenda are:

• Strengthen the resilience of aquatic ecosystems. Includes the need for knowledge around complex and dynamic ecosystems, and more effective environmental monitoring.
• Develop sustainable water resource management. Includes our common water resource, sustainable water resource management in a changing climate, and our essential groundwater.
• Boost society’s ability to take action for sustainable oceans and water. Includes effective planning and management, community engagement and involvement in water-related issues, and initiatives for stimulating blue innovations.

The challenges we are facing require us to mobilise around knowledge, increase innovation capacity, and build more collaborative partnerships to increase our understanding of the water cycle and identify sustainable ways to use our water resources. The need to have healthy oceans and waters must be integrated with other societal needs and be viewed as an important social issue.

Enabling a transformation in this area requires more effective regulations and permit procedures, as well as more effective and enhanced water management. The programme thus intends to facilitate close collaboration between researchers and various stakeholders.

• National research programme on oceans and water External link.

The call is aimed at individuals who work in academia, the public sector, non-profit associations, the business sector and other organisations. Participants from at least two parties must take part in the application: at least one from academia (a higher education institution, research institute or other research-performing organisation) and at least one from outside academia. The project leader can come from a private company, public-sector organisation, a higher education institution or a research institute. Any application involving a sole proprietorship as a party will be rejected.

For organisations engaged in economic activity, such as municipal companies, private companies and other organisations, Formas applies EU state aid rules. Read more under “State aid rules for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity” in this call text.

It is not permissible to be the main applicant for more than one application in this call.

Employees at Swedish higher education institutions, research institutes, public organisations, companies and other private organisations can apply for a grant in the call. Sole proprietorship businesses cannot be granted funding. Any applications involving one or more parties that are sole proprietorships will be rejected.

It is not permissible to be the main applicant for more than one application in this call.

Only participants from academia (higher education institutions, research institutes or other research-performing organisations) are required to have a doctoral degree.

Several types of organisations must participate in the project and be represented by a higher education institution or research institute and one or more end users from outside academia. It is up to the project to put together the most suitable project team. This is part of the assessment criteria under “How does the assessment process work?”.

There must be a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of five (5) project parties.

Formas strives for an equitable, gender-balanced and inclusive development of society. Applicants should therefore design the project so that its results can benefit a diverse group of people, and the team should consider the gender distribution of project members. How influence is distributed in the team should also be taken into account.

Organisations engaged in economic activity that want to apply for a grant from Formas are subject to state aid regulations and their stated co-funding requirements. See the section “State aid rules for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity” External link..

Project participants are expected to participate in seminars, workshops and networks within the framework of the national research programmes for sustainable spatial planning, food, climate, and oceans and water.

All projects seeking funding from Formas must have a responsible project leader and be carried out by the people listed in the application.

When you apply for project funding, you can apply for a grant to cover both direct and indirect costs. Examples of direct costs are staff expenses and operating costs that are directly attributable to the project. 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.

The total amount of salary received for an individual researcher, PhD student or other participant must correspond to the level of activity in your project and must not exceed 100 percent of a full-time position. This means that additional salary funding cannot be granted to staff who already have full salary funding. Participants who receive a full-time pension cannot receive funding for their own salary.

Grants from Formas can be used to fund practicing researchers (at higher education institutions or research institutes) outside Sweden, although the project must be initiated and managed from Sweden. The administrating organisation must be located 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 own guidelines. Any parts of the project that are conducted outside Sweden must be thoroughly explained and must only constitute a limited part of the project.

Grants can be sought for 1 year (12 months) or 2 years (24 months), for a maximum of 2 million kronor per 12-month period, so a total maximum amount of 4 million kronor.

The project start date in Prisma is predefined as 1 December 2023 and cannot be changed. In the budget section, applicants must state how they plan to use the funds based on how actual costs are expected to be incurred during each financial year. For administrative reasons, Formas can apply a payout plan that differs from the application’s allocation of the budget over time.

Applications with a different requested amount or a project duration that does not fall within the above range will be rejected.

Private companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity that want to apply for grants from Formas must follow specific regulations on state aid. The regulations are based on the principle of EU law, which states that aid to private enterprises normally distorts competition but that certain exemptions are allowed.

