Thematic call: The war in Ukraine and its consequences – Instructions for application

24/06/2025

Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has had a dramatic impact on the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, with far-reaching consequences in the security, humanitarian, economic and legal fields. Regardless of the outcome of the war, the geopolitical situation and the international order have changed radically, which will characterise the region for the foreseeable future. Research plays a crucial role in understanding these developments.

The Foundation is therefore launching a special call for proposals on the theme ‘The war in Ukraine and its consequences’ to further strengthen Swedish research in this area.

We welcome applications on this theme in all disciplines and particularly welcome international research collaborations. A clear plan for collaboration with relevant actors within and outside academia and outreach activities will strengthen the application.

Funding is available under this call for: grand projects, three-year projects and research networks.

A. Key dates

Call opens: 5 August 2025 at 09:00.
Deadline for applications: 16 September 2025 at 15.00 (a complete and signed application must be submitted).
Decision will be taken by the Board of Foundation in December 2025.
Project start date: 1 January 2026. Additional grant availability period will apply, see information in B. ‘Grant types – overview’.

B. Grant types – overview

Grand projects

Grand projects are undertaken by a group comprising at least four researchers with a joint, coherent research task.
A grand project must be characterised by excellence in the various parts of the application, and as a whole. The research task must be well thought-out, from the overarching problem/question to practical execution. A grand project addresses a challenging task, and the group must be carefully composed for the purpose.
Grand projects are characterised by a strong international element in the research group.
Grand projects serve to create collaborations across subject and institutional boundaries and national borders, and to enable researchers to form a group that is active in the long term.
Eligible to apply: A group of at least four researchers. All the researchers must have obtained doctorates by the date of application. Funding can also be applied for the employment of postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students.
Project period: Four or five years. One and a half years of extra grant availability time is added to this project period.
Amount of grant: A maximum of SEK 5 million a year on average, totalling a maximum of SEK 25 million.
Grant administrator: Södertörn University.

Three-year projects

Project grants provide support for researchers, either individuals or small groups, who formulate their own research problem, methodology and implementation and carry out a well-defined research task within a limited timeframe.
Eligible to apply: An individual researcher or a small group of researchers. All the researchers must have obtained doctorates by the date of application.
Project period: Three years. One and a half years of extra grant availability time is added to this project period.
Amount of grant: A maximum of SEK 2 million a year on average, totalling a maximum of SEK 6 million.
Grant administrator: Södertörn University.

Research networks

The research networks concern funding for either creating new networks of researchers or maintaining already established ones. The networks must themselves initiate research and serve the purpose of contributing to future research through academic meetings and contacts where researchers can define, delimit and formulate research ideas that may eventually culminate in applications for research funds.
Eligible to apply: A group of researchers. The project manager must be a researcher from a higher education institution in Sweden. The network must include researchers at Södertörn University. Doctoral students may be included.
Project period: Maximum of one year. One year of extra grant availability time is added to this period.
Amount of grant: SEK 200,000 for one year. Funding is only applied for the costs of meetings and travel.
Grant Administrator: A Swedish higher education institution, provided collaboration with researchers at Södertörn University.

C. Assessment of applications

Applications are submitted in a single-stage procedure for all grant types, including project grants. This means that a complete application must be submitted at the time of application.

Assessment panel

Applications are reviewed by a specially appointed assessment panel of international experts with broad subject expertise relevant to the call.

The assessment panel will review the applications in competition on the basis of set assessment criteria. First, each application is reviewed by at least three panel members. The strongest applications proceed to the next stage of assessment. At the second panel meeting, the applications are read by all panel members. The panel then prioritises the applications and makes a recommendation to the Foundation’s Board on which applications should be rejected or granted.

Assessment criteria

Grand projects and projects

scientific/scholarly quality
relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe
relevance to society (including collaboration and outreach)
innovativeness and originality
research group’s composition and skills
feasibility (including preparedness for changing conditions)
relevance to the call

Research networks

scientific/scholarly potential
relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe
relevance to society (including collaboration and outreach)
the network group’s composition and skills
the quality of the plan for the research network’s activities
how the research network will benefit research and/or doctoral studies at Södertörn University
relevance to the call

Scientific/scholarly quality

Research funded by the Foundation must be of consistent highest scientific/scholarly 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. Relevance to society can be interpreted both as the practical application of research results in society or as a question of how the results help us to understand societal phenomena, empirically or theoretically.

