FORTE Project Grants

The annual call for proposals for project grants allows researchers to formulate their research questions freely within Forte’s areas. The purpose is to enable researchers to analyse and contribute to the understanding of a specific research area or question.

Quick facts

What can you apply for? Three year project grant for research about health, working life and welfare.

Who can apply? The main applicant must have obtained a doctoral degree no later than the closing date of the call. No more than one application per main applicant is permitted.

How much can you apply for? Maximum of SEK 5 million per grant. For this call a budget of about SEK 345 million is available.

About the grant

The purpose of project grants is to create and disseminate knowledge about an identified issue within the framework of a defined research project. Project grants may be applied for by individual researchers as well as research groups.

Scope of the call

The call for proposals welcomes all applications within Forte’s areas of health, working life and welfare. These areas are further divided into several subfields, each with associated review panels responsible for assessing applications. Read more about the respective subfields under the heading Review panels below.

The research that receives funding shall be of high scientific quality and have good potential to benefit society in the short or long term.

Project duration

Funding may be sought for three years.

Funding amounts

You may apply for a maximum of SEK 5 million. Please note that the maximum amount includes so called indirect costs/overheads (OH).

Staffing

For this grant type, you as main applicant may invite participating researchers to join the application.

Number of applications

No more than one application per main applicant is permitted within this call for proposals. As a participating researcher you may participate in more than one application.

International research

Applications with an international element must follow Forte’s guidelines for international research.

Open access and data management plan

Results from research funded by Forte must be published with immediate open access. However, Forte does not cover the costs of open access publishing within the research grants we award. Instead, Forte contributes financially through the Bibsam consortium to the joint funding system for publications. In cases where publication costs are included in the application, such costs will be deleted from any grant awarded.

Forte's guidelines for publication with open access

In all Forte funded projects that generate research data, a data management plan has to be established in accordance with the recommendations of the administrating organisation.

Open access to research data

Collaboration in research

By involving societal stakeholders in the research process, research results can achieve greater impact and practical application. Forte therefore encourages researchers to plan for collaboration where it is relevant and to clearly describe their collaboration plans in their applications.

Forte’s perspective on collaboration in research

Review panels

Forte’s annual call for project grants covers all three of our main areas: health, working life, and welfare. These areas are further divided into several subfields, each with associated review panels responsible for assessing applications.

When you fill in your application in Prisma, you will be asked to choose a review panel for your application. However, we reserve the right to allocate the application to another panel.

The following review panels can be selected:

• Public health
• Healthcare and healthcare organisation
• Health promotion and behaviour
• Labour market
• Work organisation
• Work and work-related health
• Social policy, social change and living conditions
• Social care and social work
• Social relations and social issues

Please note that Forte does not fund clinical (medical) therapy studies or biomedical (preclinical) research. Analyses of environmental exposures that cannot be clearly linked to health effects or working life are also outside Forte’s area.

Eligibility requirements

Doctoral degree

To apply for a grant under this call for proposals, you must have obtained a doctoral degree no later than the closing date of the call for proposals.

Reporting for previous grants

The main applicant must have submitted the final report for any previously approved grants from Forte within the reporting deadline. This only applies to grants where the deadline for final reporting has passed. Any previously granted extensions of project duration, and consequently of reporting deadlines, will be taken into account.

Ongoing grants from Forte

You cannot be the main applicant for an application under this call for proposals if, at the time the planned project is due to start, you are already the project leader for an ongoing project grant or starting grant from Forte. The grant is considered ongoing during its project time (referred to as “grant period” in the contract for the grant). If the grant period has ended, but the availability period has not, it is possible to apply for funding for a new project.

This restriction applies regardless of which call for proposals the project grant or starting grant was granted under (with the exception of international collaboration calls).

The restriction applies only to the project grants and starting grants. If you are a project leader with, for example, ongoing programme grants, junior researcher grants, network grants or other types of grants, you can apply to this call.

Parallel application in Forte's annual call for starting grants

You may not be the main applicant on an application in this call if you are also applying for funding in Forte's annual call for starting grants. You may be a participating researcher in an application under this call and at the same time apply for funding in the call for starting grants.

How do I apply?

Before starting your application, please read this document and ensure that the following conditions are fulfilled:

• The main applicant and any participating researchers included in the application have created personal accounts in the Prisma application systemExternal link.
• The main applicant and any participating researchers included in the application have stored their CV and details of their publications in their respective personal accounts
• The administrating organisation for the grant has an organisational account in Prisma and has been approved as an administrating organisation at Forte. Forte's criteria for administrating organisations

What must be included in the application?

For information about the contents of your application, please see the document Instructions for the application form under the application heading below.

The application form includes both mandatory and non-mandatory information. The application cannot be submitted if mandatory information is missing. Ensure that the non-mandatory information you wish to include is also included in the application upon registration.

Language

Applications under this call for proposals can be written in Swedish or English.

The use of AI tools

The use of AI in the application must comply with Forte’s guidelines for the use of AI tools.

Translations of information in the call for proposals

Call texts, application forms and instruction texts are available in English translation, but in case of ambiguity in the translation, the Swedish versions take precedence.

Types of project participants

The person who creates the application in Prisma is the main applicant and is intended to be the project leader for the research project. The project leader must be employed by the administrating organisation at the start of the project. The employment must at least cover the time set aside for the project (activity level).

The main applicant can also invite participating researchers to join the application. Participating researchers are other researchers who are crucial for the implementation of the project. Both the main applicant and the participating researchers must have a doctoral degree and a personal account in Prisma. This category may include any doctoral students who are expected to participate in the project.

