Blue Innovation – Implementation Projects

WHAT CAN YOU APPLY FOR?

Innovation projects that address a complex challenge in an area with a high direct or indirect impact on the marine or aquatic environment or the development of a business where a water resource is used sustainably to produce different types of values. System perspectives and collaboration between different sectors and disciplines are central for tackling the identified challenge and for developing solutions that can be tested, implemented and disseminated.

WHO CAN APPLY?

In the project, the end user, i.e., the “owner of the challenge”, is central. The end user can, for example, be a municipality, region, county administrative board or other organization, a municipal company or business (not a sole proprietorship). At least one party must be an end user, and at least one party must be a higher education institution or research institute. At least one researcher who has completed their doctorate must participate in the project.

HOW MUCH CAN YOU APPLY FOR?

Category 1: Project duration 2-3 years and a grant of SEK 1-2 million per year. Maximum grant is SEK 5 million.

-or-

Category 2: Project duration 4-5 years and a grant of SEK 2.5-4 million per year. Maximum grant is SEK 20 million.

The co-funding requirement is at least 20% of total funding.

The total budget for this call is SEK 150 million.

Given decision: 2023-10-17 13:45

Preliminary decisions. Please note that only decisions published in Prisma is a guarantee of granted funding.

Blue Innovation – Implementation Projects

Dnr

Sökande

Organisation

Projekttitel

Totalt beviljat belopp, kr

2023-01963

Charlotta Faith-Ell

Mittuniversitetet

Vätgas och kräftor

5 000 000

2023-01964

Eva Nordberg Karlsson

Lunds universitet

Framtidens fiskehamn – hållbart nyttjande av Östersjön silver

5 000 000

2023-01968

Hanna Ulmefors

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB

Hållbart nyttjande av marina resurser för högvärdiga slutprodukter: Förverkligande av ett blått bioraffinaderi i Sverige (MAREFINE)

19 996 824

2023-01972

Kathleen Murphy

Chalmers tekniska högskola

En behandlingsbarhets-sensor för vattenkvalitet-övervakning och behandling

17 946 647

2023-01974

Jurate Kumpiene

Luleå tekniska universitet

Bryta cykeln av per- och polyfluorerade ämnen (PFAS) i miljön (Beat-PFAS)

19 919 636

2023-01980

Maria Viklander

Luleå tekniska universitet

Integrated surface water and groundwater management (ISGM)

19 992 737

2023-01984

Malin Tuvesson

Sundsvall Vatten AB

Resurseffektiv rening av avloppsvatten från näringsämnen i kallt klimat

20 000 000

2023-01987

Jesper König

VA SYD

Innovativ hantering av dagvatten för ett hållbart samhälle

19 999 174

2023-01988

Josefine Klingberg

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB

Effektiv vattenanvändning i hushåll

19 671 230

2023-01997

Henrik Pavia

Göteborgs universitet

Hållbart nyttjande av marina och industriella vatten för att frigöra potentialen hos makroalger som framtidens livsmedel

19 991 495

This call targets one or more end users who face a complex challenge and seeks projects that support the sustainable use of our water resources through new solutions and systemic change. Examples of an end user are a municipality, region, county administrative board, non-profit organisation, municipal company or private-sector company. The identified challenge should be central to the end user who, through long-term efforts, wants to develop, test and implement solutions.

With the right solutions in place, many water-related challenges and opportunities can enable the sustainable use of water. Different water resources are part of a complex system and are connected in different ways, so changes in one part of the system often have implications for another parts. This is why joint efforts, a system understanding and a long-term approach are crucial for creating sustainable solutions.

The call is aimed at end users who face challenges that relate to one or more types of water bodies, including lakes, streams, groundwater and seawater. Examples of such challenges include water shortages, pollution or the development of sustainable blue industries.

Projects should help end users to tackle this complex challenge together with other stakeholders. In the projects, at least one party must be the end user and one party must come from a higher education institution or research institute. A minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 parties can participate in the project.

