FORMAS Sustainable and resilient food systems in uncertain times

Apply for funding for research and development projects that contribute to the development of knowledge and practices in order to foster a more robust food security and preparedness in Sweden and globally. The purpose of this call is to promote collaborations between researchers and needs owners, both domestically and internationally, for investigating and identifying development opportunities in order to shape a sustainable and resilient food systems.

Access to nutritious food of enough quantity and of high quality is a human right. Even if the current global food production is sufficient to feed the world population, the UN food program assesses that about 800 million people in the world live suffer from hunger and the number of persons at risk of famine has risen from 27 million in 2019 to 44 million in 2022. Wars, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have been the main reasons behind this development. The situation is even at risk of getting worse due to Russia’s war against Ukraine. At the same time food production, both globally and in Sweden, needs to be become fossil free.

Formas is seeking to fund research and development projects that create conditions for a more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable global food system. This call aims to contribute with improved knowledge and innovative practices in the field of food security and preparedness in times of societal and environmental crises, both in Sweden and globally.

For the results to meet the needs of actors in the food system and create benefits to society, we see great value in collaborations between academia, industry and other actors in society, nationally as well as internationally. Projects must therefore be multi-party projects in which, in addition to research-performing organisations (academia or research institutes), include needs owner and stakeholder organizations (industry, sectoral or trade associations, non-governmental organisations, public authorities, the civil society or other public associations) as co-applicant parties. Projects need to include at least one research-performing organisation, either as the coordinating party or as a project party.

You can apply for up to 6 million SEK for research or development projects for a project duration of maximum 36 months (3 years). Formas has allocated a budget of 60 MSEK to this call. Private companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity that want to apply for grants from Formas are subject to EU state aid regulations for companies and other organisations engaged in economic with clearly laid out requirements for and level of co-financing.

This call is an initiative stemming from the National research program on food.

Background

The 2018 drought, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have exposed systemic vulnerabilities of the Swedish and global food systems. At the same time, we can see how climate change is expected to cause more frequent extreme weather occurrences, longer periods of drought and heat waves. The loss of biological diversity is also an ongoing crisis with negative consequences for many crops globally. Whether the crisis is due to external, sudden events or is a symptom of a more longstanding process, there is an effect on the food system. The food system has been shaped through a gradual integration of the global market based on increased international exchanges both for production inputs and products. Recurring crises have brought to the fore the structural vulnerabilities of the current food system and their consequences for Swedish and global food security.

Reducing the vulnerability of the food system is one of the overarching goals of the National Food StrategyExternal link., adopted by the Swedish Parliament in 2017. The National Research Program for Food aims to mobilize knowledge in order to improve Sweden’s food supply, preparedness and resilience in relation to climate change and other types of crises, and to contribute to global food security. In 2020, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the food sector was categorized as being of strategic societal importance. As recently as in May 2022, the Swedish government presented access to food and water as one of the ten sectors of preparedness for the national civil defense.

The dependence on imported inputs such as diesel, fertilizers and plant protection products are one of the greatest vulnerabilities of the Swedish food system. To produce more with less inputs or to substitute them with domestically produced, fossil-free products, such as biological fertilizers or biofuels, is likely to increase resource efficiency in the food system and promote the adaptation of our food production to new climate and societal conditions. By reducing our dependence on imported fossil-based inputs, Swedish food production can become less vulnerable in relation to the global price development.

Food security and preparedness affects not only the society at large but also individual actors, both private and public. Increased preparedness by private actors, for instance farms or trade associations, combined with strengthened collaboration with local, regional and national authorities, for instance through new types of partnerships and a clear delineation of responsibilities, is likely to improve the food system’s adaptability and resilience when circumstances drastically change. A well-functioning food production and distribution system contributes to a more robust food system.

Even if it is not possible to predict which crisis will come next, an enhanced food preparedness should improve the society’s and individual actors’ ability to plan and identify critical measures that are necessary in order to mitigate the negative consequences and accelerate the recovery. To take into consideration different types of scenarios for the future and responses to a wide range of possible events strengthens our collective ability to create a more resilient food system in the long run. Increased knowledge about risk factors and driving forces may improve food actors’ capacity to adapt to new conditions.

