Research councils and agencies

 

 

 

 

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

RISE is Sweden’s research institute and innovation partner. Through our international collaboration programmes with industry, academia and the public sector, we ensure the competitiveness of the Swedish business community on an international level and contribute to a sustainable society. Our 2,700 employees engage in and support all types of innovation processes. RISE is an independent, State-owned research institute, which offers unique expertise and over 100 testbeds and demonstration environments for future-proof technologies, products and services. Read more at www.ri.se
 

Research foundations

Among the public bodies that fund research are a number of research foundations such as:

• Stiftelsen för internationalisering av högre utbildning och forskning, STINT, the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education
• Stiftelsen för kunskaps- och kompetensutveckling, KK, the Knowledge Foundation
• Stiftelsen för miljöstrategisk forskning, Mistra, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research
• Stiftelsen för strategisk forskning, SSF, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research

 

Another major source of funding is

• Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, RJ, the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation which mainly finances research in the humanities, theology,social sciences and law.

Private foundations and academies

In addition to these public sector financiers, there are private actors, some of these are:

• the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, which provides substantial funding for scientific equipment in particular.
• the Swedish Cancer Society is an independent non-profit organisation that raise and distribute money for cancer research.
• the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation is a charitable fundraising organisation that distributes money to heart, lung and vascular research.

Research academies

Many organisations act as promoters of research within the research community, such as:

• Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien, KVA, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
• Kungliga Ingenjörsvetenskapsakademien, IVA, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Research in Sweden is funded by government agencies, public foundations and private funders. An overview is given at http://www.government.se/government-policy/education-and-research/research-funding-in-sweden/

Generally researchers submit their applications to the respective Swedish funding agencies on their own. Applications should normally be approved / signed by a Head of Department. Read more below what applies for the different funding agencies and about current open calls.

Grants are normally awarded for several types of activities, such as projects grants, junior researcher grants, postdoc grants, visiting professors, workshops, etc. Each funding agency specifies which grants will be available.

Forte, Formas and the Swedish Research Council use a common application system, Prisma, for the applications. For applications in Prisma you must be employed by an approved administrating organisation in Sweden during the grant period. Who is an approved organisation will be shown in Prisma and further information is available on the respective funding agency’s web page.

The four major research councils and agencies in Sweden:

1. Vinnova, Sweden's government agency for innovation.

Our mission is to contribute to sustainable growth by improving the conditions for innovation. We do this mainly by funding innovation projects and the research needed to develop new solutions. We also invest long term in strong research and innovation environments. We stimulate collaborations between companies, universities and other higher education institutions, public services, civil society and other actors. Our activities also focus on strengthening international cooperation. On the web page www.vinnova.se/en/apply-for-funding you will find information how to apply, find the right funding and rules for funding.

 

2. The Swedish Research Council

Our research grants are open for all applicants. Some grants are open for researchers in all fields, others are linked to a specific area of science. All grants are regularly announced on the web site: www.vr.se . The web site provides instructions for applying as well as forms, contacts and the Research Council’s general terms and conditions.

There are a few grants that more specifically promote mobility or international cooperation.

Grants explicitly promoting mobility

Grants for Distinguished Professors

This grant is part of a programme to enable long term planning and secure prominent researchers the conditions to focus on their research. The Council plans to launch this grant every two years.

Visiting Professorships

The Swedish Research Council's calls on visiting professorships are: Kerstin Hesselgren Visiting Professorship; Olof Palme Visiting Professorship; and Tage Erlander Visiting Professorship. The purpose of the visiting professorships is to enrich and develop the work of Swedish University departments in a manner that benefits the department's own activities, and can lead to continued international cooperation.

Grants promoting international co-operation

Research Network Grant – Swedish Research Links

The purpose of the Swedish Research Links programme is to support the development of long-term research partnerships between Swedish researchers and researchers within low income and lower middle-income countries. The program is open to researchers from all academic disciplines, covering theoretical as well as empirical, basic as well as applied fields of research. The countries eligible for these forms of collaborative research are on the OECD/DAC list (columns Least Developed Countries, Other Low Income Countries and Lower Middle Income Countries and Territories).

Nordic workshops in humanities and social sciences (NOS-HS)

The Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (NOS-HS) invites proposals for funding series of Nordic workshops. The aim of the grant is to promote research collaboration and development of new research areas and programmes within the humanities and social sciences in the Nordic countries.

The GROW programme for US graduates

The Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) enables NSF Graduate Research Fellows to gain international research experience and establish collaborations with counterparts at Swedish university departments, by working in Sweden for a shorter period of time. This grant is the result of cooperation between the American National Science Foundation and the Swedish Research Council.

Bilateral collaboration

The Swedish Research Council have bilateral agreements directly with organisations in other countries in order to facilitate, but not explicitly fund, research collaboration. Link to more information 

 

3. Forte – Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare

Forte spends about 550 million SEK (approx. 58.3 million Euros) yearly on research funding.

At present, Forte provides no funding opportunities specifically dedicated to incoming research fellows. However, researchers who hold a Ph.D. and are affiliated with a Swedish university, higher education institute (HEI) or at another research organisation that has been approved as an administrating organisation by Forte, are eligible to apply for funding in Forte´s regular calls.

Annual open call for proposals

Forte’s annual open call for proposals opens in December every year, and welcomes applications within Forte’s overall responsibilities of health, working life and welfare. The application process is divided into two stages, with submission of project outlines in December–January and full applications in April–May.

The call includes three grant types:

• Project grants provide funding for individual research projects and are awarded for a maximum of 3 years. The grant is open to researchers with a minimum requirement of a PhD.
• Junior researcher grants are awarded for 4 years and can be granted up to 6 years after PhD defence. The aim of this grant is to support early stage researchers. The grant should cover at least 40 % of the salary for a junior researcher.
• Postdoc grants are targeted at researchers in the beginning of their careers. The grants provide researchers the opportunity to continue their research career after obtaining their PhD. The grant can be applied for up to 2 years after doctoral examination. The grant is awarded for 2 years and corresponds to a full-time salary.

Thematic calls for proposals

Forte also makes thematic calls for proposals in response to identified needs in the society and the government´s intentions. Some of the thematic calls are joint initiatives with other countries and are intended for international research collaborations. See all open calls for proposals at https://forte.se/en/latest/funding.

 

4. Formas, Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning

 

Below is a list of other research-funding agencies:

• Ekhagastiftelsen
• Institute of Medicine
• Nordforsk (coordinating and funding Nordic research)
• Scanbalt (network of networks)
• Scholarships-Links.com
• Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research
• The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation
• The Mittag-Leffler Institute
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
• The Swedish Energy Agency
• The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education
• The Swedish Rheumatism Association
• Wenner-Gren Foundations