Complex projects require interaction between sectors and disciplines. Both research results and their application are needed along with a combination of efforts to achieve the desired effects.

The identified challenge should be firmly established with the project’s participants. The projects should continuously work to enable testing and implementation of developed solutions, with the goal of demonstrating the solutions in real-world or near real-world environments.

The call is being implemented within the framework of the national research programme on oceans and water.

Water is fundamental to all life, and all types of water – groundwater, lakes and streams, and seawater – are interconnected. Water delivers a wide variety of values in our communities in the form of food, transport routes, jobs and leisure. We use water in many of our processes, we ship goods on water, and water is essential to our food supply. Yet many of these activities put a heavy strain on our water resources, and the way we use our oceans and water today is not sustainable. We need to develop new solutions and, in many cases, implement systemic changes in order to create a long-term, sustainable use of our marine and water resources.

Our oceans and seas are expected to provide added value that can be extracted in the form of food, materials, energy and other resources. In the European Green Deal, a sustainable blue economy is one of the keys to transitioning to sustainable communities. This places great demands on us to address and to solve the challenges we face regarding the responsible, sustainable use of our water resources.

Innovation, demonstration and broad collaboration are highlighted as key cornerstones of the UN Decade of Ocean Science in the forthcoming European Partnerships “A climate-neutral, sustainable and productive blue economy” External link. and Water4All External link., as well as within the framework of the EU missions External link..

The call “Blue Innovation – Implementation Projects” is an initiative within the framework of the national research programme on oceans and water.

The purpose of the call is to enable one or more end user groups to tackle a complex challenge whose solutions show the potential to have a direct or an indirect positive impact on the marine and aquatic environment. The projects should be ambitious and show great potential to provide specific, long-term positive effects on the aquatic environment in the identified challenge. The challenge can also stem from the development of an industrial activity that leverages a water resource in a sustainable way to produce different types of values. The challenge can involve water scarcity, the management of environmental pollutants, environmental monitoring, or the development of a sustainable blue industry, for example. In addition, water-related challenges are often linked to other social and environmental challenges, such as climate change and food security.

With complex challenges, multiple stakeholders often need to collaborate in order to create successful, sustainable and viable solutions. A single stakeholder might not have the capacity, expertise or control over parts of the issue that need to be changed.

A complex challenge can be a combination of any of the following:

  • Technical or financial challenges
  • Organisational, policy or regulatory conditions
  • Behavioural challenges, such as attitudes, drivers or ingrained patterns.

The projects should help end users to tackle a complex challenge together with other stakeholders. The identified challenge should require cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration, research and application, and the need for a systems perspective, stakeholder collaboration and collective efforts to achieve the desired effects.

The application must clearly state what impact on our water resources the project intends to address or how a water resource can be used in a sustainable way to create value, for example in a blue industry. The national research programme’s agenda “Mobilisation for healthy oceans and water External link.” presents selected strategic themes and cross-cutting perspectives. In the application, the applicant should describe which themes and perspectives the project relates to, explain which of the agenda’s goals it can help meet and what effects a successful project will have. For the project to be considered, the applicant must clearly show that the sustainability perspective is integral to the project and indicate how it will be followed up.

The themes of the agenda are:

  • Strengthen the resilience of aquatic ecosystems
  • Develop sustainable water resource management
  • Boost society’s ability to take action for sustainable oceans and waters

The agenda’s cross-cutting research and innovation perspectives are: System Perspective, Open Science and From Local to Global. The agenda contains a detailed description of the programme’s themes and perspectives as well as purpose and objectives.

Project participants should be thoughtfully selected considering the system perspective of the challenge and should be central to achieving the change the project intends to drive. It is thus important to consider which sectors and disciplines can create the broad understanding of the system needed to bring about change. The parties should have the collective capacity to implement the project in the best way, and be able to test and implement solutions developed in the project. Participants must demonstrate that efforts to address the challenge are long-term through a letter of intent from those parties deemed to benefit the project.