It is also possible to include other participants in the project. These persons do not need to be researchers. This means they do not need to have a doctoral degree or their own accounts in Prisma.

The main applicant may also invite a participating administrator to help them complete the application form.

Requirements for different types of participants

Forte's general guides

Please read the above texts carefully before starting your application. You are also encouraged to visit our pages containing general information about the application and review process.

How to apply for a grantHow your application is assessed

Application

All applications are to be submitted via the Prisma application and review system. Please refer to the document Instructions for the application form below when completing your application.

Go to PrismaInstructions for the application form in Prisma

How is my application assessed?

Verification of your application

Forte checks if your application fulfils the conditions laid down in the call for proposals. If the application does not fulfil the conditions, it will be refused or rejected. The following conditions will be checked in this call for applications:

• The main applicant has been awarded a doctoral degree
• The main applicant has submitted the final report for any previously approved grants from Forte within the reporting deadline
• The main applicant does not have an ongoing project grant or starting grant from Forte, where the grant periods overlap
• The main applicant does not apply in Forte's annual call for starting grants
• The content of the application does not obviously fall outside Fortes areas health, welfare and working life (this is assessed on the basis of the abstract and verified in consultation with the chair of the review panel)
• The budget in the application is within the maximum grant amount specified in the call for proposals
• The application has been signed by the administrating organisation within 7 calendar days of the closing date of the call for proposals

Review in two steps

All applications that fulfil the conditions in the call for proposals are forwarded to Forte’s review panels for assessment. Based on their assessment, Forte’s Board makes the final decisions on which applications will be granted funding. To be eligible for funding from Forte, applications must meet the requirements, be of high scientific quality, be relevant to society, and feasible.

The review panels' assessment takes place in two stages. As a first step, all applications are solely assessed based on the abstract. The applications whose abstracts best meet the assessment criteria then proceed to an in-depth assessment, where the application is read in its entirety. The applicant does not submit a new application between step 1 and step 2.

Applications are assessed against the assessment criteria described below. The assessment is an overall assessment that weighs all the criteria and relates them to the call for proposals and its objectives. Key to the assessment is how the applicant has explained and justified the various choices made in the application.

Forte's processes for assessment and final decision

Assessment criteria for the abstract in step 1

Requirements

• The research must be relevant in relation to Forte’s areas and the scope of the call.

Scientific quality

• The clarity and coherence in the description and justification of the research in all relevant parts.

Societal relevance and utilisation

• The societal relevance of the research and the potential for utilisation and dissemination of the research.

Feasibility

• The reasonableness of the work plan, including the project design and timeline for achieving the objectives.

Assessment criteria for the full application in step 2

Requirements

• Relevance to Forte: The research must be relevant in relation to Forte’s areas and the scope of the call.
• Sex and gender perspective: A sex and gender perspective must be taken into account, if applicable.
• Ethical considerations: The research must be conducted in an ethical manner, and any ethical issues must be addressed in an appropriate way.

Scientific quality

• Purpose, research questions, theoretical framework and background: The clarity and coherence in the description and justification of the purpose of the research, research questions, theoretical framework and background, including how well grounded it is in previous research.
• Study design, material and methods: The clarity and coherence in the description and justification of the research’s design, empirical material and methods for data collection and analysis, as well as the appropriateness of these in relation to the purpose of the research and research questions.
• Originality: The potential of the research to contribute to the research front, for example by developing new knowledge, new methods, theories and/or data.
• Multidisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary approach: The relevance of a multidisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary approach to the scientific quality, if applicable.

Societal relevance and utilisation

• Relevance to the wider community: The importance of the research to current societal challenges and how the research will help address these.
• Benefit to the wider community: The short and/or long-term benefit of the research to the wider community, and how this is intended to be promoted.
• Collaboration with the wider community: The clarity and coherence in the description and justification of the plan for collaboration with the actors affected by the research, if applicable.
• Communication of research results: The reasonableness and appropriateness of planned communications for all relevant audiences.

Feasibility

• Work plan: The clarity and reasonableness of the work plan for conducting the research.
• Competence: The competence and skills of the participants in relation to the needs for conducting the research.
• Budgets and staffing: The reasonableness of budgeted costs and participants’ planned activities for conducting the research.

What happens after the decision has been made?

Decision and statement

When a decision has been made in respect of your application, it will be published in your Prisma account. You will receive an email when the decision is published. Applicants will also have access to the statement written by the review panel about their application. This can be found in Prisma on the “Applications” page under the “Details” button. You will also find the statement on the “Grants” page.

Terms and conditions for grants

In order to receive a grant from Forte, both the main applicant and the administrating organisation must sign the terms and conditions laid down in the call for proposals. The signing takes place in Prisma after a decision on the grant has been made. Forte’s general terms and conditions apply to this call for proposals.

Forte’s general terms and conditions for grants

Principle of public access to official records

According to Swedish law, your application is considered a public document once it has been submitted to Forte. This means that anyone can request and read your application. Information may only be kept secret if it is covered by the secrecy provisions in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400).

If your application is granted, abstracts in Swedish and English will be published in open project databases without a confidentiality assessment.

Advice if you plan to apply

Keep in mind that completing an application takes time! Start your application well in advance.

Read more tips and advice: How to write a successful application

Contact information

Do you have any questions about the call or how to fill in the application form? Please contact us at projektutlysning@forte.se.