The call is to contribute to the sustainable development of our built environment through projects that use digitalisation as a central component and as a tool for improved sustainability in spatial planning in terms of processes, their results, and the built environment.
Applications may address processes, forms of collaboration, business models and technology. The purpose of the call is to increase the pace of the digital transformation via activities involving stakeholders from throughout the value chain, from planning to long-term administration of the spatial planning.
The projects is to address at least one of the four thematic areas of the programme Smart Built Environment Thematic Areas
External link.. The projects are to contribute to achieving the impacts and goals identified within the programme’s impact logic. Smart Built Environment Impact Logic 3.0 External link..
The administrating organisation is to be a Swedish organisation and at least one project party is to come from the business sector or public sector, with a clear goal of testing and using the solution that the project intends to develop. Each project party is to be a legal entity with a unique organisation number.
The project is to be designed with gender equality in mind. State how the project can contribute to improved equality in the problem areas and effects of the solution. See the Smart Built Environment Equality Guide (Swedish) External link..
The call includes funding of approx. SEK 40 million plus a co-funding requirement for each project as a whole of at least 50 per cent of the project cost.
Society is undergoing a digital transformation that is already impacting processes and organisations in the spatial planning sector. This sector comprises a large number of organisations, around 250,000, that are an important part of the transformation to a sustainable society.
The strategic innovation programme Smart Built Environment is a platform for organisations in the spatial planning sector, giving them the opportunity to catalyse development together. Smart Built Environment focuses on all processes and activities required to plan, build, and administer physical spatial plannings (construction, infrastructure, buildings, facilities, and cultural and natural environments). Further, the programme focuses on how the spatial planning sector can use digitalisation and/or industrial approaches and processes to increase the pace of this transformation. How can organisations in the sector contribute to achieving society’s goals for reduced greenhouse gas emissions, create conditions for more efficient use and reuse of materials, help society adapt to changes in the climate that are already apparent now and the future, and simultaneously create attractive living environments (that consider equality/gender equality)? Projects that Formas awards funding as part of Smart Built Environment address the necessary processes and activities to plan, produce, and manage the spatial planning. Equality is an important aspect of spatial planning with regard to problem analysis, setting goals, and participating in/influencing planning, production and management. The projects in the programme can contribute to improved equality through their results and inclusive approaches to achieve a more equal society. Equality and gender equality are also integral to how Smart Built Environment is led and governed through the composition of the board and programme management.
To handle the major challenges faced by spatial planning, the sector must increase the pace of transformation to new methods and approaches. Digitalisation and industrial processes are important facilitators, for example by contributing to more efficient use of resources, reducing the number of dangerous steps, speeding up processes for obtaining building permits and zoning approvals, improving decision-making support with the analysis of more solutions, and being able to choose good products quickly. The necessary changes take time to achieve. This means an important part of this process is implementing and scaling up many of the results and solutions already in development or available as prototypes. Disseminating knowledge, sharing experiences and taking a long-term perspective on the change process are all essential in this area.
The digital transformation of society is happening quickly, while the processes that are currently available for spatial planning take a relatively long time. New forms of collaboration, new value chains and business models, and new roles and organisational structures are necessary for truly benefiting from new technology, the digital transformation, and sustainable industrial processes.
Through the Smart Built Environment programme, Formas, Vinnova, and the Swedish Energy Agency are funding projects that use digital transformation and/or industrial processes to contribute to more sustainable spatial planning. The applications are to address the effects in the programme’s impact logic. The application should present if and how the project can contribute to improved equality in spatial planning. The aim of the programme is to help more stakeholders develop their innovative capacity and achieve creative solutions that contribute to the overarching vision and goals of the programme. The digital transformation of spatial planning is occurring nationally and internationally, and an international perspective and knowledge acquisition internationally are desirable and should be components of the projects where relevant.
Project applications should include a clear plan or description of the requirements for long-term development or management of the result after the project’s conclusion. If the project is intended/expected to lead to a result that is ready for use, then the application should briefly describe which player(s) are the intended recipients and how the results are intended to be applied. If the project results are expected to need continued development, then the application should include a plan laying out which player(s) are expected to drive that process forward.