Leading a cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary project can be demanding, and applicants must demonstrate that project management is fit for purpose and has the experience, ability and resources needed considering the challenge. In a project with many parties, a project team with representatives from each party should be part of project management.

The call encourages collaborations that take new approaches, coordinate efforts, or leverage synergies with other organisations identified as being linked to the current challenge. Here, collaboration among disciplines like the social sciences, natural sciences and engineering can be vital for promoting understanding, disseminating solutions and enabling systemic change.

The project must strive to disseminate information about the developed solutions to relevant stakeholders so that it can make a meaningful contribution to the goals of the national research programme on oceans and water. This will lay the foundation for scalable solutions that can be used and implemented in the same type or similar applications within Sweden or worldwide.

The project’s design must consider the risks and obstacles identified and be adaptable when obstacles arise or are identified later on.

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

The call is aimed at a wide range of stakeholders involved in various water issues, such as municipalities, regions, county administrative boards, non-profit organisations, municipal companies and private-sector companies.

Only multi-party applications with at least one party from a private company, the public sector or civil society and at least one party from a higher education institution or research institutes are accepted. The project must have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 parties.

At least one participating researcher from a higher education institution or research institute must have completed their doctoral degree at the time the call closes.

Before you apply

The call welcomes applicants from administrating organisations for all types of calls External link. in our application system, Prisma, including higher education institutions and research institutes, and from municipalities, regions, county administrative boards, companies and other organisations that can become administrating organisations for an individual project. External link.

The administrating organisation is the organisation that receives and administers the funds Formas awards to a project. You can apply to become an administrating organisation in Prisma. However, it is important to do this well in advance of registering the project application and no later than 22 May 2023 so that Formas has time to process your request. See also “Main applicants from organisations that can become administrating organisation for an individual project”.

  • The administrating organisation is a coordinating project party that manages the application for all project parties in Prisma, via the project manager.
  • The administrating organisation is the organisation that receives and administers the funds that Formas awards to a project and distributes these funds to other project parties as decided by Formas.

To ensure the scientific quality of the project, the project team must include at least one researcher who holds a doctoral degree. However, it is optional for the main applicant (project manager) to hold a doctoral degree.

Project category 1: Project duration of 2-3 years and a grant of SEK 1-2 million per year. The total maximum grant per project is SEK 5 million and cannot be exceeded. The minimum grant per project is SEK 2 million.

Project category 2: Project duration of 4-5 years and a grant of SEK 2.5-4 million per year. The total maximum grant per project is SEK 20 million and cannot be exceeded. The minimum grant per project is SEK 10 million.

The end user must submit only one application that falls under either Category 1 or Category 2. Applications received for both categories will be rejected.

The co-funding requirement is at least 20% of the total funding. The project’s co-funding level is defined as the total self-finance amount plus any other private funding amount relative to the total project funding.

Private companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity that want to apply for a grant from Formas are subject to state aid regulations. See the section “State aid regulations for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity”. Companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity that do not have a Swedish corporate identity number cannot receive funding in this call, but they can participate in-kind. Organisations that are sole proprietorships cannot participate in Formas’ funding calls. Any applications involving one or more parties that are sole proprietorships will be rejected.

The call is aimed at groups of stakeholders where the coordinating project party can be an end user such as a municipality, region, county administrative board, other organisation, municipal company or private-sector company, or an academic stakeholder such as a higher education institution or research institute.

A minimum of three (3) organisations and a maximum of ten (10) organisations can be a project party. At least one party must be an end user, and at least one party must come from a higher education institution or research institute.

A letter of intent must be attached indicating that the project is firmly established with management at the end user organisations. For other parties a letter of intent should be attached when deemed to benefit the project. It must indicate that the project has a long-term approach and that the end users will support implementation of the developed solutions. The letter of intent should be signed by the manager who has decision-making authority over both the project’s financing and the solutions’ testing and implementation. See also “Mandatory appendices”.

Certain project members are expected to participate in seminars, workshops and networks within the framework of the national research programme on oceans and water. They will take part in activities that involve communicating and sharing experiences with other projects and with other relevant stakeholders. The purpose is to create synergies and platforms for learning and knowledge exchange.