The aid intensity that Formas can offer depends on the size of the organisation and the type of activities in the project. The organisation’s size is assessed using the EU definition of small and medium-sized enterprises. Activities will primarily be assessed on the basis of Article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation EU 651/2014. Under the call, state aid is granted only to projects which, under EU state aid rules, are grounded in “industrial research”. Aid intensity depends on the eligibility and the size of the company; read more in Aid intensities and definitions for grants under Formas’ aid scheme (in Swedish only) External link..

If you apply for an aid intensity of 100% and the organisation is classified by Formas as an economic activity, the basis for aid must be “de minimis aid”, meaning it must fall within the scope of the aid received of a maximum of 200,000 euros over three fiscal years. This rule is based on Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union for de minimis aid. A statement of de minimis aid can be attached to the application by filling in the template for the statement, which should be signed by an authorised representative of the organisation. The document should then be scanned and uploaded as a PDF in Prisma

Formas’ statement of de minimis aid (pdf) External link. (in Swedish)

Note that sole proprietorships cannot be awarded a grant under this call or participate as a party in projects seeking funding in Formas’ calls. Any application where a sole proprietorship is a party will be rejected.

Companies or other organisations engaged in economic activity that do not have a Swedish corporate identity number cannot be awarded a grant in this call, but can instead participate in-kind.

The Formas website contains more information about the rules for state aid External link..

You should write application in English, since the review panel that will assess your application is international. If you do write your application in Swedish, a professional translator will translate into English only the section describing the research programme. You will not be able to change the translation before the application proceeds to assessment. However, the popular science description must be written in Swedish, while the abstract should be in both Swedish and English. Your budget specification and CV will not be translated. So, please write these in English, even if you write the other sections in Swedish and submit your application in the Swedish version of our application system.

Please be aware that if you have installed an automatic translation plugin in your browser, you risk having your text translated into the language that you have set as the default when you paste your text into Prisma. We recommend that you check the language of your text in Prisma by previewing your application well in advance of the final registration of your 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. Information can only be concealed if it is confidential as defined in the Public Access to Information and Confidentiality Act (2009:400).

Formas has limited possibilities to keep personal data confidential. Therefore, your application should not contain the personal data of anyone who is not included in the application.

The popular science description and project abstracts in Swedish and English will, if the project is awarded 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 eager 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 at this time.

Sustainability at Formas

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

Note that if you write your application in word processing software and then paste it into Prisma, the formatting might disappear. So, tables and figures that contain advanced formatting or formulas should be uploaded as an attachment in order to prevent the loss of valuable information.

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

Basic information

• Number of years for the project as stated in the application.
• Start month. Important: The start month is predefined in Prisma and cannot be changed.
• Project title in Swedish and English (max. 200 characters including spaces).
• Popular science description in Swedish (max. 4,500 characters including spaces).
• Abstract in Swedish and English (max. 1,500 characters each, including spaces).

The popular science description and project abstracts for awarded projects will be published in open-access project databases without a confidentiality review. Therefore, the contents of these fields should not contain sensitive information.

Project description

Read the background and the call’s purpose and focus carefully. The project description must clearly describe the project based on the assessment criteria under “How does the assessment process work?”. Address all the criteria in your application.

The following must be described in detail in the application:

Project’s relevance and potential (max. 10,000 characters, including spaces)

Background

• Describe the context of the project and why the project is important from a broader perspective. This gives the Swedish and international reviewers a solid understanding of how the project solution relates to different areas of society.
• Describe and characterise the challenges the project addresses, any previously tested solutions and the lessons learned from them.
  

Purpose and objectives

• Describe how the project can contribute to the purpose and focus of the call as well as to sustainable development.
• Specify the challenges that the project addresses.
• Describe the goals and expected effects of the project in the short and long term.
• Describe how implementation of the project’s expected results or solutions meet the current needs of the business sector, public organisations or civil society.
• Describe the conditions for dissemination and scalability of the expected results or solution, nationally and internationally.
  

