Instructions on funding applications for postdoctoral projects 2025
16/12/2024
A postdoctoral project grant provides funding for an individual researcher with a recently obtained doctorate. This support is intended for use in conducting a well-defined research task within a limited period. The researcher personally formulates the research problem, method and implementation.
- Eligible to apply:
- An individual researcher with a doctorate, who may apply up to three years after obtaining it.
- A PhD student due to obtain the doctorate before the start of the grant period (not later than 31 December 2025).
- Project period: Two years
- Amount of grant: There is no maximum amount. Salary funding may cover 80–100% of a full-time annual position.
- Grant administrator: Södertörn University.
- System: Applications are submitted in the Foundation’s application system.
Key dates
- The call for applications opens on Monday 16 December 2024 at 9:00 am.
- Stage 1 applications must be submitted not later than on Friday 31 January 2025 at 3:00 pm.
- Notification of whether applications have been approved to proceed to Stage 2 will be sent in March 2025.
- Stage 2 applications must be submitted not later than on Friday 25 April 2025 at 3.00 p.m.
- Decisions will be announced to the project leaders directly in mid-October 2025. And published on the Foundation´s website a week later.
Instructions and conditions
A. General requirements
- Language: Applications must be in English. Applications partially in Swedish or incomplete will not be considered.
- Grant Period: Funding will start from 1 January 2026.
- Required Files: Upload project descriptions, references, and CVs as separate PDFs; no other appendices are allowed.
- Approval: Already in the first step, project managers must anchor their application with the Grant Administrator (The head of department (prefekt) at Södertörn University). For instructions on the university’s internal process, see the checklist on their staff web. In Stage 2, this approval is confirmed through digital signatures or a signed form submitted together with the application in the system.
- Responsibilities: The project manager is also the contact person for the project vis-à-vis the Foundation and the grant administrator when the application is generated, during the assessment period and after a funding decision has been made.
- Multiple Funders: If applying for additional funding elsewhere, this must be declared in the application. Co-funding from other research funders is not typically approved.
- Grant Administrator: All projects must be based at Södertörn University, which acts as the grant administrator.
- Data Management Plan: A data management plan is required for funded projects, though it need not be submitted in the application. It must be confirmed that a plan will be in place before project commencement. See the Swedish Research Council’s website for examples of how to configure central parts of a data management plan.
- Ethical Approval: An ethical review must be carried out and approved before the research begins. An account of ethical considerations regarding the proposed project must be given in a special space on the application. The applicant should comment on, and explain the reasons, why the project entails no ethical problems if this is the case or, if it requires certain ethical issues to be considered, whether it is to be assessed by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority or has already obtained ethical approval.
- International Research: Projects conducted outside Sweden must meet both Swedish and local legal requirements. The Foundation does not support research carried out abroad that would clearly not get a permit to be conducted in Sweden.
- Open Access: Researchers must publish their results with open access.
- Data Privacy: The Foundation collects and processes personal data as part of the application process. The project manager must ensure all participants are aware of the Foundation’s Data Privacy Policy.
- SweCRIS: Information on grants awarded by the Foundation is submitted for publication in SweCRIS, a national database of grant-funded research.
B. Applicant
- Project Manager:
- The project manager either must have obtained a doctorate by the application date or will have obtained a doctorate before the start of the grant period (31 December 2025 at the latest).
- If the project manager has not obtained a doctorate by the application date, the planned date for doing so must be stated. If the postdoctoral project is approved, the Foundation will request certification that the project manager has obtained a doctorate before the start of the grant period (31 December 2025 at the latest). If the project manager has still not obtained a doctorate by the start of the grant period, 1 January 2026, the granted funds may not be used.
- Funding of postdoctoral projects may be applied for up to three years after the doctorate is obtained (allowing the usual deduction of time on parental leave, sick leave, service in the Armed Forces and trade union or political office).
- The project manager need not be employed by the grant administrator at the time of the application. However, during the project period the project manager must be employed at Södertörn University.
- The Foundation is complying with the Government’s request to ensure that contacts and collaborations with Russian and Belarusian state institutions cease immediately and no new ones are initiated. The Foundation will not fund research collaborations linked to the state in Russia or Belarus.
- Multiple proposals:
- Each year, participation in only one application for a research project by the Foundation is permitted, irrespective of whether the researcher applies as project manager or participant. See overview Which grants can be applied for.
- Grant Administrator:
- All projects must be based at Södertörn University, which acts as the grant administrator. It is the administrator for the grant concerned who decides on and is responsible for, where necessary, appointing foreign staff or paying for activities and services carried out in other countries.
C. Budget and costs
- Grant amount: Salary funding for postdoctoral projects may be applied for to cover 80–100% of a full-time annual position for two years.