Recent developments have focused on the interplay between geopolitics, security and vulnerabilities in the global food system. The geopolitical development with wars, security threats and an increased instability affect food security globally, with varying effects on Sweden’s own food security. Logistics and distribution systems need to function properly during both shorter disturbances and long-term disruptions, as in the case of pandemics or international conflicts. Increased digitalisation of the food system creates relatively new and diverse risks to food security. Coordinated attacks on payment systems in the retail sector or hacking of agricultural databases are few examples of how the food system has become increasingly vulnerable to such digital threats.

Policy measures, as well as long-term instruments for transformation, are important as part of society's response to events of crisis. We need to improve our understanding about the types of temporary and targeted measures that are the most effective in different types of crises. A resilient food system preparedness also requires a stronger integration with existing policy instruments, such as those related to the national Swedish environmental goals or the Common Agricultural Policy. Effective policy instruments and other public interventions need to be developed based on scientific evidence and proven practise before they can be scaled up in the food system.

Governance of the food system also needs to take into consideration different actors’ preconditions, inter-dependencies and potential conflicts of interest. From a broader perspective, also enhanced dialogue and collaboration need to take place between actors, for instance regarding spatial planning where different vested interests about land use are sometimes in conflict with one another. Local planning and regional policy play a key role in managing synergies of goals and conflicts of interest. This regards for instance housing construction, use of arable lands, construction of wind power mills and establishment of commercial facilities and shaping a more robust food preparedness by strengthening the connection between the different elements of the food sector (primary production, processing and distribution) and consumers locally.

Food preparedness includes securing access to labour in different parts of the country and at critical time windows for primary production (eg cropping, harvesting or picking). It also includes improving the food sector's ability to attract and retain both entrepreneurs and employees with relevant training and skills. Primary production in Sweden is currently dependent on migrant labour which makes it particularly vulnerable when the borders are closed. It is important that access to labour is secured in order to uphold the food supply chain independently from any external influence.

Purpose and Focus

The purpose of the call is to fund research or development projects that create the conditions for a global food supply that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. The call is expected to contribute to increased knowledge and innovative solutions for how we secure both Swedish and global food supply in the event of societal and environmental crises and at the same time contribute to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030.

In this call we are seeking research that focuses on how access to sufficient and sustainable access to food and water can be ensured in different types of crisis, both in Sweden and globally. This includes production, processing and logistics/distribution.

The following fields of knowledge have been identified as being of high importance to research and development for a sustainable food system, but other topics may be of high relevance as well:

• Develop alternative, fossil-free production inputs. What innovative methods are available to reduce dependence on imported agricultural inputs that are important for sustainable food production?
• Organize the preparedness of the food system. How can the food system be organised more efficiently in order to create better preparedness and ensure that the population’s need of food supply is met in times of crises? How can collaborations between actors in the food system be strengthened?
• Create long-term resilience by identifying vulnerabilities in our food supply. How can the use of future scenarios or development of risk and vulnerability analyses support the identification of robust and innovative solutions that pave the way towards a safer and more sustainable food system?
• Interplay between geopolitics, security and vulnerabilities in the global food system. How can new types of global and regional partnerships ensure food and drinking water supply globally and in Sweden in relation to climate change and unexpected crises?
• Development of policy instruments Improving instruments that create the conditions for a secure food supply, both globally and domestically, and where all three dimensions of sustainability are taken into account. What policy instruments are the most effective in either anticipating or mitigating the negative consequences of crises for food actors and consumers? How can different types of measures be combined in order to strengthen the resilience of the food system?
• Power and influence, the role of local planning and management with synergies and conflicts of interest, in relation to i e. land use and housing construction, need to be addressed. What local planning and regional policy practices could significantly strengthen food supply?
• Access to labour in times of crises and long-term skills supply. Sweden’s primary production is highly dependent on incoming flows of labour in order to perform, for example, harvesting or picking. What strategies in the food system are needed when international mobility is restricted?

Please note that research on nutrition and public health is not part of this call.

