Instructions on applications for conference grants in 2025

16/12/2024

Purpose: This funding supports conferences relevant to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe. The goal is to enhance international collaboration, knowledge exchange, and dissemination of research findings in this area. The call is open to Swedish and international researchers.

Overview

• Eligible Applicants: Individual researchers with a doctorate.
• Funding Coverage: Costs associated with organizing a conference relevant to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, with a minimum of 25 attendees.
• Grant Administrator: Södertörn University.
• Applications must be submitted through the Foundation’s application system.
• Please note that the whole application must be written in English. Incomplete applications and/or applications written partly in Swedish will not be considered. The same is true of applications that clearly fail to meet the Foundation’s basic requirement of relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe.

Key Dates

• Application Period: Opens on Monday, 16 December 2024, at 9:00 am and closes on Tuesday 30 September 2025, at 3:00 pm.
• Submission: Applications may be submitted at any time during the call.
• Decision Announcements: Decisions are made three times a year in March, June, and October. Submission deadlines for each decision round are:
  • 28 February 2025
  • 30 May 2025
  • 30 September 2025

Instructions and Conditions

A. General Requirements

1. Language: Applications must be written in English. Incomplete applications or those partially in Swedish will not be considered.
2. Documentation: Upload the project description as a PDF. No other attachments are allowed.
3. Approval: The project managers must anchor their application with the Grant Administrator (Södertörn University). For instructions on the university’s internal process, see the checklist on their website. Their approval is confirmed through digital signatures or a signed form submitted together with the application in the system.
4. Signatures: The application must be approved by the grant administrator (usually the head of department, prefekt). with digital or scanned signatures from both the project manager and an authorized representative.
5. Project Manager: Responsible for the conference’s organization and serves as the primary contact with the Foundation.
6. Co-Funding: Co-funding with other research funders is permitted. Clearly indicate the Foundation’s contribution to the total budget. Report other funding sources if applicable.
7. Grant Administrator: Södertörn University must manage the approved conference funds.
8. Open Access Requirement: Any conference publications (abstracts or proceedings) must be made openly accessible online.
9. Data Privacy: Project managers must inform participants of the Foundation’s data collection practices, as outlined in the Foundation’s Data Privacy Policy.
10. Publication in SweCRIS: Information about awarded grants will be shared with SweCRIS, managed by the Swedish Research Council.

B. Applicants

1. Project Manager: Must be the main organizer of the conference.
2. Age Requirement: No age limit, but project manager must not be in full-time retirement during the grant period.
3. Conference Size: The event must have at least 25 attendees.
4. Location: The conference need not take place at Södertörn University, but must involve its researchers.
5. Restrictions: 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.

C. Eligible Costs and Grant Amount

1. Cost Specification: Apply only for clearly specified, conference-related costs.
2. Eligible Costs: Venue, speaker fees, travel, food, lodging, and open-access costs for a conference publication of the abstract collection type or proceedings type and indirect costs (overheads).
3. Ineligible Costs: Salaries are not covered.
4. Compliance: Travel, food, and lodging costs must follow the grant administrator’s rules.
5. Conference Anthologies: Funding for conference anthologies published by a publisher should be applied for under publication grants.

D. Application Timeline, Funding Availability, and Reporting

1. Submission Deadline: Submit applications at least three months before the planned conference.
2. Grant Use Period: Approved grants must be utilized within 12 months of the award date.
3. Restrictions: Funds cannot be applied for past conferences.
4. Final Report: Submit a financial and scientific report within four months after the funding period ends.

E. Assessment

1. Assessment Process: The Foundation’s research director and chair of the research committee assess applications. Decisions are made three times a year.
2. Assessment Criteria:
   • scientific quality
   • relevance of the conference to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe
   • relevance to society

Relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe: Under its 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 Instructions

1. Submission: Applications must be submitted through the Foundation’s application system.
2. Application Components
   • Summary: Up to 1,500 characters detailing the conference’s purpose, relevance, and implementation in terms accessible to a broad audience.
   • Project Description (max. three pages): Clearly outline:
     • purpose and scientific relevance
     • relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe
     • relevance to society
     • implementation of the conference regarding, for example:
       • target group
       • dissemination of information about the conference
       • organisation committee
       • how the conference is to be documented
     • a programme for the conference, complete with times, venue for the conference and named speakers.
   • Project Costs: Include a budget in SEK and justify indirect costs per grant administrator policies.
   • Budget Commentary: Detailed cost breakdown and justification (up to 3,000 characters). Justify all costs in relation to the conference’s purpose; unexplained costs will not be approved.
3. Signatures
   • Required Signatures: The project manager and the grant administrator’s authorized representative (head of department, prefekt) must sign the application.
   • Digital Signatures: Use BankID in the application system. If BankID is unavailable, use the downloadable signature form, which must be signed, scanned, and uploaded.