The section “How the assessment process works” describes the assessment criteria for the applications.
The call includes all four of the programme’s thematic areas, at least one of which should be addressed. The thematic areas are briefly described below. More information about the thematic areas and previous projects awarded funding in each area can be found on the programme’s website External link.:
Innovations and new applications
An application addressing the thematic area “Innovations and new applications” describes ideas and initiatives that can be developed into innovations and new applications of products, services, or processes in the built environment. This theme area focuses on breaking out of ingrained patterns and approaches and finding new solutions and approaches for organising and collaborating in the industry.
Value chains and business models
The thematic area “Value chains and business models” focuses on how value chains, incentives, and business models need developing to leverage the potential of digitalisation and industrialisation. With the digital transformation of the spatial planning sector as a starting point, the area addresses issues connected to how roles, approaches, organisation, governance, and leadership of organisations, projects, and processes are developed and changed. These questions are closely linked to how digital innovations in the thematic area “Innovations and new applications” enable new business models. It is important to consider the interplay between different stakeholders in value chains with applications in the spatial planning sector, as changes to value generation impact interactions and business relationships among stakeholders, including the development of brand-new forms of collaboration.
Information infrastructure
This thematic area addresses the common information infrastructure that the sector needs for digital and industrial development. The area includes standardisation of data sharing and information integration into the processes of spatial planning, including information structures for life-cycle perspectives and issues of access to and ownership of data.
International collaboration is also gaining importance, especially with the development of collaborative value ecosystems throughout the built environment. Legal questions related to land parcelling, zoning, and building permits and procurement and contract frameworks for optimum use of digitalisation are also included. This thematic area is addressed by applications that involve tests of developed information infrastructures or of identified standards in real-life environments. Rapid developments in AI mean require special attention to safety and ethics.
Knowledge and expertise
Additional knowledge is necessary to leverage the potential of the digital transformation in companies and the public sector. This thematic area is to contribute to improving knowledge and expertise at management level and in operations among companies and the public sector. The area is also connected to how new knowledge can be generated and utilised. This area includes applications that involve compilations and syntheses, for example that provide a basis for further testing in operations and for training initiatives. Project applications containing skills-enhancing initiatives beyond strictly training initiatives are also included here, such as support for small and medium-sized enterprises to digitalise their operations.
Two main types of projects can be funded in this call. Applicants are to clearly address one of these types:
1. Research, development, or innovation projects
Projects focused on research, development, or innovation within the programme areas, preferably aiming for disruptive change to the structures of the built environment. This might involve:
- Projects containing different degrees of applied research, development, or focused on innovation. Research projects can be run as PhD projects or by senior researchers.
- Skills development projects demonstrating examples of innovation in knowledge enhancement, with activities that contribute to reaching the large number of stakeholders and businesses in the spatial planning sector. Preferably, this serves to complement traditional training.
- Testbed and demonstration projects in which virtual or physical environments are created to demonstrate research results and development projects, e.g., from previous projects in the programme. We are particularly interested in applications pertaining to system demonstrators, in which several previous results are demonstrated in a single environment.
2. Continuation projects
Projects that use results and insights from completed or ongoing Smart Built Environment projects. This might involve:
- projects that address identified directions or initiatives in developed strategies and action plans;
- projects about building structures to bring together stakeholders in the sector around long-term management of a project result or identified area;
- initiatives for implementing the results of completed or ongoing projects for application or increased commercialisation.
The call is for companies, the public sector, higher education institutions, and research institutes. The application must have at least two parties. At least one of the participating parties should be from the business or public sector.
All interested organisations and companies, as defined above, are welcome to apply, preferably in collaboration with new partners. Consortia, including start-ups that can contribute to the development of new approaches, business models, and new technology, and stakeholders such as property owners, municipalities, or construction companies, are especially encouraged.
International project participants are welcome, as their inclusion can lay the groundwork for future mutual collaborations and exchanges of knowledge. They can contribute time or other resources by co-funding the project. However, non-Swedish stakeholders may not receive funding from Formas in this call.