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 gender distribution of the project team should be taken into account. How influence is distributed in the project should also be taken into account.

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?”.

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

The main applicant (project manager) is allowed to have an ongoing grant from one of Formas’ targeted national or international calls, from the annual open call or from both, as long as the applicant’s total salary distributed over the projects does not exceed 100 percent of the grant amount.

An applicant is not allowed to submit the same application with different main applicants. Applications that have the same content 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. In this call, the basis for aid under the general block exemption regulation EU 651/2014 is applied.

Note that sole proprietorships cannot be awarded a grant under this call or participate as a party in projects seeking funding in Formas’ calls. Companies that do not have a Swedish corporate identity number cannot receive funding in this call, but they can participate in-kind.

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

Prior to any decision, we also conduct credit checks on all companies and financial activities that may be relevant for awarding a grant.

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. In this call, state aid is granted mainly on the basis of the category “industrial research” in the regulation. The aid intensity depends on the basis for aid, the size of the company and the composition of the project consortium. Read more in Aid intensities and definitions for grants under the Formas aid scheme External link..

When you apply for project funding, you can apply for a grant to cover both direct and indirect costs. Direct costs include, for example, personnel costs and operating costs. 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.

Grants from Formas can be used to fund research and development as well as innovation that is partly conducted outside Sweden, although the project must be initiated and managed from Sweden. Only research-performing organisations such as universities and research institutes can receive funding outside Sweden. Companies or other organisations engaged in economic activity outside Sweden cannot be granted funding in this call. The administrating organisation must be located in Sweden and approved by Formas. This organisation is responsible for hiring any foreign staff if necessary or reimbursing costs for activities or services outside Sweden, in accordance with the administrating organisation’s 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.

In the call, it is possible to apply in one of two categories with different project durations and funding levels.

Category 1: Project duration 2-3 years and a grant of SEK 1-2 million per year. Maximum grant per project is SEK 5 million. Minimum grant per project is SEK 2 million.

Category 2: Project duration 4-5 years and a grant of SEK 2.5-4 million per year. Maximum grant per project is SEK 20 million. Minimum grant per project is SEK 10 million.

The co-funding requirement is at least 20% of the total funding. The project’s co-funding level is defined as the total self-finance amount plus any other private funding amount relative to the total project funding.

Project funding can be sought for a maximum grant amount as defined for Categories 1 and 2 in millions of kronor per year. It is not possible to apply for more than the maximum annual amount in any single year. However, you can apply for lower amounts for any of the years as long as the average annual amount is not less than the specified annual amounts for each category. If the total amount sought exceeds the stated maximum annual amount or the maximum total amount for the category, the application will be rejected.

The start date is predefined in Prisma and cannot be changed. Project funds can be used for up to 12 months after the end of the project. A final financial report must be submitted within three months after the project ends.

You can choose to write your application in either Swedish or English.

However, the popular science description must be written in Swedish, and the abstracts should be in both Swedish and English.

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.

Please read about Formas’ own sustainability work External link..

Formas is tasked with working towards achieving a sustainable development of society. Crucial to such a development are equal opportunities and inclusion. We therefore encourage applicants to think as much as possible about designing the project so that it can provide knowledge that reflects and is relevant to different groups in society. We also encourage you to consider gender balance in the project team and including participants with different backgrounds and experiences.

How to apply

This call is a “call for organisations” so the person responsible for the organisation account in Prisma in your organisation must open the application and invite you as the project leader before you can fill in the application as usual. If your organisation has not previously been funded by Formas, your organisation must first apply for an organisation account.

The person responsible for the organisation account is also the person that registers the application in Prisma. You can read more about call for organisations here: Calls for organisations - Prisma support (research.se) External link.

You apply for a grant in our application system, Prisma, where you add the information you need for your application.

Please read these instructions carefully, even if you have previously applied for a grant from Formas.

The information and instructions that follow describe personal and organisation accounts in Prisma.

