Career Grant for Early-career Researchers, career age 4–7 years

In this call, individual researchers apply for grants together with their home organisation (administrating organisation).

Employment at the home organisation

You are to:

• be employed at the home organisation from the start of the grant period and throughout the grant period, including any additional availability period, in case this time is used to complete the project. This means that you are employed and pay taxes in Sweden even if your project includes stays abroad.
• discuss possible forms of employment and terms of employment with your intended home organisation well in advance of submitting the application. Your home organisation determines the form of employment, salary, and terms of employment. You do not need to be employed by the home organisation at the time of submitting your application, but you do need to have an agreement on employment if the application is granted.

Your home organisation is to:

• confirm the employment agreement, in its role as administrating organisation, through a letter of intent included with the application (read more under the section “Letter of intent”).
• sign the application via an authorised representative at the administrating organisation no later than seven calendar days after the closing date of the call (usually the head of department where the research is to be conducted).

As a general rule, Formas does not grant exceptions to the requirement that you be employed by your home organisation (the administrating organisation of the grant) during the entire project period. There may be circumstances preventing the home organisation from employing you when stationed abroad. If there are specific regulations in the country you are going to visit that require employment with an employer in that country, Formas may be able to grant exceptions to the employment requirement.

Formas strongly encourages applicants to contact their intended administrating organisation, such as the HR office, when beginning to plan their application to see about the potential of being employed with a stationing abroad (such as with a URA agreement or equivalent) and to the country(ies) you intend to visit as part of the project.

Read more in Swedish about working abroad at the Swedish Agency for Government Employers. External link.

Activity level

As the project manager, you have scientific responsibility for the project. The time you work in the project (your activity level) needs to be adapted for you to conduct the project within the project period and must correspond to at least 60 per cent and at most 100 per cent of a full-time position on average during the entire grant period.

As a rule, Formas does not allow exceptions from this requirement, for example to work on other research projects or to work on other types of assignments. Valid exceptions to the requirement are parental leave, sick leave, and other reasons that Formas may determine permissible. To ensure that the requirement is met, Formas conducts random checks of granted projects.

Co-applicants

You may only apply for funds for your own salary in this call. No co-applicants may be invited to the application in Prisma.

Career age – track 4–7 years

As an applicant in track 4–7 years, type of grant Research Projects for Career Ages 4–7 years, you must have a degree certificate for your doctorate issued no earlier than 1 January 2017 and no later than 31 December 2020.

The degree date is the date the degree certificate is issued. For applicants with a Swedish doctorate, this is the date registered in Ladok. For applicants with a foreign doctorate, the date on which your doctorate was issued by the university applies, usually with a stamp.

You will not be able to complete your application if your doctorate was issued before the date indicated for the track. The exception is if you have not been gainfully employed for one or multiple longer periods after receiving your doctorate, and this has impacted your ability to acquire qualifications as a researcher, known as deductible time (read more under Deductible time below).

Deductible time – break from research

If you have not been able to conduct research in the time immediately after your doctoral degree, you can be exempted from the rule that the doctoral degree must have been completed after 1 January 2017 if you have an approved reason for deductible time.

Formas approves the following reasons for deductible time:

• parental leave
• longer illness (sick leave or care of child/relative)
• military service
• appointed or elected position within a political organisation, trade union, or student organisation

Note that we do not accept other employment, unemployment, or vacation as deductible time.

In the application, you may claim deductible time and specify an approved reason and the length of the time. The period of the break should be calculated based on full-time and entered rounded to whole calendar months. You need to ensure that the date of your doctoral degree falls within the approved time interval for the track before you apply.

We conduct random checks. This means that we can request certificates that confirm your reasons for deductible time. Your application will be rejected if no certificate is available that can substantiate the deductible time.

Number of applications and ongoing project grants at Formas

You may only have one application submitted and registered in the Career Grant for Early-career Researchers call when it closes. Even if you consider yourself eligible in both career age tracks, you may only submit your application to one of the tracks. If you have more than one registered application for the Career Grant for Early-career Researchers call in Prisma after the call has closed, all your applications will be rejected.