Smart Built Environment and Formas are working to promote equal and inclusive societal development. Applicants should therefore design the project so the results can benefit people of diverse backgrounds or enable greater equality in living environments. The composition of project teams should consider gender distribution and different backgrounds. Consideration should be given not only to the number of people but also to the division of power and influence in the project.
Before you apply
The coordinating party should be a Swedish organisation, i.e., a legal entity linked to an organisational number. Sole proprietorships cannot be awarded funding, which means that applications including a sole proprietor will be rejected.
The coordinating party must be able to receive and administer the funds paid by Formas to an approved project. Formas draws a distinction between administrating organisations that can receive funding in all Formas calls and administrating organisations that can be approved to receive funding in an individual call. The coordinating party must be approved as one of these two forms of administrating organisation. See How to apply for more information.
Projects applying for funding from Formas must be led by a project manager. The project is to be carried out by the people stated in the application. Submitting the same application with a different Lead Agency is not allowed. Applications with the same content will be rejected.
Companies that do not have a Swedish organisational number may not receive funding in this call, but in some cases may participate in kind.
The co-funding requirement from project applicants is at least 50 per cent of the total project budget. Companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity and that want to apply for funding from Formas are covered by state aid rules; see State aid rules for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity.
At least two organisations are to participate in the project as project parties, at least one of which should be from the business or public sector. It is up to the project to assemble the most suitable project team, which affects assessment of the criteria implementation and stakeholders (see explanation of these assessment criteria under How the assessment process works).
Companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity that receive funding from Formas are covered by state aid rules. The rules are based on the fundamental principle of EU law specifying that state aid to companies ordinarily distorts competition, but some exceptions are permitted, including aid for research, development, and innovation. This call applies two bases for aid: the General Block Exemption Regulation EU 651/2014 and provisions on de minimis aid from Commission Regulation (EU) 1407/2013.
The Formas website has more information about state aid: State aid rules External link.. This call grants state aid primarily under the “industrial research” category. The aid intensity (level) depends on the support basis and the company size.
Read more about aid intensity in accordance with Formas’ aid scheme here: Aid intensity in accordance with Formas’ aid scheme External link.:
Prior to a decision, Formas conducts credit checks of all companies and organisations engaged in economic activity that might be awarded funding.
The aid intensity that Formas can provide depends on the size of the organisation and type of activities under the project. Organisation size is assessed using the EU definition of small and medium-sized enterprises. Activities are assessed based primarily on Article 25, Industrial research, in the General Block Exemption Regulation EU 651/2014. Aid intensity depends on the basis for aid and size of the company; read more under Aid intensity and definitions for grants in accordance with Formas’ aid scheme External link..
Formas can also grant aid in small amounts as per the provisions on de minimis aid. Information on the provisions on de minimis aid, Regulation (EU) 1407/2013 and the grant conditions covering companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity can be found on Formas’ website.
At a later phase of the process, companies and organisations engaged in economic activity must submit a certificate of de minimis aid to be awarded funding under the call. Formas will notify the relevant organisations when this is to be done. The certificate should state the scope of de minimis aid received, including the amount applied for in the call. State the aid received in the current and in the previous two tax years, i.e., in the past three tax years. Organisations should report that collectively, the de minimis aid received in this period does not exceed EUR 200,000, approximately SEK 2 million.
- Personnel costs: Eligible personnel costs may total actual personnel costs.
- Equipment, land, and buildings.
- Costs for consultants, licences, etc.
- Other direct costs, including travel.
- Indirect costs: Overhead (OH) costs. Higher education institutions and research institutes may calculate indirect costs according to the full cost principle that they apply. Other project parties may calculate indirect costs with a maximum of 30 per cent of their eligible personnel costs.
The total budget for the call is approximately SEK 40 million. Applicants to this call may apply for funding between SEK 500,000 and SEK 4 million. The co-funding requirement from project applicants is at least 50 per cent of the total project budget. For example, a project with a total of SEK 2 million in costs may apply for a grant of SEK 1 million maximum.
Research, development, and innovation projects may run for 12–48 months. Projects can start as early as 1 June 2024 and must start no later than 1 August 2024. Projects must conclude by 31 July 2028.