The combination of scientifically based knowledge, practical knowledge as well as proven experience is considered important for the implementation of this type of project. Collaboration between actors of the food system and researchers from different disciplines is deemed to create good conditions for the scaling up and disseminating of knowledge, methods and practices. Projects must therefore be multi-party projects in which, in addition to research-performing organisations (academia or research institutes), needs owner (stakeholder organisations industry, sectoral or trade associations, non-governmental organisations, public authorities, the civil society or other public associations) may be a project party.

Projects may run for up to 36 months, with a total budget of 6 MSEK for a 36-month project (3 years). Project funding covers up to 2 MSEK per year on average over the project’s duration. Formas has allocated a budget of 60 MSEK to this call.

This call is an initiative stemming from the National research program for food. In order to ensure a stronger integration of the food preparedness perspective in a wide range of fields related to sustainable development, this call has been elaborated in collaboration with the National research programs for Climate, Sustainable spatial planning and Oceans and water.

Who Can Apply under this Call?

Researchers, public and private organisations, industry associations and private companies which are administrating organisation for all types of calls or an administrating organisation for an individual project are welcome to apply for funding.

The call is aimed at project groups composed of a project manager and participants from at least two different project parties, of which at least one project party is from academia/research performing organisation. The project group must include at least one researcher with a doctoral degree, but this does not have to be the main applicant (project manager), other participants do not have to have a doctoral degree.

Please note: Formas will not award grants to projects with participating researchers employed at Russian or Belarussian institutions due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Formas actions due to the ongoing war in Ukraine

Before You Apply

All information on what should be included in your application, as well as the application and assessment processes is included in the sections below.

Print-friendly version of the call textExternal link.

Any changes to the call text will be listed below Revision history.

If you or your project group do not fulfil the requirements below and the requirements under the section Control of the application, your application will be rejected.

Requirements for you and your project group

• To ensure scientific quality, the project should include at least one researcher with doctoral degree. However, it does not have to be the main applicant (project manager) who has a doctoral degree.
• The application must be a multi-party application, that includes at least one part from academia/research performing organisation.
• Only legal entities can apply in the call, therefore sole proprietorship cannot apply for funding or participate in projects.
• The main applicant (project manager) must have a personal user account in Prisma to submit the application. Project participants shall have personal user accounts in Prisma to add their CV details and relevant publications from their profile to the application. Create a user account in PrismaExternal link..
• It is not allowed to submit the same application with different main applicants under the call Sustainable and resilient food systems in uncertain times . All finally registered applications that have the same content will be rejected.
• Main applicants (project manager) may only submit one application in the call Sustainable and resilient food systems in uncertain times However, it is allowed to be a project participant in several applications if the applicant's total salary, distributed over the projects, does not exceed 100% funding.
• It is allowed for main applicants (project manager) to have ongoing project grants from one of Formas’ thematic national or international calls and/or the Annual open call if the applicant's total salary, distributed over the projects, does not exceed 100% funding.
• Coordinating project party (administrating organisation) must be located in Sweden and approved by Formas.
• Private companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity that want to apply for grants from Formas are subject to state aid regulations for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity. See, State aid regulations for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity.
• Companies that do not have a Swedish corporate identity number cannot be granted funding, as a project party in this call, but can participate, where applicable, in-kind
• The total amount applied for cannot exceed the average yearly amount of 2 million SEK.
• The application budget must be filled in correctly.
• Project duration must be 12, 24, or 36 months, that is one, two, or three project years.

Requirements for administrating organisations/coordinating project parties

The call welcomes applicants from both administrating organisation for all types of calls in Prisma i.e. universities, colleges and research institutes, and applicants from companies and other organisations that may be approved as an administrating organisation for an individual project. The administrating organisation is the coordinating project party in this call and is the organisation that receives and manages the grant funds that Formas finances a granted project. It is possible to apply to be an administrating organisation in our application system Prisma. It is important to do this in good time before the project application is to be registered, however no later than 25 August 2022 so that Formas have time to process your request. See section “Main applicants from organisations that can become administrating organisation for an individual project”.

• The administrating organisation is the 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 manages the funds that Formas pays out to a granted project. The administrating organisation distributes the funds from Formas to other project parties in accordance with Formas’ decision.

Costs that qualify for funding

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, equipment, land and building, costs for consultants and licences, other direct costs including trips. Indirect costs are costs that are indirectly attributable to the project and shared with other business operations in the organisation, such as for administration, IT and renting of premises. Indirect costs are also called overhead costs.