You may not apply for grants in the Career Grants for Early-career Researchers call if you are a project manager for an ongoing project grant from the Mobility Grants for Early-career Researchers call or the Research Projects for Early-career Researchers call, where the grant period includes 2025. Formas’ decision states in which calendar year the project funds will be paid out and how long the funds may be used. A project is considered ongoing during the years you receive payments from Formas.

It is however permitted to apply for funds in the call if the project’s grant period, i.e., the payout period, has passed but the availability period includes 2025. You may also apply for grants in the Career Grants for Early-career Researchers call if you are a project manager for or participate in an ongoing project awarded a grant from one of Formas’ other calls. However, Formas cannot fund a researcher with more than 100 per cent of a full-time position. Please note that this call requires the project manager to work on the project at least 60 per cent of a full-time position on average during the project period.

The project is to include national and/or international researcher mobility to other research environments, such as higher education institutions, research institutes, or other research organisations. In addition to visits to one or more universities, research institutes, or other research organisations, you can also include mobility to other types of organisations, such as in the private and public sectors.

As an applicant, you have great flexibility to plan mobility stays according to your own and the project’s needs. Choose the university(ies), research institutes, and/or organisations, and design mobility stays in such a way that they contribute to your career development.

Length of stays

The total length of mobility stay(s) with a visit to at least one host organisation (other national or international research environment) is to be:

• Three-year projects: At least four (4) months and at most 24 months.
• Four-year projects: At least five (5) months and at most 32 months.

Stays with one or more host organisations can be divided into several periods. Formas does not make requirements for how long each individual stay should be. In addition to the requirement for the total length of the mobility stay, the following also applies:

• the total time at each host organisation is to be at least one month if you visit multiple host organisations. This applies regardless of whether your host organisations are in Sweden or abroad.
• the length of the stays and the number of stays are to be adjusted to what is best for the project and for you to be able to take the next step in your career.
• the stays are to take place in physical form. Once the length requirements are met, digital elements may be used when suitable for the project.
• any stays with a host organisation that is not a research organisation may be at most 6 months.

Home organisation

The home organisation is the administrating organisation of the awarded grant and pays your salary throughout the project period. The home organisation also provides infrastructure and other necessary conditions for you to be able to conduct the project and is to provide you (the project manager) with good opportunities to develop your research and take the next step in your career development. You and your project are to also be part of and contribute to your home organisation’s activities. Your home organisation may be the same or a different organisation from the one where you received your doctorate.

In this call, the home organisation is to be a Swedish higher education institution, research institute, public authority with a research mission, or other organisation with research as its core activity. The organisation must meet Formas’ requirements to be a generally approved administrating organisation when the application is submitted. The home organisation is referred to in the application system Prisma as “Administrating organisation”.

Read more about the role of the home organisation/administrating organisation in this call:

FAQ for the Career Grant for Early-career Researchers call

Host organisation(s)

A basic requirement in the call is that you are to include at least one host organisation that you will visit during the project period. The host organisation is to be a national or international research environment at another higher education institution, research institute, or equivalent research organisation. In addition to the requirement to visit another research environment, you may also visit another organisation suitable for the project to conduct your research (see below).

The host organisations should not charge any fees for office space or similar during your stay, and you may not apply for funding in the application for the host organisation’s premises costs (known as “bench fees”).

• Application requirements: Include at least one physical stay at a national or international host organisation. Approved host organisations are higher education institutions, research institutes, or other research organisations abroad and/or in Sweden. The host organisation is to be a different organisation from your home organisation (administrating organisation). There is no upper limit to the number of host organisations.
• Possibilities for the application: Include a stay of at most 6 months at another organisation suitable for conducting the project (international, state, or municipal organisation, business organisation, civil society organisation). During the stay, you will need to continue conducting research within the framework of the project. You are to be employed by the project’s administrating organisation throughout the stay. Note that you also need to include visits to at least one other research environment in addition to this stay.