State-of-the-art

• Describe the research and knowledge that form the basis of the project.
• Describe the project’s context and the novelty or level of innovation of the expected results or solution. Compare the project’s expected solutions with any other relevant solutions in and outside Sweden.
• Describe project obstacles and risks, including any related to intellectual property, and the roadmap for implementation and benefit of the proposed solutions. Describe the consequences of identified obstacles and risks, and how the project will manage them.
• Describe if and how the implementation of developed solutions depends on other project results.
  

National research programmes

• State which national research programme or programmes (on sustainable spatial planning, food, climate, or oceans and water) and which objectives, themes and perspectives from the programme agendas your application addresses. Explain how the project contributes to the programmes.
  

Implementation (max. 12,000 characters, including spaces)

• Explain how the project will be carried out – include, for example, work packages, activities, methods, work plan and schedule.
• Clearly describe the plan for creating real-world impact from the project.
• Describe any ethical considerations and how they are managed in the project.
• Reflect on how gender equality and diversity have been integrated in the project.
• Reflect on how risks can affect the project’s implementation, schedule and budget, how likely such risks are and how you will manage them.
  

Organisation (max. 8,000 characters, including spaces)

• Explain your choice of project parties and their qualifications, roles and level of activity in the project.
• Explain how the project will consider the interests of the project parties and other end users.
• Reflect on the project team’s composition (key stakeholders) with regard to gender and distribution of influence among women and men.
  

List of references (max. 5,000 characters, including spaces)

• List the in-line references pertaining to the above sections in a separate field. Can include publications, previous works relevant to the project and similar.
  

Budget and other information

You state the project budget and other information about all participating organisations 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 assessed as is by the international review panel. In Prisma, write out the total amount you are applying for in kronor using digits. For example, SEK 1 million should be written as: 1 000 000 kronor.

Note that the first payment to an awarded project will be made in December 2023, but you should state the budget for 2024 and 2025.

The following information must be stated in the project budget:

Information about the main applicant’s organisation and each project party

This is mandatory information and must be completed for each party in the project. The information should be collected and filled in by the main applicant. The main applicant’s organisation must be the same as the one stated as the administrating organisation.

• Name of the organisation
• Corporate identity number
• Address, postal code, city, country
• Annual turnover (the total sales or turnover of the higher education institution, research institute, company or organisation during the previous fiscal year), stated using digits. Example: 3 500 000.
• Balance sheet total (the sum of either the assets page or liabilities and equity from the company’s or organisation’s balance sheet), stated using digits. Example: 5 500 000.
• Number of employees
• Contact person
• E-mail of contact person
• Name of the workplace, address, postal code, city and country where most of the work will be carried out.
  

Costs

• Personnel costs: Funding is available to cover actual salary costs for time spent on the project. This applies both to companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity (which are subject to EU state aid rules) as well as other types of organisations. For employees of higher education institutions or research institutes, the amount must never exceed 100 percent of full-time employment. So, someone who is already receiving full salary funding from another funder cannot receive additional salary funding. Researchers who are full-time pensioners cannot receive funding for their own salary.

• Equipment, buildings and land: The total maximum amount you can be granted for equipment and equipment depreciation costs is 500,000 kronor.
  
  The costs of equipment, buildings and land are eligible to the extent and for the duration of their use in the project. For equipment and buildings, the depreciation costs incurred during the project’s life cycle are eligible. For land, the actual capital expenses are eligible but are subject to limitations as described above.
  

• Consultancy and licensing costs: For the costs of consultancy services and licenses to be eligible for funding, they must be purchased or licensed from external providers at market prices, and their services and scope must be stated in the project description.

• Other direct costs: Other direct costs can include the cost of consumables, travel, conferences and publication fees for open-access journals and databases.

• Indirect costs (overhead): Higher education institutions and research institutes may charge a markup for indirect costs according to the applicable full-cost pricing method. Other project participants may charge a markup for indirect costs of up to 30 percent of their eligible staff expenses. Formas does not grant funds for overhead on costs that you write off for equipment or for premises.