Personal account

The main applicant who fills in the necessary information and registers the application must have a personal account in Prisma. If the main applicant does not have a personal account, he or she must apply for it in good time before the call closes, no later than 22 May 2023.

Apply for a personal account in Prisma External link..

Organisation account

The organisation that will receive and administer the funds Formas awards to a project is called an administrating organisation in Formas’ application system. At the time of application, the organisation must have an organisation account.

When the main applicant fills in the application form in Prisma, they must state the administrating organisation and domicile. This is done in the drop-down menus for administrating organisation and project domicile. The domiciles that the applicant can select are retrieved from the organisational structure based on the organisation account settings defined by the manager of the organisation account. The administrating organisation represented by the main applicant (the coordinating project party) must have an organisation account in Prisma when applying for funding.

If your organisation has not previously been an administrating organisation for Formas’ funds, then your organisation must apply for an organisation account with Formas in Prisma (see below).

Formas distinguishes between administrating organisations that can receive funds in all Formas calls, and administrating organisations that can be approved to receive funds in an individual call.

Main applicants from administrating organisations for all types of calls

Higher education institutions, most research institutes and government agencies with research assignments are approved as administrating organisations for all Formas calls and already have an organisation account.

Main applicants from administrating organisations who can become administrating organisations for an individual project

Companies, municipalities, trade associations and other organisations can apply to become administrating organisations for an individual project. These organisations must have an organisation account with Formas.

Organisation account for organisations that can become administrating organisations for an individual project

  • If the organisation already has an account in Prisma, send an email to Formas research officer Emily Dock Åkerman at dockakerman@formas.se and request to be added to the list of possible administrating organisations for this call. State your organisation number in your email, even if your organisation was approved as an administrating organisation in one of Formas’ previous calls.
  • If your organisation does not have an account in Prisma, an appropriate representative should apply for the organisation account on the Prisma website. In the reason for your application, indicate that you want to apply for funding in Formas’ call Blue Innovation – Implementation Projects, the type of organisation and the organisation number.

Apply for an organisation account in Prisma External link..

  • If you do not know whether the organisation has a Prisma account, contact research officer Emily Dock Åkerman at dockakerman@formas.se before you apply for a new account. State your corporate identity number.

It is important for the main applicant to apply in good time for an organisation account for the intended coordinating project party (the administrating organisation) if it is not listed in Prisma, but no later than 22 May 2023.

Domicile – create a structure to describe your organisation

To be able to register an application, a domicile within the organisation must be specified. This can be an institute or a department, for example. The person who manages the organisation account in Prisma must create a structure of units and sub-units (domiciles). If the organisation does not have departments, specify a subunit that has the same name as the organisation, for example. For information on how to do this, see Prisma’s user support External link..

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 a PDF 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 (max. 35,000 characters, including spaces).

The following must be described in the application:

Relevance and potential of the project (max. 12,000 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.
  • Clearly specify which challenges the project addresses from a system perspective and which themes, challenges and perspectives in the research agenda for the national research programme on oceans and water are addressed.
  • Describe the expected goals and 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 how dissemination of the project’s expected results can impact other stakeholders and be scaled up in Sweden and globally.

State-of-the-art

  • Describe the research and knowledge that forms the basis of the project.
  • Describe the project’s context and novelty value, and the innovation height of the expected results or solutions. Compare the project’s expected solutions with any other relevant solutions in and outside Sweden.
  • Describe project obstacles and risks, and the roadmap for implementation and benefit of the proposed solutions. Describe the consequences of identified obstacles and risks, and how the project addresses them.
  • Describe if and how the implementation of developed solutions depends on other project results or intellectual property.

Implementation (max. 15,000 characters, including spaces)

  • Explain how the project will be carried out – include, for example, work packages, activities, methods, work plan and schedule.
  • Describe how communication and implementation are integrated in the project in order to enable dissemination and upscaling of the created solutions and to stimulate participation, spread knowledge, and promote public acceptance of and interest in the project.
  • Clearly describe which project parties and project participants are active in which parts of the project.
  • Reflect on how gender equality and diversity have been integrated in the project.
  • Describe any ethical considerations and how they are managed 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.

