Weave – Simplified funding procedures for projects across European borders

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 research funder.

Contents:

What is Weave?

Weave is a European cross-border initiative developed by European research funders with the aim of supporting high-quality international research collaborations. It is supported by Science Europe External link., a European association of research funders. The aim is to simplify the application and review processes for research applications. Research projects can collaborate with participants from two to three European countries. This is achieved by subjecting applications to a single review process.Weave includes calls for researcher-initiated research, known as open calls, and there are no major restrictions on the thematic focus or subject matter covered in the application, beyond what is stipulated in the respective areas of responsibility of the participating research funding bodies and the respective call.

Within Weave, researchers from two or three European countries can submit applications for research collaborations to any of the participating research funding bodies. Each participating researcher must be eligible for funding from their research funding body within Weave.

About Weave External link.

Which countries are included in Weave?

Weave comprises twelve national research funding bodies from eleven European countries. Together, they are committed to strengthening international research collaboration and contributing to the realisation of the European Research Area.

Researching funders in Weave:

• Belgium: Research Foundation Flanders FWO External link.
• Belgium: Fund for Scientific Research FNRS External link.
• Croatia: Croatian Science Fundation HRZZ External link.
• Luxembourg: Luxembourg National Research Fund FNR External link.
• Norway: Research Council of Norway RCN External link.
• Poland: National Science Centre NCN External link.
• Switzerland: Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF External link.
• Slovenia: Slovenian Research Agency ARRS External link.
• Sweden: Swedish Research Council for sustainable development, Formas
• Czech Republic: Czech Science Foundation GACR External link.
• Germany: German Research Foundation DFG External link.
• Austria: Austrian Science Fund FWF External link.

Weave will be rolled out gradually over the coming years. Initially, participating research funding bodies will only accept applications from research funding bodies with which they have standing agreements, but this will be expanded gradually.

Which research funding bodies is Formas currently collaborating with?

Within Weave, Formas currently collaborates directly with three research funding bodies:

• Luxembourg: Luxembourg National Research Fund FNR External link.
• Switzerland: Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF External link.
  
• Belgium: Research Foundation Flanders FWO External link.

How does Weave work?

Weave was developed by European research funders to support high-quality research projects. It makes it easier to submit joint applications by having the assessment carried out by a single research funder. In Weave, researchers from two to three European countries submit a joint proposal to one of the research funders involved. Each applicant must then meet the participation requirements and eligibility criteria specified by the respective funding body. The lead applicant must meet the requirements and eligibility criteria of their national funding body, the Lead Agency, and each co-applicant must meet the requirements and eligibility criteria of their own national funding body, the Partner Agency.

Formas participates in Weave through Explore – Formas’ open call for research projects.

How to apply within Weave

1. The researchers appoint a lead applicant who submits the joint application to their country's research funding body (Lead Agency).
2. For administrative reasons, co-applicants must also submit parallel applications to their respective countries' national funding bodies (Partner Agencies).
3. The Partner Agency performs eligibility checks in accordance with national processes. The Lead Agency is then notified if the application meets the basic requirements and can proceed to further review by the Lead Agency.
4. The application is then reviewed by the Lead Agency in accordance with its call process.
5. The application is then approved/rejected in its entirety and the decision is communicated to the main applicant at the Lead Agency, while the Partner Agency is also informed.
6. If approved, Formas is responsible for the budget for the Swedish part of the project, while the respective partner country's finances the other parts of the project.

The difference between bilateral and trilateral applications

Bilateral application

It is possible to submit a bilateral application, i.e. apply with another country, if this is done together with one of the countries with which Formas has an agreement (see the section above entitled “Which research funding bodies is Formas currently collaborating with?”).

Trilateral application

It is possible to submit a trilateral application, i.e. apply with two additional countries within the collaboration, under the following conditions:

• If it is done with Formas as the Lead agency and together with two additional countries with which Formas has a collaboration agreement (see the section above entitled “Which research funding bodies is Formas currently collaborating with?”)
• If it is done with Formas as the partner agency and with one of the countries with which Formas has an agreement (see the section above entitled “Which research funding bodies is Formas currently collaborating with?”) as the lead agency. The country acting as the lead agency then determines which additional country can be the third country, i.e. one of the countries with which the lead agency country in turn has an agreement.

