Planned calls for proposals 2023 External link.

The researcher-initiated calls planned for 2023 are the Annual open call and Mobility grants for early-career researchers, which are both recurring calls. Common to all calls for researcher-initiated research is that the researchers themselves must identify the research needs and formulate a question based on identified needs within Formas’ areas of responsibility. Formas is in the process of updating its calls for research-initiated research.

Formas participates in the collaborative platform Weave through our research project grants from the annual open call. With Weave, researchers from two or three European countries can submit a research application to one of the participating funding organisations and it will then undergo a single evaluation. Each project partner is funded by its own country’s funder.

Mobility grants for early-career researchers include both national and international researcher mobility and are aimed at individual researchers early in their careers. The call gives researchers with a recently completed doctoral degree more opportunities to obtain funding and thus continue their research careers and enhance the quality of Swedish academic research. Projects can last for 24-48 months.

The Urgent call aims to meet urgent needs to ensure the future availability of primary research data, such as measurement data and samples, interviews and participating observations. The applications will be processed on an ongoing basis.

In the national research programmes, calls are conducted for the dual purposes of research and innovation. All calls in the national programmes are based on the programmes’ strategic agendas.

In the national research programme for sustainable spatial planning, we have decided to announce the call Socially sustainable housing provision for all. Architecture plays a crucial role in shaping a built environment that promotes health, well-being and a sense of security. Against this background, a call is being planned that addresses the designed living environment for health and well-being.

In the national research programme for oceans and water, we are implementing the calls Blue innovations – implementation projects and The links between climate change, water and biodiversity together with the national research programme on climate.

The national research programme on climate is planning an additional three funding calls. “Climate-resilient transformation”, which opens in the spring of 2023, addresses how we create sustainable climate change that stays the course throughout other parallel crises and challenges. We will also implement the call “Policy labs for the climate”. The third call we are planning, “Sustainable consumption”, is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2023.

The national food research programme plans to implement two calls during the year: one within knowledge transfer, which aims to quickly reach out to food system stakeholders with research results and knowledge, and the other addressing food waste, with a special focus on processing and consumption.

The call “From research to real-world impact for a sustainable society” has been carried out twice before, and has been proposed to be a recurring feature of the national programmes. The call spans all of the four national research programmes that Formas oversees: food, oceans and water, climate, and sustainable spatial planning.

Three thematic calls are preliminarily planned for 2023.

As in recent years, a communication call is also being planned for 2023 to complement our research and innovation funding. The call’s purpose is to support projects that communicate and popularise research on sustainable development to achieve real-world impact and benefits in society.

Formas also plans to announce a call addressing animal welfare in 2023.

Formas has previously identified several knowledge gaps around the Swedish environmental quality objective “A non-toxic environment”. We plan on opening a call for risk assessment for a non-toxic environment towards the end of 2023. In recent years, Formas has also carried out initiatives on the circular economy and resource efficiency. Based on these experiences, we are looking more closely at implementing a call that will open in the autumn of 2023 with a preliminary focus on the circular economy and conflicting goals.

Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas fund 17 strategic innovation programmes. Formas oversees the innovation programme Smart Built Environment. In this programme, a major open call takes place every year. In addition to this, researchers can apply for funding in the call “Innovation ideas”. The open call aims to contribute to the sustainable development of the built environment, through projects that centre around digitalisation and industrial processes. In “Innovation ideas”, you can apply for funding to continue your studies on previously developed ideas for upscaling and implementation.

In 2023, Formas will participate in new international calls in several of the programmes we are involved in.

Biodiversa+ Nature-Based Solutions for Biodiversity

Biodiversa+ is the new European partnership that supports excellent research on biodiversity with an impact for society and policy. The call “Biodiversa+ nature-based solutions for biodiversity” within this partnership aims to provide actionable knowledge for developing, sharing and evaluating nature-based solutions, as well as to raise awareness of their cost-effectiveness and sustainability and to promote an ecological transition in different contexts and at different scales.

Driving Urban Transitions (DUT)

Formas, the Swedish Energy Agency and Vinnova are announcing joint funding to enable actors in Sweden to take part in international research and innovation projects that take on urban challenges within the European partnership Driving Urban Transitions (DUT). The first DUT call, step 1, closes in 2022 and step 2 closes in spring 2023. The second DUT call is scheduled to open in September 2023.

ERA-NET Cofund Urban Transformation Capacities (ENUTC)

In collaboration with the Swedish Energy Agency and ViableCities, Formas is announcing funding within the European partnership JPI Urban Europe. The call is called ERA-NET Cofund Urban Transformation Capacities (ENUTC), and it invites researchers, government authorities, cities, municipalities, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders to build transnational consortia to create innovation and research projects that enable and support capacity building for urban transformations.

SaR 3 (Sustainability and Resilience)

SaR 3 (Sustainability and Resilience – Tackling consequences of climate and environmental changes in low-income countries) is a national call with an international focus and international context. The call is a collaboration between Formas, Sida and the Swedish Research Council and is a continuation of earlier calls. The call aims to promote equal partnerships between researchers in Sweden and researchers in developing countries and certain middle-income countries.

Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP) – First call

SBEP aims to increase the transition needed for a climate-neutral, sustainable, productive and competitive blue economy by 2030 that simultaneously creates and aids the transition to healthy seas and oceans for people’s well-being by 2050. The focus of the first call will be based on one of the following areas: development and validation of ocean digital twins at sub-sea-basin scale, blue generation marine structures, planning and managing sea uses, and healthy blue food for all. The Swedish Space Agency will also participate in the call.

Water4all

Within the European partnership Water4All, a second call is being planned that will focus on water and biodiversity. It will tentatively open in September.