Letter of intent

Separate letters of intent from the home organisation and each host organisation are to be attached to the application. The letters of intent are to include a description of how you and your project fit into their organisation, how the organisation will support you in implementing your project and in the development of your career, and how you will be able to contribute to the organisation and its development (see information for the letters of intent under What to include in your application).

Consider the following when preparing your application:

• Formulate a project idea with a new or partially new focus for your research compared with your previous work.
• Design your project so that it enables you to take the next step in your career.
• Discuss possible forms of employment with your intended home organisation/administrating organisation, including the choice of project period, before planning your project and submitting your application.
• Choose one or more host organisations to visit that can contribute to your particular project and career development.
  • Formas does not allow the host organisation to be another institution at the same higher education institution as your home organisation (administrating organisation).
  • The choice to conduct national and/or international mobility is not in itself a ground for assessment.
  • No quantitative indicators, such as university rankings, will be used in assessing the selection of home and host organisations.
• Contact your home organisation, such as the HR office, to discuss existing opportunities for you to be employed with a stationing abroad (such as with a URA agreement or equivalent).
• Plan your mobility stay(s) so that they meet the length requirements of the call.
  • For a project duration of three years, at least four months and at most 24 months of the total time is to be spent at one or more host organisations.
  • For a project duration of four years, at least five months and at most 32 months of the total time is to be spent at one or more host organisations.
  • In the case of visits to several host organisations, the total time at each organisation is to be at least one month.
• Discuss your opportunities for support in your career development with your intended home organisation and what contributions they can make. This is the basis for the letter of intent that the home organisation is to write, and which is to be attached to the application (see instructions for letters of intent from the home organisation below).
• Make sure that your host organisation(s) write letters of intent for you to attach to the application and that this is done well before the call closes (see instructions for letters of intent from host organisation(s) below).

The grant may be used for salary, for indirect costs, for direct premises costs in accordance with the home organisation’s practice, for running costs, and for travel to and from the mobility stays (read more about which costs are eligible for funding under Budget).

In addition to salary and project costs, Formas will add an additional cost supplement to your project according to a standard model when conducting international mobility stays. The additional cost supplement includes overhead costs for you and your accompanying family members (see Additional cost supplement). Note that any additional cost supplements should not be included in the project’s budget. They should be outside the budget framework.

Formas assumes that the home organisation, as the responsible employer and administrating organisation, covers any expenses to implement the project and the planned mobility in addition to the grant and the additional cost supplement.

Salary costs

You can apply for your estimated salary costs at the standard level for your home organisation. Please note that the total amount of salary received may not exceed 100 per cent of a full-time position. For researchers with other funding, this means that funds for their own salary cannot be granted if the total salary funding exceeds 100 per cent.

Indirect costs

You can apply for funding for indirect costs for your project and for direct premises costs from the home organisation as per their standard procedure. Indirect costs, also called overhead costs, are costs that are shared with others within the organisation, such as costs for administration, IT, and rent. Your home organisation, which will manage the grant, can help you calculate these details.

Running costs including travel costs

Running costs refer to costs that arise in connection with the project implementation. This can be:

• funding for interviews, analyses, fieldwork, publication in journals and databases that use Open Access, etc.
• participation in conferences, which fall within the project.
• travel to and from stays at host organisations.

Read more about eligible costs in Formas’ Terms and Conditions for Grants.

Additional cost supplement

In the case of international mobility, Formas grants additional cost supplements for accompanying partners and for dependents under 19 years of age. If your application is granted, Formas calculates the amount for the supplement based on the information you provided in the application using a standard model. Formas bases this calculation on current data from the Swedish Agency for Government Employers regarding the maximum amount for tax-free additional cost supplement. The Swedish Agency for Government Employers’ tables are based on an assessment of the host country’s cost level, which Formas cannot affect.