Financing

There are four types of funding an applicant can specify in the application:

• Applied funding from Formas: Indicates the amount requested from Formas under the call. The amount cannot exceed the total costs. If the amount sought is less than the total costs, the remaining amounts will be automatically calculated and reported under “Self-funding”.
• Other funding (state): If Formas or another public funder has provided funding for related projects.
• Other funding (private): If another private company or organisation has provided funding for the project.
• Self-finance: If the project party contributes its own funding, this is calculated automatically and displayed in this field.
  

Justification of budgeted personnel costs

Here, you specify the average hourly cost for budgeted staff expenses. This refers to salaries including social security contributions and other mandatory charges associated with salaries. (Maximum 500 characters including spaces.)

Budget specification

In the main applicant’s own words, they should explain the budget and state the overhead costs included in the application. Formas does not grant funding for overhead costs that you write off for equipment or premises.

Here, you also specify any consultancy costs and the scope of the consultant’s participation. Also specify which project participants will pay for the consultancy costs. The applicant is encouraged to clearly describe all costs related to the project activities. (Maximum 9,000 characters including spaces.)

Ethical considerations

You should specify whether or not there are specific ethical concerns in your project. If so, state what these ethical concerns are and how you plan to manage them. Examples include research that uses personal data or research involving experiments on humans or animals.

If you are conducting research on humans or human tissue or are processing sensitive personal data, you must submit an application for ethical review to the Swedish Ethical Review Authority and have it approved. If you are conducting an animal experiment, you also need to obtain approval from a relevant animal ethics board. You can apply for approval through the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s online service.

You should state in your application whether or not you have obtained a valid ethical approval. If you have not obtained such approval and you are awarded a grant, you must obtain it before the described studies begin.

Even if you do not expect your research to involve ethical concerns, you should state this in your application and briefly explain why not.

Classifications

Formas uses the project’s classifications in analyses and supporting documentation on an overall level. The classifications are made when the applicant states the subject area, research subject (SCB code), at least one sustainable development goal the project can contribute to, and keywords.

• Subject area
  Select at least one subject area for the project and add a sub-heading.
  

• Research subject (SCB code)
  Select at least one research subject and two sublevels that together form the entire code.
  

• Sustainable development goals
  Select at least one and up to three sustainable development goals (SDGs) the project can help to achieve, in order of relevance.
  More about the meaning of the goals External link.
  

• Keywords
  Enter at least one and a maximum of three keywords describing the project.
  

Administrating organisation – the organisation receiving the grant

The organisation that will receive and administer the awarded funds that Formas pays out is called the administrating organisation.

• Select the administrating organisation from the dropdown list. If you cannot find the organisation that will be the main applicant, see the “Organisation account” heading under “How to apply”.
• Select the project site from the dropdown list. If you cannot find the correct project site, see “Applicants from administrating organisations who must be individually approved” under “How to apply”.

Project participants

State all project participants with their name, organisation and role in the project. Fill in the information in any table style, save the document as a PDF file, and upload under the mandatory appendices in Prisma. You can only upload files in PDF format in Prisma.

CVs

Upload a CV including relevant qualifications for each key participant as a single PDF of a maximum of 4 MB and maximum 1 A4 page per person.

In this call, researchers at generally approved administrating organisations (approved for all Formas calls) cannot link to CV information that is already entered in Prisma. This is done to enable an equal assessment of applications and CVs.

The CV should contain relevant information demonstrating the key participants qualifications and skills that are important in the project. This can include experience from relevant research, implementation, collaboration and project management.

Each CV should contain the following: Name, sex, organisation, title, participation in percent, role in the project, relevant skills and experience, reason why the person is a key participant in the project, other.

Appendices

Mandatory appendices:

• List of project participants (in PDF format)
• A CV for each key participant (max. 1 A4 page per participant, in PDF format)

Optional appendices:

• Illustrations and figures (max. 4 MB)
• Formas’ statement of de minimis aid External link. (in Swedish). This form should be filled in, signed by an authorised representative of the organisation and then uploaded as a PDF in Prisma.

The following requirements will be verified in this call:

• The administrating organisation has signed the application. This must be done within seven calendar days after the call closes.
• The application has been approved by the administrating organisation.
• The application’s focus falls within Formas’ areas of responsibility.
• The focus of the application falls within the call’s areas.
• The application is complete and contains all mandatory information.
• The requirements for project leaders, project participants and organisations under “Applicant and organisation requirements” are met.
• A credit check has been done on all participating companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity that may be relevant for awarding a grant.
• The main applicant responsible for other projects or activities funded by Formas has submitted any requested reports by the stated deadline.