Applications for an amount or duration of time outside of the specified scope will be rejected.
Projects have a three-month grace period after the end of the official project time. The grace period is a specified period of time after the formal conclusion of the project in which unused funding may be allocated, allowing the project to run beyond its approved deadline. In some cases, the grace period can be extended due to special circumstances approved by the project manager and administrating organisation, such as illness or parental leave.
For projects with a duration of 18 months or more, a periodic financial report is to be submitted annually. The form opens each year on 1 January and the project manager has three months to submit the report.
At the end of the grace period, the project manager has three additional months to submit a final financial and scientific report using a template provided by Formas.
We recommend writing the application in Swedish, as the panel that will assess your application speaks Swedish. You may write the application in English, but it will not be translated into Swedish for assessment. Include the project summary in both Swedish and English.
According to Swedish law, your application (including attachments) is considered a public document once it has been received by Formas. This means that anyone may request to see it. Applications are always assessed for confidentiality before Formas shares them, but Formas may only redact information for which there is support in doing so from the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (SFS 2009:400).
If the project is awarded funding, the popular science description and project summaries in Swedish and English will be published in open project databases without being assessed for confidentiality. Therefore, no sensitive information should be included in these fields. The Smart Built Environment programme office should be able to use this text for external communication purposes about the project.
Formas is committed to funding projects that maximise positive and minimise negative impact on the environment and climate. We therefore urge applicants to design projects with primarily digital forms of collaboration and in which unavoidable travel is done using the most environmentally friendly means possible. We also suggest including measures in your project plans to minimise energy consumption and other resource consumption, emissions, and waste. However, this will not be part of the assessment of your application.
Read about Stability at Formas External link..
Equality refers to gender equality, equal treatment, and diversity. Spatial planning can involve considerations of how and by whom living environments will be used to ensure the fair allocation of spaces and resources and to foster gender equality and diversity among participants in planning, influencing, decision-making, and implementation.
The project activities and/or results can therefore integrate a gender equality perspective into your project. It is also important for gender equality and equal treatment to characterise the organisation of the project.
Read more in the Smart Built Environment gender equality guide External link..
How to apply
Formas has improved the application process and support system for this call. Please read the instructions carefully, even if you have applied for Smart Built Environment funding before.
Submit your application to Formas using our application system, Prisma. Enter the necessary information for your application there.
Organisation account
Organisation calls are only visible when you log in to your organisation account. First click the organisation account tab. Then click the calls for organisations link. See Prisma’s user support for instructions on finding the call in Prisma.
Find the call in Prisma External link.
The coordinating party is responsible for all administration in Prisma and is be identified consistently as the coordinator/administrating organisation in the application.
The organisation that will receive and allocate funds paid by Formas if the project is awarded funding is called the administrating organisation in Formas’ application system, Prisma.
The organisation must have an organisation account at the time of application.
Formas draws a distinction between administrating organisations that can receive funding in all Formas calls and administrating organisations that can be approved to receive funding for an individual project.
Applicants from administrating organisations approved for all Formas calls
Higher education institutions, most research institutes, and government agencies tasked with conducting research are approved as administrating organisations for all Formas calls and already have organisation accounts.
Applicants from administrating organisations requiring individual approval
Most other public and private organisations require individual approval as administrating organisations in this call. These organisations need an organisation account with Formas. If the organisation already has a Prisma account, contact the responsible research officer, Anna Gellerstedt (anna.gellerstedt@formas.se), to have the organisation added to the list of possible administrating organisations in the call. Do so even if the organisation has applied to other calls from Formas.
If your organisation does not already have a Prisma account, then a suitable representative (organisation account manager) should apply for an organisation account on Prisma’s website. Apply well in advance, but no later than 31 January 2024.
Apply for an organisation account in Prisma External link.
Tick the Formas box, and in the reason for applying for an organisation account, state that you want to apply to Smart Built Environment, your organisation type, and your organisational number.
If you are unsure whether the organisation has an account, contact Research Officer Anna Gellerstedt (anna.gellerstedt@formas.se) before you apply for a new account.