Overall assessment

Based on the criteria specified above, the Foundation’s assessment panel reaches an overall assessment of which applications can be approved. In doing so it assesses, first, every individual application on its own merits and every individual project in relation to the other applications. Also assessed is how the application relates to current international research and the feasibility of the project. Where applications are assessed as being of equivalent scientific quality, the panel considers gender composition and the distribution of disciplinary research domains in selecting the projects for which it proposes support.

D. Specific conditions for the call

For the special thematic call, certain conditions differ from the Foundation’s regular calls.

In case of an ongoing grant: Project managers and participants who have an ongoing grant from the Foundation may apply for funding, but not for the same project idea.
In case of application in regular calls 2025: Funding may be applied for by project managers and participants who have applied for funding in regular calls 2025, however, you cannot be granted funding in two calls for the same project idea.
Rules for parallel projects: One person cannot have a total activity rate exceeding 100 per cent in temporally overlapping projects funded by the Foundation. If this application is granted and the applicant or participant already has a granted project funded by the Foundation and the result is an activity rate exceeding 100 per cent over a period of time, the activity rate in one of the projects must be adjusted (including using the grant availability period).
Baltic Sea Programme: Researchers who receive funding from the Baltic Sea Programme (professors and associate senior lecturers) can apply for up to 15% salary funding for participation in a project.
Number of applications: Participation in only one application for a garnd project or three-year project is allowed in this call, as well as in one application for a research network, regardless of whether the researcher is the project manager or a project participant. See tables under ‘Which grants may I apply for and have simultaneously?’.

E. General conditions

Approval: The application must be approved by the grant administrator before it is submitted. For instructions on Södertörn University’s internal process, see the checklist on the university’s staff page.
Co-funding: The Foundation does not normally approve co-funding of research projects with another research funder. If funds for the same or a similar project are also applied for from another funder, this must be stated in the application. If funding is received from another funder for the project, the Foundation’s secretariat must always be notified of this fact.
Project managers role: The project manager is responsible for ongoing project work and 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. It is the project manager´s responsibility to secure the grant administrator’s support to the project plan, including foreign participants and all research to be conducted partly in countries other than Sweden.
International research: If any part of the research is to be carried out in another country, the project manager needs to consider whether there are any requirements in the country in question in addition to the law applicable in Sweden. Any permits or authorisations must also be in place before the research begins. The Foundation does not support research carried out abroad that would clearly not be authorised in Sweden.
Follow-up:
1. Mid-term review of grand projects and projects: Projects are typically reviewed halfway through their duration. See further information on the mid-term review.
2. 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.
3. Other forms of project follow-up may also occur.
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.
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.
Data Management Plan: A data management plan is required for funded projects. The plan must describe how data collected and/or created will be managed in the course of the research, and how the data will be dealt with subsequently. The plan need not be submitted to the Foundation, but the signing of the application means that the grant administrator certifies that a data management plan will be in place by the time the project commences, and that it will be maintained.
Open Access: Researchers with grants from the Foundation must publish their research results online, with open access. This applies to peer-reviewed journal articles and to conference publications.
Data Privacy Policy: The Foundation collects and processes personal data as part of the application process. The project manager must ensure that all participants in the application 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.

F. Instructions for application

Application system: Applications are submitted through Apply.
Language: The whole application must be written in English. Applications partially in Swedish or incomplete will not be considered.
Changes in a submitted application: Once submitted, applications cannot be modified by the applicant. Contact the Foundation’s secretariat if changes are needed.
Application form
- Summary
  The summary may be up to 1,500 characters, including spaces, in length. For grand project and projects it must describe and justify the research task, and report on its theoretical, methodological and empirical basis. For research networks the summary must describe the network’s purpose and implementation.
  The summary must be written in a way that people with other research specialisations, too, can understand. If the application is approved, the summary of the project is published on the Foundation’s website.
- Project description
  See H. Specific instructions per grant type.
- 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.
- CV
  CVs may not exceed two pages in length per participant. Every CV must contain the following information: date of doctorate; employment position; the participant’s maximum five most important academic publications, preferably with reference to the proposed project; previous external research grants; project management and supervision experience; international research stays; and language skills relevant to the project.
Signatures

The application must be signed by the project manager and the grant administrator’s authorised representative, who is usually the Head of the School (prefekt) where the project is intended to be based. Signing is part of the application and must be completed in the application form by the deadline of 16 September 2025 at 15:00. The Foundation processes signed applications only.