Grants from Formas can be used to fund research, development and innovation that is partly conducted outside Sweden, although the research must be initiated and managed from Sweden. Note that that private companies or other organisation engaged in economic activity outside of Sweden cannot receive funding in this call. The administrating organisation, in this case the coordinating project party, must be located in Sweden and approved by Formas. It is responsible for, when needed, employing any foreign staff or reimbursing costs for activities or services outside Sweden in accordance with the administrating organisation’s guidelines.

Grant amount and project duration

In Formas’ call, Sustainable and resilient food systems in uncertain times, a project can be granted maximum 6 million SEK for a 36-month long project. Project duration must be 12, 24, or 36 months, that is one, two, or three project years.

The project grant can cover a maximum of 2 million SEK per year, on average, over the years the application is valid for. So, applicants can apply for more than two million SEK for one year as long as the amount applied for during another year of the project period is less than 2 million SEK. If the total amount applied for exceeds the average yearly amount of 2 million SEK, the application will be rejected.

The project’s start month is pre-selected in Prisma and cannot be edited as funds for the entire first year will be paid out in 2022. Project grants may be used up to three months after the project end date. Thereafter, final financial reporting shall take place within three months.

Language

We recommend that you write the application in English since the review panel consists of international reviewers. For applications written entirely in Swedish, only the research program will be translated by professional translators into English. In such cases, it will not be possible for you to view or make linguistic adjustments to the application after it is translated and submitted to Formas’ review panel for assessment. The popular science description, however, must be written in Swedish, while the abstract should be in both Swedish and English. Your budget specification and your CV will not be translated. Therefore, we recommend you write these in English, even if you write otherwise in Swedish and make the application in the Swedish version of the application system.

Please note that if you have installed an automatic translation plugin in your browser, you risk having your text translated into the language that you have set as default when you paste your text into Prisma. We recommend that you check the language in the text well in advance of your final registration.

Who can read the application?

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. Before we disclose any applications, we always conduct a confidentiality assessment, but we can only hide information as legislated for in the Public Access and Secrecy Act (2009:400).

The popular science description and project abstracts in Swedish and English will, if the project is granted funding, be published in open access project databases without a confidentiality review. Therefore, the contents of these fields should not contain sensitive information.

Integrate climate and environmental considerations into your project

We at Formas are very keen 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.

Please read about Formas’ own sustainability work

Equal and inclusive societal development

Formas is tasked with working to achieve sustainable societal development. Crucial to such development is that it is equal and inclusive. Formas, therefore, encourages grant applicants, to design projects so that they can contribute with knowledge that reflects and is relevant to different groups in society. Formas also encourages applicants to consider that the project group has an even gender distribution and that it includes participants with different backgrounds and experiences.

How to apply

You apply in Prisma

The application to Formas must be made in our application system Prisma. There, all the information needed for the application must be registered.

Please read the instructions carefully, even if you have applied for funding from Formas before.

Below follows information and instructions regarding personal user- and organisation accounts in Prisma.

• Personal user account

The main applicant who must fill in the information in the application and register it in the application system needs a personal user account in Prisma. If the appointed main applicant does not have a personal user account, the person must apply for it in good time before the call closes, no later than 25 August 2022.

Apply for a user account in PrismaExternal link.

• Organisation account

When the main applicant completes the application form in Prisma, information about the administrating organisation and project site must be stated. This is done in the drop-down lists for “Administrating organisation” and “Project site”. The project sites available for the applicant are retrieved from the organisation structure through the settings made in organisation account by the main supervisor for the account. The organisation that the main applicant represents, the so-called coordinating project party (administrating organisation), therefore needs to have an organisation account in Prisma at the time of application.

If your organisation has not previously been an administrating organisation of funds from Formas, your organisation needs to apply for an organisation account in Prisma. Note that the other project parties do not need an organisation account and should therefore not apply for an organisation account.

• Main applicants from administrating organisations for all types of calls

In most cases, universities, colleges, most research institutes and authorities already have an organisation account in Prisma, and it is therefore available as a default in the drop-down list for Administrating organisations in the application form.