- Eligible Costs: Salaries (including lönekostnadspålägg, LKP), overheads, premises, and operating costs (such as investigation costs, travel and conferences). A fixed amount of SEK 60,000 for costs of dissemination of results is added automatically in the system.
- Restrictions:
- Teaching, if any, or other assignments (up to a maximum of 20% of a full- time annual position) within the framework of a postdoctoral position are not funded by the Foundation.
- Costs of printing, language editing, translation, publication with open access etc. are included in the dissemination costs, additional funding may not be included in the application regarding these costs. Once a final report on the project has been submitted, publication funds may be applied for separately, in form of support: publication grants.
D. Project period and monitoring
- Project Duration: Two years, with an additional year of grant availability.
- Mid-term Review: Projects are typically reviewed halfway through their duration.
- Final Report: A final report (financial and scientific) is due within four months of the project’s end. The scientific report will be published on the Foundation’s website.
E. Assessment Process
Applications to the Foundation for funding of new research projects undergo assessment by the Foundation’s research committee, which comprises a group of researchers with a broad composition in terms of subject expertise. See the research committee’s composition.
1. Multi-stage application assessment
The research committee reviews applications on the basis of the set criteria for assessment. A number of applications are selected for further review and approved to proceed to Stage 2, while the others are rejected. The project manager is notified by email. No reasons for the rejections are given.
For an application selected for further review in Stage 2, the project manager submits an in-depth application for assessment by external experts (at least two per application), who provide written statements. The experts are appointed by the research committee. Appointees are academically qualified people with knowledge relevant to the application. The committee does not accept applicants’ nominations for experts.
The committee then assesses the in-depth applications and uses the external experts’ statements as supplementary documentation. The experts’ statements are also assessed by the committee. After ranking the applications in order of priority, the committee proposes to the Foundation’s Board which applications should be rejected and approved respectively.
When the Board has made its decision, the applicants are notified by email, and also receive the external experts’ statements. No reasons for the decisions are given. For every application that is approved, a contract for the project is signed by the project manager, the grant administrator’s authorised representative and the Foundation.
2. Assessment criteria
Scientific Quality: Research funded by the Foundation must be of consistent highest scientific quality. The research must make an overall contribution to theoretical and methodological development, and display originality and depth.
Relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe: Under the Statutes, the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies funds research related to ‘the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe’. The ‘Baltic Sea Region’ is the Baltic Sea itself and the surrounding areas. ‘Eastern Europe’ refers to post-communist Central, Southern and Eastern Europe (see further information on the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe). The Foundation does not fund research relating exclusively to Sweden or Swedish conditions. However, support may be provided for research that concerns Sweden, or countries entirely outside the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe in comparative studies when this is scientifically justified.
For the research to be judged highly relevant to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, it must make a specific contribution to our knowledge of this area. Research within the area involving collaboration with researchers, research institutions and other stakeholders in the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe is particularly relevant. Research with a more theoretical main question, in which the importance of the Baltic Sea Region or Eastern Europe is not explained in terms of the main question, or where the link to the region is indirect, is judged less relevant.
Relevance to Society: The relevance of the research to society, where it can be applied, is another key criterion in the assessment of a funding application. The findings from such research may bring practical benefits to the communities or societies under investigation and/or help to solve current problems there. Alternatively, the results may provide a background theoretical or empirical explanation for these problems.
F. Application Submission
1. Important information
- System: Applications are submitted through the the Foundation’s application system (Apply). All project managers must create an account to submit.
- Signatures: The project manager and grant administrator must digitally sign the application, confirming compliance with the Foundation’s conditions.
- Deadlines:
- Stage 1: by 31 January 2025 at 15.00 CEST
- Stage 2: by 25 April 2025 at 15.00 CEST
- Post-Submission Edits: Once submitted, applications cannot be modified by the applicant; contact the Foundation’s secretariat if changes are needed.
2. Stage 1 of the application
Summary
The summary may be up to 1,500 characters, including spaces, in length. It must describe and justify the research task, and report on its theoretical, methodological and empirical basis. The summary must be written in a way that people with other research specializations, too, can understand. If the application is approved, the summary of the project is published in unedited form on the Foundation’s website.
Project description
In Stage 1, the project description for a postdoctoral project must comprise a maximum of four pages of text (Times New Roman 12 points, line spacing 1.5).
The project description must give a clear account of:
- purpose and research question
- contribution(s) to new knowledge and the international research frontline
- theory and method
- materials
- time schedule and design
- research relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, and usefulness of the project for overall knowledge building in the area
- relevance to society
- collaboration with guest researchers, if any, and any other research contacts in the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, in Sweden and internationally.