Initiate the application through the organisation account of the coordinating party. The responsible party for the organisation account will automatically be designated project manager. To change this designation, the responsible party can invite another party to be project manager. If someone else will be project manager, that person must have a personal account in Prisma. If the responsible party for the organisation account will be project manager, no personal account needs to be connected to the application.
Find more information on the Prisma support page External link.
Project site
To register an application, a project site in the organisation must be identified. The organisation must have at least one project site in its structure. ‘Project site’ refers to the department/institution/division within the organisation that is applying. Information on project site is mandatory when the applicant submits the application.
The organisation account coordinator must build a structure of divisions and sub-divisions (project sites) at two levels. Do so using the drop-down menus for Administrating organisation and Project site. The project sites that the applicant can select are from the organisational structure through the settings created by the organisation account manager in the organisation account.
If the organisation has no departments, then enter a sub-division with the same name as the organisation. Information on how to do this is available in Prisma’s user support.
Describe your organisation (create a structure) External link.
The call is under the organisation account tab in Prisma. First click there, then go to the link for organisation calls. See Prisma’s user support for instructions on finding the call in Prisma.
All character limits refer to characters including spaces. We recommend entering all information in the text boxes using the font Arial, size 12.
The application should include a clear description of the project, containing:
Basic information
- Number of months applied for in the application.
- Starting month (Earliest project start date: 1 June 2024; project must start no later than 1 August 2024)
- Calculated project time: Project time is calculated automatically in Prisma based on the starting date and number of months entered.
- Project title in Swedish and English (200 characters including spaces)
- For what type of project are you applying for funding?
- Research, development, or innovation project, or
- Continuation project
- Sub-focus: Enter the main Smart Built Environment thematic area(s) to which your project contributes. You must enter at least one:
- Innovations and new applications;
- Knowledge and expertise;
- Information infrastructure;
- Value chains and business models.
Read more about the thematic areas in Smart Built Environment Thematic Areas External link..
- Popular science description in Swedish (4,500 characters including spaces). If the project is awarded funding, the popular science description will be published in open project databases without being assessed for confidentiality. The content of this field should therefore not contain sensitive information.
- Popular science description in English (4,500 characters including spaces).
- Summary in Swedish and English (2,000 characters each, including spaces). If the project is awarded funding, the project summaries will be published in open project databases without being assessed for confidentiality. Therefore, no sensitive information should be included in these fields.
Project description
20 pages max. Download a template for the project description
, 58.1 kB. at formas.se.
The project description can be uploaded as a file and the size may not exceed 4 MB. Please do not include a budget in the project description.
Read the background text and the purpose and focus of the call carefully. Note the assessment criteria under How the assessment process works before entering the description. Address all of the criteria in your application.
The project description should clearly describe the project based on the assessment criteria under How the assessment process works.
References
Maximum 2 pages. This section of the application is optional. It can be used to list references that support your project description. Upload the reference list as a file no bigger than 4 MB.
Budget and other information
Report the project budget and other information about all organisations participating in the application in Prisma. In Prisma, write out the sum you are applying for in full, i.e., write SEK 1 million as: SEK 1,000,000.
In the budget, state all of the costs and financing for the project (not just the funds for which you are applying from Formas). The administrating organisation is to enter information on and budgets for the coordinating project party and each project party. Prisma automatically adds up the costs and funding for the project overall.
State the following information in the project’s budget:
Information on the administrating organisation and each project party
The administrating organisation collects and enters the information. The coordinating party is the administrating organisation.
This is required information that must be entered separately for all parties in the project.
- Organisation name
- Organisation number
- Address, postcode, city, country
- Annual turnover (refers to total turnover or sales in the current tax year of the higher education institution, institute, company, or organisation, stated in figures, i.e., 3,500,000)
- Total assets (refers to the sum of the asset side or sum of liabilities and equity in a company or organisation’s balance sheet, stated in figures, i.e., 5,500,000)
- Number of employees
- Contact person
- Contact person’s e-mail address
- Name of workplace, address, postcode, city, country where most of the work will be carried out.