If Formas is the main research funder, Lead Agency

Submitted Weave applications participate on an equal footing with the other applications submitted to Utforska. Weave applications submitted to Utforska with Formas as Lead Agency must follow the guidelines in Utforska.

• The project description must cover the entire bilateral or trilateral research project.
• The division of labour between the parties must be clearly described.
• In the application, applicants based abroad must be listed as participating researchers, co-applicants, in Prisma. Follow Utforska's guidelines for participating researchers.
• The budget must be justified and include information about both the Swedish and other international parts of the project.
• You can only be the principal applicant in one application submitted to the Explore call, including Weave applications.

If Formas is a participating research funder, Partner Agency

When another country and funder within Weave acts as Lead Agency, the application must be prepared in accordance with this research funder’s call guidelines, which may entail requirements for a shorter project duration than Utforska’s requirements. Read the information and follow the guidelines on the organisation’s website, and contact them if you have any questions about the call and the procedure.

As a co-applicant, you must email the following documents to the Partner Agency within seven (7) days of the application deadline:

• An exact copy of the application submitted to the Lead Agency to Formas' contact persons for Weave – see below. The Swedish part of the budget must be clearly distinguishable and include information about both the Lead Agency's and the partner agencies' parts of the project.
• A letter of intent (LoI) from your Swedish administrating organisation. This should include a statement that the applicant and the project will be approved by the funding administrator.

More about the application procedure when Formas is the Partner Agency

• If the application complies with the rules of the call, the Lead Agency forwards the decision to Formas (as Partner Agency) for a formal check and budget assessment.
• If the main applicant is not eligible or if the application does not comply with the rules of the call, the Lead Agency will reject the application and Formas will be informed.
• The Swedish partner's part of the application undergoes a formal check in accordance with Formas' guidelines for the Explore call.
• If Formas or another Partner Agency discovers that the applicant or the applicant's project part does not meet the requirements for their respective call, the entire application is rejected.
• The administrating organisation will need to sign and approve the application in Prisma once it has been registered there (done by Formas).
• If the project receives funding from the Lead Agency, the Swedish part will receive funding from Formas (as Partner Agency).

Project duration

The maximum project period for which an application can be submitted depends on which research funding bodies are involved. If the joint proposal is submitted to Formas within the framework of the Explore call, the guidelines for that call apply. If the application is sent to a funding body abroad, the maximum project period depends on the respective Lead Agency. It is determined either by the rules for the call to which the project is submitted, or by the research funding organisation that allows the shortest project period. If necessary, check with the Lead Agency or your own funding organisation before submitting a proposal.

Budget and costs

There must be a clear budget and budget justification for the Swedish part of the project as well as for the other applicants' budgets in the application. The parts of the project are funded separately by the respective national/regional funding bodies in accordance with their standard rules. Applicants are advised to check with their respective funding bodies. Swedish project parts follow the budget rules in the Explore call. This applies regardless of whether Formas is the Lead Agency or Partner Agency.

To calculate costs, the guidelines from each national funder apply. The separate project budgets from the different national research funders are then combined to make up the total budget.

Language

The application should be written in English. The review panel consists mainly of international reviewers and partners, and the project’s Partner Agency or Lead Agency is located in a country other than Sweden.

Submission deadlines

The deadline for submitting applications varies depending on the Lead Agency, so please check the information pages for each country. If Formas is the Lead Agency, the same deadline applies as for the Explore call.

Approval rates

The approval rate varies for each Lead Agency, as it varies between different calls within Weave. If Formas is the Lead Agency, the application is in competition with all other applications in the Explore call for that year (in 2024, the approval rate was 7 per cent).

Principle of public access

Applications submitted within the framework of the Weave collaboration are handled according to a special procedure. This is to comply with jointly agreed practices between the international funding bodies.

Additional information

• Science Europe: Cross-border Collaboration Weave External link.
• Weave (weave-research.net) External link.
• Weave FAQ External link.

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