All applications are assessed by an external review panel of national and international members based on the contents of the application. It is therefore important to write the application as clearly as possible and include all important and relevant information. As part of the assessment prior to a decision, Formas will consider the project portfolio in order to fund projects that address a wide range of themes within the call’s framework.

The application assessment process

The applications are assessed based on the following criteria.

Relevance

• The project can significantly contribute to the purpose and focus of the call.
• The design of the project and the expected results have taken into consideration the relevant needs and conditions of different groups in society.
• The application clearly states how the impact of the proposed solution would benefit society.
  

Potential

• The problem formulation and purpose of the project are clear, logical and in line with the purpose and focus of the call.
• The research that forms the basis of the project is of high quality.
• The expected results of the project and/or proposed solution are at the forefront of the field, and the novelty or innovation level is substantial.
• The project has significant potential for scalability and/or dissemination.
  

Implementation

• Planned activities and methods are appropriate for achieving the expected results.
• The time frame and budget are realistic and appropriate in relation to the purpose and objectives of the project.
• The plan for how the results of the project are to be utilised is well described and appropriate.
• Ethical considerations are well described and the plan for how to handle these is appropriate.
• Gender perspectives are well integrated into the implementation of the project.
  

Project organisation

• The project’s organisation and overall competence of the project group are appropriate for the implementation of the project, including the utilisation of the project’s results.
• The project will be carried out in collaboration with relevant stakeholders or end users. The involvement of the project participants is well described and appropriate for the objectives of the project.
• The project group (key actors) as well as the distribution of influence is well balanced between women and men. Relevant for project groups of more than 3 people.

The Formas Research Council expects to decide which projects will be awarded funding on 17 October 2023. We publish our decisions the following day at the latest on the Formas website and later by email from Prisma. Grant award decisions cannot be appealed.

All awarded projects must submit a report to Formas containing financial and project results within three months of the end of the grant availability period. For projects longer than 18 months, a financial statement must also be submitted to Formas annually. All reports are submitted in Prisma.

Financial reporting in Prisma External link.

The financial report for projects in this call follow the same structure as the application.

Formas may impose requirements on how projects must be reported in terms of content and results to enable distribution and application. In such cases, the award decision will contain more information about this. Formas may also require you to participate in conferences and similar events in order to create synergies and platforms for learning and knowledge sharing.

Results of research funded by Formas must be published using open access.

You must also have a data management plan for the data produced in the project. This plan does not need to be submitted to Formas, but should be presented on request. By signing our grant terms and conditions, you certify that a data management plan will be available before the research begins and that it will be maintained.

Open access to research results and data External link.

SweCRIS

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

Coordinating project party

An organisation that coordinates the project and is an administrating organisation, meaning it receives funding from Formas and transfers the funds to other organisations that are project beneficiaries, reports the project according to instructions, and notifies Formas of any changes.

Note that only Swedish organisations can be coordinating project parties.

Project party

An organisation that implements the project, regardless of whether it receives funding or provides self-funding in part or in whole. A subcontractor is not a project party.

Note that companies or other organisations engaged in economic activity outside Sweden cannot receive grants in this call. However, they can participate as project parties if they contribute in kind.

Main applicant

A person appointed by the coordinating project party as the project leader.

Project participant

A member of the project team, such as a participating researcher or participant from another organisation.

Administrating organisation

The organisation that receives funding from Formas and transfers the funds to other organisations that are project beneficiaries, reports the project according to instructions, and notifies Formas of any changes.

Administrating organisation for all types of calls

An organisation that can seek funding from Formas in all types of calls. These are higher education institutions, research institutes and government agencies with research assignments.

Administrating organisation for an individual project

An organisation that can apply for funding from Formas in specific calls and receive funding for an individual project. Examples include private companies, associations, trade organisations, regions or municipalities.

Project site

A project site can be an institution, department or project specialisation.