The size of the additional cost supplement is based on 1) the cost level in the country to be visited, 2) the length of stay, and 3) the number of accompanying family members. The additional cost supplement is paid at the start of the project and cannot be changed in the event of changed circumstances, such as additional accompanying family members, additional costs for changed destinations, or cost levels. The home organisation is the administrating organisation for the additional cost supplement.

Note that you do not apply for additional cost supplements in the application budget. Formas will calculate the additional cost supplement if your application is granted.

See the current table from the Swedish Agency for Government Employers regarding the maximum amount for additional cost supplements (in Swedish). External link.

Grant amount

You can apply for at most SEK 1.5 million per year on average over the years that apply to the application. A calendar year is the period that runs 1 January to 31 December. This means that you can apply for more than SEK 1.5 million for a calendar year if the amount applied for in another year of the project period is lower than SEK 1.5 million.

Project duration

You can apply for funding for 3-year (36 months) or 4-year (48 months) projects.

The project start is 1 January 2025. In Prisma, the start date is preselected and cannot be changed. The project has an additional 12-month availability period beyond the project period. The availability period can be used to conclude the project. You can also use the availability period to postpone the start of the project by 12 months. This allows you to start the project in calendar year 2025 and still have time to complete your project within the project’s availability period. Formas’ decision and project-specific conditions specify the period during which project funds will be paid out and the availability period. Note that a delayed project start is not a valid reason for extending the availability period.

You should write your application in English, as the review panel that will assess your application is international. If you write your application in Swedish, only the project description will be translated into English by a professional translator. You will not have the opportunity to see or change the translated text before the application is sent for assessment by the review panel. The popular science description, however, is to be written in Swedish, while the summaries are to be both in Swedish and English. Your budget specification, your academic profile, and your letters of intent will not be translated. For this reason, make sure that these are written in English.

According to Swedish law, your application (including appendices) is considered a public document once it is submitted. This means that anyone can request and access your application. Information can only be kept confidential if it is covered by confidentiality according to the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400).

Formas is very limited in its ability to assign confidentiality to personal data. For this reason, the application should only contain personal data for the applicant.

The Swedish and English popular science descriptions and the project summaries may, if the project is awarded a grant, be published in open project databases without checking confidentiality. For this reason, the content of these fields should not contain sensitive information.

You apply for a grant in our application system Prisma. You will need a personal account for this. This is where you will add the information needed for your application. Create an account and an application as soon as possible, and contact Formas with any questions well before the call closes.

Apply in Prisma External link.

Your home organisation must be an approved administrating organisation for all types of calls for you to register your application.

Become an administrating organisation for all types of calls

When the call is closed, Formas will check whether your application falls within the scope of the call. If so, it goes on to the review panel for assessment. If the application is outside the scope of the call, it will be rejected and will not be sent for assessment.

The following requirements will be checked in this call:

• that the administrating organisation has signed the application within seven calendar days after the close of the call.
• that the focus of the application is within Formas’ areas of responsibility.
• that the applicant fulfils the requirement for an issued doctorate within the specified timeframe.
• that you have submitted the requested information when claiming deductible time.
• that the application is complete, i.e. that it contains all the information that is required in the application form and in the appendices.
• that you only have one application submitted and registered in the Career Grant for Early-career Researchers call when it closes. If you consider yourself eligible in both career age tracks, you may only submit your application to one of the tracks.
• that the requirements for the project manager, home and host organisation(s), and total length of mobility stay(s) are fulfilled.
  
• that you have submitted the required reports on time for other projects or activities funded by Formas and under your responsibility.