• Main applicants from organisations that can become administrating organisation for an individual project

Companies, municipalities, industry associations and other organisations can apply to become administrating organisations for an individual project. Decision to approve new administrating organisations is taken when grants are awarded in the call. Prior to any decision, credit control is conducted on all companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity that may be granted funding. However, it is important that the organisation has an organisation account in Prisma before the main applicant starts applying for a grant in the call.

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

1. If the organisation already has an account in Prisma, contact the responsible research officer Kenneth Nilsson by e-mail: Kenneth.Nilsson@formas.se to request to be added to the list (drop-down list in Prisma) of possible administrating organisations for this call. State the organisation’s corporate identity number in your e-mail. This applies even if the organisation has been approved as administrating organisation in any of Formas’ previous calls.
2. If your organisation does not have an account in Prisma, an appropriate representative should apply for the organisation account on the Prisma website. State in the motivation for the application that you want to apply in the call Sustainable and resilient food systems in uncertain times, the type of organisation and the organisation’s corporate identity number.
3. Apply for an organisation account in PrismaExternal link.
4. If you do not know whether the organisation has an account in Prisma, contact responsible research officer Kenneth Nilsson by e-mail
5. Kenneth.Nilsson@formas.se before you apply for a new account. State your corporate identity number.

It is important that the main applicant applies in good time for an organisation account for the intended coordinating project party (administrating organisation) if such is missing in Prisma, however no later than 25 August 2022.

• Project site -create a structure to describe the organisation:

To be able to register an application, a project site within the organisation must be specified. A project site can be a department, for example. The organisation account supervisor 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 project specialisation. For information on how to do this, see Prisma user support.

The organisation must have at least one domicile since this information is mandatory when the application is to be registered by the main applicant.

Read more about creating project sites and show levels for domiciles in Prisma

Information your application must include

All limits for the maximum number of characters refer to characters including spaces. A recommendation is to 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 a word processing program and then paste your application into Prisma, there is a risk the formatting will disappear.

To ensure you do not risk losing valuable information, tables and figures with advanced formatting or formulas, should be uploaded as an appendix.

Your application must include a clear description of the project under the following sections:

Basic information

• Number of months applied for.
• Start month. Note that the project’s start month is preselected in Prisma and cannot be edited.
• Number of project years.
• Project title in Swedish (max. 200 characters including spaces).
• Project title in English (max. 200 characters including spaces).
• Popular science description in Swedish (max. 4 500 characters including spaces). The popular science description will, if the project is granted funding, be published in open access project databases without a confidentiality review. Therefore, the contents of this field should not contain sensitive information.
• Abstract in Swedish (max. 1 500 characters including spaces).
• Abstract in English (max. 1 500 characters including spaces).

The project abstracts in Swedish and English will, if the project is granted funding, be published in open access project databases without a confidentiality review. Therefore, the contents of these fields should not contain sensitive information.

Project description

Please read the background description as well as the purpose and the focus of the call carefully. Also read the evaluation criteria in section “How does the assessment process work” before you start to write your project description. Address all the evaluation criteria.

• Relevance and potential of the project (max 8 000 characters including spaces) Describe the project goal and how it relates to the aim and purpose of the call. Describe the research and/or level of development that underpins the project and why it is important to conduct it. What effect will the expected result have?
• The implementation of the project (max 15 000 characters including spaces) Describe how the work in the project will be conducted. State project plan including activities and schedule. Describe how the results of the project will be utilised. Also, reflect on how gender equality and diversity have been integrated into the project.
• Project group (8000 characters including spaces) Describe the competence that exists in the project and its significance for the implementation of the project as well as the utilisation of the results. Describe the participants participation and how collaboration is carried out with relevant stakeholders and end users. Also, reflect on how gender equality and diversity have been considered regarding the design of the project group.
• References (max. 5000 characters including spaces) List the in-line references pertaining to the above sections in a separate field.

Budget and other information

The main applicant is responsible for completing the application with the support of information from its own organisation and from the other participating project parties. Depending on the organisational affiliations of the parties, different rules apply for funding the project costs of the parties.