Costs
- Personnel costs: May amount to actual personnel costs for time spent on the project. This applies for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity (covered by EU rules on state aid) and other types of organisations. For employees of higher education institutions or research institutes, the amount may never exceed 100 per cent of a full-time position. In other words, a party that receives full salary financing from a funding organisation may not receive additional funds for salaries. Researchers that are retired full-time may not receive funding for their own pay.
- Equipment, buildings, and land: The maximum amount you can be awarded for equipment and depreciation costs for equipment is SEK 500,000 total.
- Costs for consultants, licences etc. For costs for consultants and licenses to be eligible, they must be bought or licensed from third-parties on market-based terms and the activity and scope must be specified in the project description.
- Other direct costs: Other direct costs include consumables, travel, conferences, and publication in open access journals and databases.
- Indirect costs (overhead costs): Higher education institutions and research institutes may calculate indirect costs according to the full cost principle that they apply. Other project parties may calculate indirect costs with a maximum of 30 per cent of their eligible personnel costs. Formas does not grant funding for overhead on costs written off for equipment or premises.
Funding
Four types of funding can be stated in the application:
- Funding from Formas: State the amount for which you are applying from Formas under the call. The amount may not exceed total costs. If you apply for less than the total cost, the rest will be calculated automatically and reported under Own funding.
- Other aid (public): If funds for related projects have been obtained with funding from Formas or another public financier.
- Other aid (private): If another private company or organisation is contributing external funding to the project.
- Self funding: Enter the project parties’ own contributions of time, cash, and other resources. If the project parties contribute their self funding to the project, this is calculated automatically in the field for self funding.
Funds applied for from Formas may amount to 50 per cent at most of the total project budget. If the project budget includes other funding from a public funding organisation, then together with the funds for which you have applied, this aid may amount to 50 per cent at most of the total project budget.
Your self funding and other aid from private stakeholders constitutes the co-funding of the project. This part should amount to at least 50 per cent of the total project budget. Project parties from the public sector that contribute self funding can be included in the co-funding. If you are not sure what counts as co-funding, contact Johan Hansson (johan.hansson@formas.se).
Members of the project consortium may determine how they share the grants, costs, and co-funding levels, as long as the project overall has at least 50 per cent co-funding and complies with the rules on state aid (see heading Rules on state aid to companies and other organisations). Thus a participating project party may:
- apply for funding from Formas only;
- contribute their self funding only, or
- apply for funding and contribute their self funding.
Funding for other aid (public/private) and self funding must be secured at the time the application is submitted to this call.
Explanation for personnel costs in the budget (max 500 characters including spaces)
Specify the average hourly rate of budgeted personnel costs. ‘Personnel costs’ refers to salaries including social insurance fees and other mandatory fees connected to pay. Eligible personnel costs for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity may be calculated to a maximum of SEK 800 per hour. This limit does not apply to higher education institutions or research institutes.
Other costs requiring explanation can also be stated here. In this field, enter a maximum of 500 characters including spaces.
Prisma automatically calculates aid intensity and the level of co-funding. The calculated aid intensity is preliminary and can be adjusted before Formas makes a decision on awarded funds.
Budget (2,000 characters including spaces)
The coordinating project party explains/justifies the budget in writing here. State the overhead costs that apply in the application here. Formas does not grant funding for overhead on depreciations for equipment or premises.
State any consultancy fees and the scope of the consultant’s participation here. In addition, state which project party/parties are responsible for the consultancy fees. Applicants should clearly describe all costs in relation to the activities in the project.
Ethics
Describe any ethics-related aspects of the project. Present the relevant ethics issues and how you plan to manage them. For example, this could involve research that uses personal data or research involving experiments on humans or animals.
If you are conducting research on humans, human tissue, or sensitive personal data, you must submit an application for ethical review to the Swedish Ethical Review Authority for approval. If animal testing is involved, you must also have approval from an animal ethics committee, which you apply for using the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s e-service. You can apply for this using the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s e-service.
State in your application whether you have obtained the applicable ethics approval or not. If not, and your application is awarded funding, you must have ethics approval before beginning the experiments you have described.
If your research is not expected to involve experiments requiring ethics approval, state this and explain how and why.