All applications with associated CVs, academic profiles, and letters of intent are assessed by national and international scientific experts and public representatives in one of the calls review panels. The review panels are based on Statistics Sweden’s standard for classification of research areas: natural science, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, agricultural sciences and veterinary medicine, social sciences, and humanities and fine arts. Each review panel has wide-ranging expertise that covers all of Formas’ areas of responsibility. Qualifications to review multi- and interdisciplinary research projects will be present in all review panels. Each review panel will be composed of active researchers, individuals with experience in assessing potential for academic career development, and users of research findings who are qualified to assess the project’s and the researcher’s potential for societal benefit. Note that Formas reserves the right to divide or merge review panels based on the number of submitted applications and for practical management of the call’s review process.

Your application will only be assessed based on the content described in the application, including the letters of intent and your academic profile. As such, it is important that the content of the application is as clear as possible and that all important and relevant information is included. Note that citation indexes and university rankings are not to be included and will not be used in the assessment.

Your application, including the letters of intent and academic profile, is assessed using five grounds of assessment.

Skills, qualifications, and career development

• How well does the planned project fit with the applicant’s previous qualifications and experience? (scientific, educational, networks, collaborations)
• Does the researcher have the potential to widen their perspectives with the project and take the next clear step in their career?
• Does the researcher have the potential to increase their skills, qualifications, and scientific independence through the project?
• To what extent does the project improve the potential of the applicant to continue developing their abilities to lead, collaborate, and build networks?
• To what extent does the project improve the potential of the applicant to develop their ability to use and convey knowledge and experience to others?

The expected knowledge contribution

• Is the project’s problem formulation clear, logical, and appropriate for the project’s research field and what the project wants to contribute to?
• Can the project advance or challenge the state of knowledge, understanding, or approach within the selected research field?
• Does the project incorporate the needs and conditions of different groups into its design and expected findings?

Implementation plan

• Is the implementation plan suitable and appropriate for implementing the proposed project?
• Is the project’s timeframe and budget realistic and appropriate for the project’s purpose and goals?
• Are the ethical considerations and how they are dealt with necessary and relevant to the project?

Home and host organisations

• Do practical arrangements and access to resources at the home and host organisations contribute to the implementation of the project?
  
• Is the choice of home and host organisations appropriate for the research and the advancement of the researcher’s career?
  
• Are the length and design of the stay(s) at the host organisation(s) justified and appropriate for the implementation of the project?
• Can the researcher, via their project, be integrated into and contribute to the activities of the home and host organisations?

Societal relevance

• To what degree can the project’s findings contribute to societal needs in the near or long term, and is the research relevant to Formas’ areas of responsibility?
• To what degree has the project identified the most important areas where the results could be used and how this could be done?
  
• Are the planned efforts to disseminate and make the results available relevant, feasible, and appropriate?

All five grounds of assessment are to be addressed in the application, and applicants must clearly relate the application to the grounds of assessment.

All five grounds of assessment will be weighted equally in the initial assessment. To differentiate applications of comparable quality in the final assessment, the skills, qualifications, and career development ground of assessment will be given more weight than the others.

Formas will decide which applications are awarded grants on 5 November 2024. Decisions are published no later than the following day on Formas’ website and an email with information about the decision will be sent out later from Prisma. The decision will be available in Prisma. Grant decisions cannot be appealed.

The final financial and scientific reports for granted projects are to be submitted to Formas within three months of the end of the availability period. A financial status report is to be submitted to Formas annually. All reporting is submitted through Prisma.

How to report expenses and results

Formas may impose requirements on how projects are to be reported in terms of content and results to enable dissemination and utilisation. This will be noted in the project decision should a grant be awarded.

This call does not permit changing the project leader.

Granted projects are also expected to participate in network meetings, seminars, and discussions organised by Formas, such as Formas’ Career Day. The purpose is to create synergies and platforms for learning and knowledge sharing.

Results from research funded by Formas are to be published using open access.

You are also to have a data management plan for the data produced in the project. If you receive funding from us, you need to develop a plan for data management. The plan should not be sent into us, but you should be able to present the plan upon request. By signing our grant terms and conditions, you certify that a data management plan will be in place before the research begins and that it will be maintained.

Open access to research results and data External link.