The budget of the project, funding and other information regarding all organisations participating in the application should be described in Prisma. We recommend that you write the budget and budget specification in English. A Swedish budget specification will not be translated, and it will be reviewed as it is by the international review panel. In Prisma, amounts should be written in full. For example, 1 million SEK should be written as: 1 000 000 SEK.

Note, the first payment to funded projects will be made in December 2022 but you are setting a budget for 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Information on the coordinating project party and other project parties

This is mandatory information. The coordinating party is responsible for filling in the application with the support of information from their own organisation and from the other participating project parties. Depending on the parties ' organisational affiliations, different rules apply for financing the parties' costs in the project.

• 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 for the coordinating project party and the participating project party

• Personnel costs. Eligible personnel costs for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity may be estimated at a maximum of 800 SEK per hour on average. Universities, colleges or research institutes are not subject to this limitation. Note that the total salary amount for a researcher, PhD student or other staff must not exceed 100 percent of full-time employment. It also means that someone who already receives full salary financing, cannot receive additional funds for salary. Researchers who are full-time retired cannot, in addition to their pension, receive additional funding for their own salary without first reducing their pension by a corresponding percentage.
• Equipment, land and buildings. The total maximum amount you can be granted for equipment and equipment depreciation costs is 750,000 SEK.
• Consultancy and licensing costs, etc. 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. Costs for consultants and licences must be reported excluding VAT.
• 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). Universities, colleges or research institutes may charge a mark-up for indirect costs according to the applicable full-cost pricing method. Other project parties may charge a mark-up for indirect costs of up to 30 percent of their eligible personnel costs.

Funding for the coordinating project party and the participating project party

There are four types of funding an applicant can specify in the application:

1. Applied funding from Formas: Indicates the amount applied from Formas under the call. The amount cannot exceed total costs. If the amount sought is less than the total costs, the remaining amounts will be automatically calculated and reported under Self- finance.
2. Other funding (public): If Formas or another public funder contributes funding for related research projects. If other funding is received, please state funder.
3. Other funding (private): If another private company or organisation contributes funding to the project. If other funding is received, please state funder.
4. Self-finance: If the project party contributes with its own funding, this is calculated automatically and displayed in the field for Self-finance. Self -finance is considered as costs minus requested grant from Formas, minus other funding (public) and other funding (private).

Budget specification

Justification of budgeted personnel costs for participating project parties

Here, you specify the average hourly rate for budgeted personnel costs. Personnel costs refer to salaries including social security contributions and other mandatory charges associated with salaries. Salaries can be applied for to researchers, doctoral students and other staff for whom there is an employment relationship i.e., non-purchased services (max. 500 characters including spaces).

How the main applicant fills in the budget and other information and verifies the completed budget

Coordinating project party

1. Fill in information about the coordinating project party

• Enter the company/organisation and the associated information for the organisation.
• Indicate the workplace, the place where the main part of the project will be carried out, and the associated information for the workplace.

1. Fill in the costs for the coordinating project party

• Click on Edit
• The columns for years come from the project time specified in Basic Information. Go back to Basic Information in your application if you want to edit this.
• Fill in costs for each type of cost and year.
• Total costs are automatically calculated in the summary fields.

1. Fill in financing for coordinating project party

• Click on Edit
• Fill in the applied funding from Formas, per year.
• If applicable, fill in other funding received from another public funder.
• If applicable, fill in support received from another private financier.
• Self-financing is calculated automatically based on what is stated in the cost and financing sections.
• Total financing is calculated automatically in the aggregated fields.
• Enter the name of the funder if other funding (public or private) is received.
• Funding (aid) density is calculated automatically in percent.
• Degree of co-financing is calculated automatically in percent.
• In the motivation field, state how the average hourly cost for budgeted personnel costs has been calculated.

Project party

1. Click on Add project party for the project party or the project parties that will participate in the project, in addition to the coordinating project party (administrating organisation).
2. Fill in the sections for information, budget and financing for each project party in the same way as described for the coordinating project party. See section Coordinating project party Information for the project parties is to be filled in regardless of whether the project party is applying for a grant, i.e.. financing, from Formas or not. If project parties do not apply for funding from Formas but only participate In-kind, budgeted project costs must be stated for these project parties but enter SEK "0" in the field "Applied funding from Formas" under financing for these project parties.