The application is digitally signed with BankID in the application system Apply. If BankID is not available a special signature form is downloaded from the application system. Each party chooses the signing method in 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
the project manager will comply with all the conditions applying to the grant.

The grant administrator’s signature represents confirmation that:

the research, appointment 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
the grant administrator will comply with all the conditions applying to the grant.

The parties must have discussed the above points before the project manager and the grant administrator’s representative approve and sign the application.

G. Budget

Budgetary costs may be allocated differently between years, but may not in total exceed the maximum grant amount indicated under B. Types of grants – overview.

Please note that the description of budget lines applies to research projects (grand projects and three-year projects), for research networks only some of the budget lines can be applied for. See more about the budget for research networks under H. Specific instructions per grant type – Research networks – c) budget and costs.

Project costs for research projects:

Salaries
- Specify the monthly salary and employment rate per year for each project participant.
- For project participants whose salaries will not be funded by grants from the Foundation, SEK 0 and the participants’ employment level should be specified.
- For project participants who are not employed at Södertörn University at the application date, the salary and LKP payable by agreement with the grant administrator’s authorised representative (usually the Head of School, prefekt) should be specified.
Payroll overhead in the form of social security contributions (lönekostnadspålägg, LKP) is a general mark-up on total salary costs. It is automatically calculated for the project manager in the application form. Fill in the percentage for each project participant as agreed with the authorised representative of the grant administrator (usually the Head of School, prefekt). It is mandatory to enter the percentage for LKP.
Indirect costs (overheads) are calculated based on total salary costs includning LKP. Indicate the percentage for each project participant according to what applies for the institution where the project will be located or as agreed with the authorised representative of the grant administrator (usually the Head of School, prefekt). It is mandatory to indicate the percentage for OH.
Costs of premises usually include the costs of room(s) at the grant administrator or other institution involved in the project.
Investigation costs refer to expenses directly linked to the collection and analysis of material. Costs may include, for example, access to archives or surveys.
Costs for conferences and travel mean costs related to organising or participating in conferences, meetings and workshops.
Other costs refer to external services, costs for non-research staff, equipment, ethical review and similar.
- For non-research staff, such as assistants and technical staff, include salary and LKP in the amount specified. Non-research staff need not be named at the time of application: instead, these positions fall within the authority of the Head of School concerned. In the budget commentary, the duties of the non-research staff must be specified, as must the scope of their functions.
Costs for dissemination of project results are included in the application in the form of a flat-rate grant (SEK 200 000 for grand projects and SEK 120 000 for projects). Costs for printing, language editing, translation, open access publication, etc. should therefore not be included in the application in addition to the flat rate.

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.

H. Specific instructions per grant type

Grand projects

a) Applicants

Project manager:

The project manager must hold an appointment at Södertörn University throughout the project period.
The project manager’s working time in the project must comprise at least 20 per cent of a full-time annual position. This working time may be distributed differently from year to year.

Project participants:

Grand projects may include researchers with doctorates, postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students.
Grand projects must comprise at least four participants (including the project manager, excluding postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students).
Grand projects are characterised by a strong international element in the research group.
All participating researchers must have obtained a doctorate by the application date. All must be named in the application and their CVs attached. Exceptions are doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, who are recruited at the start of the project after an appointment procedure.
If doctoral students are included in the grand project, they must be well supervised and given particularly good conditions for becoming integrated in the research environment.
A postdoctoral researchers who are recruited may not have a doctorate obtained more than three years previously (allowing the usual deduction of time on parental leave, sick leave, service in the Armed Forces and trade union or political office).

Grant administrator:

All projects must be based at Södertörn University, which acts as the grant administrator.
Neither the project manager nor the participants need to be employed by the grant administrator at the time of application. During the project period, the project manager must be employed at Södertörn University, while the other participants must normally spend some time there.
The grant administrator decides on and is responsible for, where necessary, appointing foreign staff or paying for activities and services carried out in other countries.

b) Project description

The project description for a grand project must comprise a maximum of 15 pages of text (Times New Roman 12 points, line spacing 1.5 and normal margins).