Classifications
Formas uses the project’s classifications in analyses and documents on an overarching level. To make classifications, the applicant states the subject area, research subject (SCB code), at least one Sustainable Development Goal to which the project can contribute, and keywords.
- Subject area
Choose the project’s subject area and add a subheading.
- Research subject (SCB code)
Choose at least one research area and two sub-areas that form the complete code.
- Sustainable Development Goals
State at least one and up to three Sustainable Development Goals to which the project can contribute, in the order of priority based on relevance.
More about the meaning of the Goals. External link.
- Keywords
List at least one and at most three keywords describing the project.
Administrating organisation: the organisation that receives the funds
- Select the administrating organisation from the drop-down menu. If you do not find the organisation that will serve as coordinating project party, see the heading Organisation account under How to apply.
- Choose the project site from the drop-down menu. If you do not find the correct project site, see the heading Applicants from administrating organisations requiring individual approval under How to apply.
List the participants
Present all project participants including name, organisation, and role in the project. Fill in the information in the table format of your choice, save the document as a PDF, and upload it under required attachments in Prisma. PDF is the only format that can be uploaded in Prisma.
Attachments: Participant CVs
It is required to attach a CV for the project manager and for at least one key participant. You may add CVs for six participants in the project. Max. two A4 pages per CV.
Organisation account manager registers the application
Once the application is filled in, it must be registered, submitted, and signed by the organisation account manager.
The organisation account manager signs the registered application, which can be done in two ways:
- If the organisation account manager and project manager are the same person, this person registers the personal application and signing is done by default at registration.
- If the project manager and organisation account manager are different individuals, then the project manager prepares the application and the administrating organisation (the organisation account manager or user in the role of application manager) registers and submits the application. The application is signed by default at registration.
At any time while working on the application, the project manager can go to the tab, check and register. Any missing required information or other issues that might prevent the application from being registered will be listed there.
See more information on the Prisma support page:
https://prismasupport.research.se/user-manual/organisation-account.html External link.
NOTE! Once the application time has expired, the application can only be completed in special cases, upon request from Formas.
After submitting your application
First, Formas checks that the application complies with the formal requirements in the call. If it does not meet the requirements, it will be rejected.
For this call, the following requirements will be checked:
- That the amount applied for per project does not exceed SEK 4 million.
- That the project applied for no more than 4 years and no less than 12 months.
- Requirement for co-funding of 50 per cent for the project overall from the business sector or other non-academic parties.
- The project parties must be legal entities (i.e., no sole proprietors or other unsuitable forms of enterprise).
- At least two organisations are to participate in the project as project parties, at least one of which should be from the business or public sector.
- That international project participants will not receive the funding.
- That there are not multiple applications with the same content.
- That the project description is written in the template provided on the call’s website.
If one or more of these requirements is not met, your application will be rejected. This means the application will not go on to review.
An external panel will then assess all applications based on the information presented in them. This means it is important for the application to include all relevant information and for the content to be as clear as possible.
Summary of the preparation process:
- Applications that meet the formal requirements will be assessed based on the assessment criteria (relevance, potential, implementation, and stakeholders) by independent external reviewers. Three assessors will read each application. The applications are then ranked and a funding recommendation is made.
- Formas decides which projects will be funded.
- The decisions are announced to the applicants and Smart Built Environment’s programme office and published on Formas’ and Smart Built Environment’s websites.
Assessment criteria
The application is assessed according to the following criteria:
Relevance
- The project can substantially contribute to the purpose and goal of the call.
- The problem addressed by the project is clearly formulated.
- The project addresses the thematic areas External link. and impacts in accordance with the programme’s impact logic External link..
- The project design and expected results have considered the needs and conditions of the relevant stakeholders.
- The application describes the business-related or operational benefit that the project result is expected to have for the company/organisation or sector.
Potential
- The project’s intended result is innovative or significantly better than the available solutions on the current market.
- The project’s intended result has the potential to contribute to impacts according to the programme’s impact logic.
- The project’s potential for contributing to improved equality through inclusion in the project, in the processes of spatial planning, or through the result to which the project contributes.
Implementation
- The planned activities and methods are realistic and suitable for achieving the expected results during the duration of the project.