Note that a subcontractor to the applicant does not constitute a project partner in the application.

Following the budget charts for coordinating project party and other project parties, total specified cost of the project and total specified financing respectively are calculated automatically.

Control how you have completed the budget charts in good time before you register your application. Applications with incorrectly completed budgets may be rejected. Control all budget charts per project party including the coordinating project party and charts for Total specified costs and Total specified financing respectively as follows:

• You have entered all project partners who participate in the project.
• You have specified applied funding from Formas for all the project parties that intend to receive funding from Formas.
• You have stated other funding for those project parties who, if applicable, have it.
• You have the self-financing required by state aid regulations for companies and other organisations, where relevant.

Justification of the budget of the whole project

Here, you specify further information by explaining the budget in your own words. Explain the overhead costs in the application according to the practice of the higher education institution or public organisation that is the project party.

You can also indicate whether you will have consulting costs, which consultant will be engaged and the scope of the consultant’s participation. Also indicate which project party or parties is responsible for the consulting costs. Formas does not allow overhead for equipment depreciation costs or costs of premises. Be clear in describing all costs in relation to the current activities within the project (max. 9 000 characters including spaces).

State aid regulations for companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity

Private companies and other organisations engaged in economic activity that receive 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 exceptions are allowed such as support to research, development and innovation.

For the funds applied for to be eligible, the costs must be directly or indirectly attributable to the implementation of the project. This means that costs and revenues in the project need to be kept separate from other activities in the organisation through separate accounting, so that the project's transactions are distinguishable from the organisation's other transactions.

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 according to Article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation EU 651/2014.

In special cases, activities can also be assessed according to Article 30 on support for research in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, EU 651/2014. Activities funded under this grant basis must be in the public interest of all actors in the sector concerned and published before the start of the project.

In addition, to support according to the General Block Exemption Regulation, aid of minor importance under Regulation 1407/2013, so called de minimis aid can be applicable. The maximum de minimis aid Formas can grant is 200,000 euros over a period of three consecutive fiscal years. Any de minimis aid received by a company or organisation must be totalled and reported. If the recipient (in this call, a project party) is part of a group of companies, all aid within the group should be totalled. For projects in which this might be the case, Formas will ask the applicant to fill in a special form, 39.9 kB. in a later stage of the review process.

Note that sole proprietorship businesses cannot be granted funding under this call or participate as a party to projects that are applying in Formas’ calls. Companies that do not have a Swedish corporate identity number cannot be granted funding as a research centre party in this call but can participate in-kind. The Formas website contains more information about state aid regulations.

Conditions that direct the level of support a project party (including coordinating project party) such as a company or other organisation engaged in economic activity can receive:

1. Identify type of activity – private companies, associations or other organisation engaged in economic activity included by regulations on state aid. The decisive factor if the beneficiary is considered to be engaged in economic activity is that it includes taxable transactions, ie sales of goods or services.
2. Identify the limit values ​​for small and medium-sized companies based on the size of your organisation. The limit values ​​are primarily based on employment figures and turnover, small companies must have fewer than 50 employees and medium-sized companies must have fewer than 250 employees. User guide to the SME definitionExternal link.
3. Identify the support basis that is relevant for each party in the project. In this call, Article 25, industrial research in EU 651/2014, Article 30 on support for research and development in the fisheries and aquaculture sector in EU 651/2014 and de minimis aid 1407/2013 can be applied.

See in the table what level of state aid (funds sought from Formas in relation to the costs for each project party) your organization can receive for costs incurred for your organisation in the project. See also which and how large part of the cost that is to be covered by own funds. Table paragraphs and support levels, 216.6 kB.

Ethical considerations

You must specify whether there are specific ethical concerns in your project. If so, you must describe the relevant ethical considerations and how they will be managed. Examples include research that uses personal data, or experiments on humans or animals.

If you are researching people, human tissue or sensitive personal data, you must obtain ethical approval from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority. In the case of animal testing, you must also have ethical approval. You can apply for this via the Swedish Board of Agriculture's e-service.

You must state in your application whether you have ethical approval or not. If you do not have it, and your application is granted funding, you must have ethical approval before the described experiments begin.