References
References are listed in a separate file, and complete references must be given for the sources referred to in the project description. The references may not exceed five pages in length. They must relate to the academic literature that is cited in the project description, and not to letters of recommendation or other testimonials, for example.
CV
The CV may not exceed two pages in length. It must contain the following information: date of doctorate (YYYYMMDD); employment position; the applicant’s maximum five most important academic publications, preferably with reference to the proposed project; previous external research grants; experience of project management and supervision; international research stays; and language skills relevant to the project. Within this form of support, an allowance may be made for time spent on parental leave, sick leave, service in the Armed Forces, trade union positions or political office. If such an allowance is relevant, the period and reasons for the allowance must be specified in the CV.
Project costs
Here, a budget in SEK for the whole project period must be provided.
- Project costs are classified as direct and indirect. Direct costs comprise (full-time, monthly) salaries, including payroll overhead in the form of social security contributions (lönekostnadspålägg, LKP) for the project manager; costs of premises; costs of investigations, travel and conferences; and other costs. LKP is a general mark-up on total salary costs, calculated automatically in the application system.
- For a project manager who is not employed at Södertörn University at the application date, the salary payable by agreement with the grant administrator’s authorised representative (usually the head of department, prefekt) should be specified.
- In exceptional cases it is possible to include linguistic and other assistance in a postdoctoral project. In the budget commentary, costs and work duties for such assistance must be specified in detail and justified, as must the scale of the assignment. The project description must show how the applicant is responsible for and takes part in the assistant’s part of the project implementation. Non-research staff, such as assistants and technical staff, should be included in the budget for ‘other costs’. Salary and LKP should then be included for these employees in the amount specified under ‘other costs’. Non-research staff need not be named at the time of application: instead, these positions fall within the authority of the heads of department concerned.
- Indirect costs (overheads) for the project are specified at the percentage for indirect costs stated for the department that will host the project. This addition is calculated on total payroll costs including LKP. According to the filled-in percentage, the total of indirect costs is automatically calculated in the application system.
- Costs of ethical review may be included in the budget for ‘other costs’.
Budget commentary
Please note that all direct costs, and also the resource requirements for non-research staff and costs of travel and material collection, must be specified and justified in detail in the space for ‘Budget commentary’. This means, first, that a realistic calculation of individual costs must be provided, and they must be stated precisely at a level of detail that enables assessment of how reasonable they are in relation to the purpose of the project. Second, it means that the costs must be justified, and arguments for them presented, in terms of the purpose and implementation of the individual project. Unspecified or unjustified costs are not approved.
Note that the commentary, too, must be written in English and that it is obligatory. The budget commentary may be up to 3,000 characters, including spaces, in length.
3. Stage 2 of the application
Project description
The project description must contain the same information as in Stage 1 but in more detail, and also include a plan for how to communicate both information about the project and the research results, not only within the discipline but also to society at large. The project description in Stage 2 must also give a clear account of an assessment of potential risks, limitations and challenges involved in implementing the project, together with alternative strategies for ensuring the feasibility of the project.
In Stage 2, the project description may not exceed six pages (Times New Roman 12 points, line spacing 1.5) in length.
Between Stages 1 and 2 of the applications, the project description must be developed. Only minor changes may be made in the other parts of the application. The complete application in Stage 2 may not diverge substantially, in terms of study design and amount of funding applied for, from the outline application in Stage 1.
Signatures
The application must be signed by the project manager and the grant administrator’s authorised representative, who is usually the head of the department (prefekt) where the project is intended to be based. The Foundation processes signed applications only.
The application is digitally signed with BankID in the Foundation’s application system Apply. If BankID is not available a special signature form is downloaded from the application system.
The project manager’s signature represents confirmation that:
- the information in the application is correct and in line with the Foundation’s instructions
- necessary permits and approvals, for example regarding ethical review, are in place by the start of the project
- a data management plan will be in place when the project starts, and this plan will be maintained (see also A.8)
- the project manager will comply with all the conditions applying to the grant.
The grant administrator’s signature represents confirmation that:
- the research, employment and equipment described, including employment positions, remuneration and assignments for researchers who are not, at the application date, employed by the grant administrator, can be accommodated at the department during the period and on the scale specified in the application
- the applicant will be employed by the grant administrator for the period to which the application relates
- the grant administrator approves the cost calculation in the application
- the research carried out in the project will be conducted in accordance with Swedish legislation
- a data management plan will be in place by the project start and the plan will be maintained (see also A.8)
- the grant administrator will comply with all the conditions applying to the grant.
The parties must have discussed all the above points before the project manager and the grant administrator’s representative approve and sign the application.
Contact Information
Zofia Makowska, e-mail: zofia.makowska@ostersjostiftelsen.se