The project description must give a clear account of:

purpose and research question
contribution(s) to new knowledge and the international research frontline
contribution(s) to innovativeness and originality
theory and method
materials
time schedule and implementation
assessment of potential risks, limitations and challenges, and strategies for managing them
research relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe
relevance to society
relevance for the call
project organisation and the researchers’ functions and responsibilities in the project
how doctoral students, if any, are to be supervised and given particularly good prospects of becoming integrated in the research environment
collaboration with guest researchers, if any, and any other research contacts in the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, and also both in Sweden and internationally
how the research environment of the grand project is intended to continue after the end of the project period
a plan for how both information about the project and the research results are to be communicated, both within the discipline and in society at large.

c) Costs for doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers

Up to four years’ salary funding for a doctoral student, covering 100 per cent of a full-time annual position, may be applied for.
If a doctoral student participates in the project, the project funding may not be used as salary for teaching or other departmental functions performed by the student.
Funding for costs associated with a doctoral student’s public defence of a PhD thesis and supervision can be applied for. However, no funding is available for any costs for a doctoral student after the project period ends: these costs are the grant administrator’s responsibility.
Funding for postdoctoral researcher(s) may be applied for to cover 80–100 per cent of a full-time annual position per person for two years. Teaching or other assignments, if any (totalling 20 per cent at most) within the framework of a postdoctoral position are not funded by the Foundation.

Three-year projects

a) Applicants

Project manager:

The project manager must hold an appointment at Södertörn University throughout the project period.
The project manager’s working time in the project must comprise at least 20 per cent of a full-time annual position. This working time may be distributed differently from year to year.

Project participants:

All participating researchers must have obtained a doctorate by the application date. All must be named in the application and their CVs attached.
A project application may not include doctoral students in any function. Thus, it may not contain any costs for doctoral students.

Grant administrator:

All projects must be based at Södertörn University, which acts as the grant administrator.
Neither the project manager nor the participants need to be employed by the grant administrator at the time of application. During the project period, the project manager must be employed at Södertörn University, while the other participants must normally spend some time there.
The grant administrator decides on and is responsible for, where necessary, appointing foreign staff or paying for activities and services carried out in other countries.

b) Project description

The project description may not exceed:

for projects with two or more participants, ten pages (Times New Roman 12 points, line spacing 1.5) in length.
For projects with one applicant only, six pages (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
relevance to society
relevance for the call
the researchers’ functions and responsibilities in the project
collaboration with guest researchers, if any, and any other research contacts within the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, and also both in Sweden and internationally
a plan for how both information about the project and the research results are to be communicated, both within the discipline and in society at large.
assessment of potential risks, limitations and challenges, and strategies for managing them

Research network

a) Applicants

Project Manager must hold a doctoral degree and be affiliated with a Swedish higher education institution.
Grant administrator for an approved network may be a Swedish higher education institution. A different Swedish institution may be allowed, but contact the Foundation’s for approval prior to submission.
Composition: It is desirable that a majority of the participants in the network come from research environments outside Sweden. The core group of the research network must include a researcher at Södertörn University.
Core Group: Name participants in the application and attach their CVs.
Doctoral Students may participate in the network.

b) Project description

The project description for research networks must comprise a maximum of three pages of text (Times New Roman 12 points, line spacing 1.5).

The project description must give a clear account of the research network’s

purpose
relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe
relevance to society
relevance for the call
how the research network contributes to research and/or doctoral studies at Södertörn University
planned activities
time schedule (with dates as precise as possible) and implementation
participants’ functions
expected output
If the application is for an extension of previous approved research network it must also clearly describe what has been achieved in the network and how the network is to be managed in the period ahead.

c) Budget and costs

Maximum Amount: SEK 200,000.
Eligible Costs: Meeting-related expenses, indirect costs as per grant administrator policies.
Travel and entertainment expenses: Costs must be compatible with the grant administrator’s rules for travel and work-related entertainment.
Funds cannot be applied for: Salaries, conferences, publications, and pilot studies.

Apply via the Foundation’s application system Apply.

Contact details: zofia.makowska@ostersjostiftelsen.se

See Södertörn University’s checklist.

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