Even if your research is not expected to involve ethical approval, you should write this in your application, and justify how and why (max. 4 000 characters including spaces).

Classifications

Formas uses project classifications only in internal analyses and supporting documentation on an overall level. The classifications are made when the applicant states the subject area, SCB codes and at least one Sustainable Development Goal the project can contribute to.

• Subject area. Select at least one and a maximum of three subject areas and add a sub-heading.
• Research subject (SCB code). Select at least one and a maximum of three SCB codes with two sub-levels that together form the entire code.
• Sustainable Development Goals. Select a minimum of one and a maximum of three Sustainable development goals (SDGs) the project can help to achieve, in order of relevance. Read more about the Sustainable Development Goals on the UN Development Programme websiteExternal link.
• Keywords. Select at least one and a maximum of three keywords describing the project.

Administrating organisation – the organisation receiving the grant

Coordinating project party is termed administrating organisation in Prisma because it is the organisation that receives, manages and distributes the funds from Formas to granted projects.

• Select the administrating organisation from the dropdown list. If you can’t find your organisation, see” Organisation account for organisations that can become administrating organisation for an individual project” in the section “How to apply”.
• Select the project site from the dropdown list. If you can’t find your project site, see “Project site -create a structure to describe the organisation” in the section “How to apply”

Participants

• The main applicant should invite any participating researchers/participants who can add their CV details and relevant publications from their profile in Prisma to the application. Main applicant and participating researchers / participants fill in the fields to the extent they are applicable.
• Each participant must have created a personal user account in Prisma.
• The main applicant adds those who are to participate in the project, regardless of whether they are participating researchers or participants, through the function Invite participating researchers in Prisma. Search for participating researchers’ or participants’ first and last name and e-mail address in Prisma (note that exact spelling of name and e-mail address is required).
• Please note that invited participating researchers must accept the invitation to be a participating researcher and transfer their CVs and publications in the application so that the main applicant can register the application when it is completed. See further details in the CV section.
• The main applicant can also add a participating administrator, who is not part of the project but helps to fill in the application in Prisma. This is done through the function Invite a participating administrator. Search for the administrator’s first and last name as well as e-mail address in Prisma (note that exact spelling of name and e-mail address is required).

Note! The main applicant cannot register the application if there are unanswered invitations to participating participants or participating administrators. If so, these must first be removed.

CV

The CV information should include:

Education. Undergraduate and graduate level as well as postgraduate (doctoral) if applicable.

Professional history. Current position and relevant previous longer-term positions. Any postdoctoral residencies, research exchange visits relevant to the described research project, and any significant period of interruption in the research (such as parental leave, illness, military service or political duties).

Merits and awards:

• Associate professorships.
• Supervision. Participating researchers should state doctoral students, postdoctoral students, and exam project students; add as an individual or/and a group. When adding a group, state the total number in each respective category. When adding an individual provide the names of the most relevant supervisions (max. 10).
• Grants awarded in competition. Specify the most relevant grants (max. 10).
• Merits and awards. Specify the most relevant ones (max. 10).
• Other merits, including summary of publications. Participating researchers and main applicant, if the main applicant is a researcher, states publication history, for the last five years, and in total if the applicant’s active research period is longer than five years, should be summarised (max. 800 characters including spaces).

  This summary should include:

  • The number of publications of various types (such as articles in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, books and other monographs, conference papers and popular science contributions).
  • Any citation measures must be stated without self-citations and from which database these are retrieved.
  • The summary should not contain information about the H-index, Journal Impact Factor or any other type of measure used to rank publishers or journals.
  • Under “Other merits,” other qualifications that are relevant to the application can be listed, such as any popular science publications or proven experience of collaboration and research communication (max. 10).

• Intellectual property: For example, patents and open-source software that you have developed (max. 10).

List of publications

Participating researchers and main applicant, if the main applicant is a researcher should list up to ten of their most relevant publications. Note that the publications should be linked from the applicant’s personal profiles in Prisma. You must report the publication summary in Prisma under “Other merits”.

Appendix

Appendix for illustrations. 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. Please note that a CV should not be attached as an appendix. Declarations of intent or other documentations that proves collaborations should not be attached either. Collaborations shall only be described in the project description.