Project 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 individuals) with regard to gender and distribution of influence among women and men.

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. In Prisma, write out the total amount you are applying for in kronor using digits. For example, 1 million kronor should be written as: 1 000 000 kronor.

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: The grant can only be used for actual salary costs for the time spent in the project. This applies both to companies and other organisations with economic activities (which are covered by EU state aid rules) and to other types of organisations. For employees at higher education institutions or research institutes, the amount may never exceed one hundred percent of a full-time employment So, someone who already has full salary funding from any funding source cannot receive additional salary funding. Researchers who are full-time pensioners cannot receive funding for their own salary.
  • Equipment, buildings and land: The maximum amount you can receive for equipment and equipment depreciation costs is 10% of the awarded grant total.

Costs for equipment, buildings and land are eligible to the extent and during the time they are used for the project. For equipment and buildings, the depreciation costs incurred during the life cycle of the project are eligible, for land the actual capital costs are eligible, however with the limitation stated 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 actors 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 personnel costs. 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-finance”.
  • 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 the field for self-finance.

Justification of budgeted personnel costs

Here, you specify the average hourly cost for budgeted personnel costs. Personnel costs refer 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, explain the budget and state the indirect costs (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 topic (SCB code), at least one sustainable development goal the project can contribute to, and keywords.

  • Subject area

Select the project’s subject area and add a sub-heading.

  • Research topic (SCB code)

Select at least one research topic 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 “Organisation account for organisations that can become administrating organisations for an individual project” under “How to apply”.
  • Select the domicile from the dropdown list. If you cannot find the correct domicile, see “Domicile – create a structure to describe your organisation” 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

CVs containing the relevant qualifications of key participants should be uploaded in PDF format in Prisma. 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.

Each CV should contain information that demonstrates the person’s qualifications and skills relevant for 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, participation in hours, role in the project, relevant skills and experience, reason why the person is a key participant, other.

Letter of intent

A letter of intent is encouraged indicating that the project is firmly anchored with management at the end user organisations and other parties. It must indicate that the project has a long-term approach and that the end users will support the implementation of developed solutions. The letter of intent should be signed by the manager with decision-making authority over both the project’s financing and the solutions’ testing and implementation.

Appendices

Mandatory appendices:

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

Optional appendices:

  • If you need figures, tables or images to describe the project, you can upload them as attachments here. A maximum of one PDF attachment of 4 MB can be uploaded.

After submitting your application

First, Formas verifies that the application meets the procedural requirements set out in the call. If the application does not meet these requirements, it is rejected.

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 managers, 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.

All applications are assessed by an external review panel whose members are qualified to cover the call’s theme and who represent a wide range of stakeholders and researchers. Applications are assessed based on their contents. It is therefore important to write the application as clearly as possible and include all important and relevant information.

The assessment will be carried out separately for the two categories (Category 1 and Category 2). The applicant pool and quality of the applications will determine how the budget is distributed between the two categories. Formas will also consider the project portfolio before taking a decision on funding projects that address a wide range of themes within the framework of the call.

Read more about Formas’ assessment process External link.

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 will be utilised is well described and appropriate.
  • The project’s planned management of any obstacles or risks that can affect its implementation is clearly described and appropriate.
  • The project’s planned communication is appropriate and clearly described in terms of how it can generate interest and participation in the project and the application of developed solutions among the target groups.
  • Ethical considerations are clearly 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 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 teams 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. Costs and financing are reported according to 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.

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

Support and shortcuts

Revision history

Any changes to the call text are listed below.

  • Under "Requirements for applying organisations", we have updated "The main applicant" to "The end user".
  • Under "Eligible costs", we have clarified that only research-performing organisations such as universities and research institutes can receive funding outside Sweden.

Contact information

For questions about the content of the call

For administrative questions and questions about Prisma

For questions about state aid

Updated:17 October 2023