- The timeline and budget are realistic and appropriate in relation to the project’s purpose and goals.
- The plan for using the project’s results is well described and appropriate.
- Any ethical considerations are well described and the plan for managing them is appropriate.
- Equality is well integrated into the implementation of the project, for example regarding analysis/problem formulation, goals, and activities.
Stakeholders
- The project’s organisation and collective expertise are appropriate for implementation of the project, including use of the project’s results.
- The project is in collaboration with relevant stakeholders or users. Participation by the project participants is well described and appropriate for the project goals.
- The project team (key people) is well composed with regard to gender equality, not only in numbers, but also in allocation of power and influence in the project. This is relevant when the project team consists of more than 3 people.
Decisions on which projects will be awarded funding are expected to be made on 14 May 2024. We will publish the decisions by the next day on Formas’ website, and you will receive an email when the decision is available in Prisma. Decisions on funding cannot be appealed.
All projects awarded funding is to submit financial reports and project results to Formas three months after the grace period ends. The grace period is a specified period of time after the formal conclusion of the project in which unused funding may be allocated, allowing the project to run beyond its approved deadline. In some cases, the grace period can be extended by Formas due to special circumstances (related to the project manager and administrating organisation, such as illness or parental leave).
Projects longer than 18 months should submit a financial status report to Formas every year. All reports are submitted in Prisma.
Financial reporting in Prisma. External link.
Formas may have requirements for how to report projects regarding content and results to facilitate dissemination and usefulness. If a project is funded, this information will be provided in the decision. Formas may also have requirements regarding participation in conferences and similar to create synergies and platforms for learning and knowledge sharing.
Since the call takes place within the framework of the strategic innovation programme Smart Built Environment, there are additional special conditions and instructions that regulate reporting, follow-up, communication, etc. for the programme.
Results of research funded by Formas will be published with open access.
You should also have a data management plan for data produced in the project. If you receive funding from us, you must formulate such a plan. You do not submit the plan to us, but you must be able to show it upon request. By signing our grant terms and conditions, you certify that before the research begins, a data management plan will be formulated and that it will be updated.
Formas provides information about awarded funding to Swecris, a national database of grant-funded research established on behalf of the Government.
Webinar, February 5
Coordinating project party | An organisation that coordinates the project and serves as the administrating organisation, i.e., the party receives the grant funding from Formas, reports on the project in accordance with instructions, and notifies Formas of any changes. |
Project manager | A natural person, or in some cases a legal entity, who submits the application to Formas and leads the planning and implementation of the project. |
Project party | An organisation that implements the project, whether or not it receives a grant, i.e., that provides its self funding. A subcontractor is not a project party. |
Administrating organisation
| The administrating organisation receives funding from Formas and transfers the money to other organisations that are grant recipients in the project; reports on the project in accordance with instructions; and notifies Formas of any changes. |
Administrating organisation for all types of calls | An organisation that can apply for all types of calls from Formas. This includes higher education institutions, research institutes and government agencies tasked with conducting research. |
Administrating organisation for an individual project (see How to apply) | An organisation that can apply for funding through individual calls from Formas and receive grants for an individual project. This includes companies, associations, industry organisations, boards, funds, and municipalities. |
Project site | A project site can be an institution, department, or division within the organisation submitting an application. |
Small and medium-sized enterprise, according to the
| Small enterprises employ between 10 and 49 people and have an annual turnover or balance sheet that does not exceed EUR 10 million. Medium-sized enterprises employ between 50 and 249 people and have annual turnover that does not exceed EUR 50 million or an annual balance sheet that does not exceed EUR 43 million. The rules of small enterprises also apply to enterprises with fewer than 10 employees. Note that sole proprietorships cannot be awarded funding, which means that applications that include a sole proprietor will be rejected. |
Contact information
Formas call manager:
For administrative questions and questions about Prisma:
For questions about budget, funding and support for businesses:
For questions about the background, purpose and desired outcomes of the call:
Kristina Gabrielii, Project Manager, Smart Built Environment
+46 (0)70-259 56 57
kristina.gabrielii@iqs.se