Instructions on applications for publication grants in 2025

16/12/2024

Purpose: This funding supports the publication of research findings from projects previously funded by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies. This grant aims to enhance the visibility and accessibility of research on the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe through open-access publications. This grant may be sought for actual, specified costs connected with publication and listed by written agreement with a publisher, and also for other services purchased — language editing, graphic design and illustrations, for example. This form of support does not relate to publication in the course of an ongoing research project.

Overview

• Eligible Applicants: Former project managers for Foundation-funded research projects (where a final report has been submitted) or conference grants.
• Funding Coverage: Costs associated with publishing research results, including language editing, graphic design, illustrations, and other services. All publications must have immediate open access.
• Grant Administrator: A Swedish higher education institution. Another Swedish institution can be approved, but the Foundation’s approval is required before submission.
• Applications must be submitted through the Foundation’s application system.

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 in English. Applications partially in Swedish or missing key information will not be reviewed.
2. Documentation: Upload the project description and publisher agreement as separate PDF files. No additional attachments are allowed.
3. Grant Administrator: Must be a Swedish higher education institution. For alternative Swedish institutions, seek Foundation approval prior to submission.
4. Signatures: Obtain digital or scanned signatures from both the project manager and the grant administrator’s authorized representative.
5. Project Manager Responsibility: Manages all publication tasks and serves as the main contact with the Foundation.
6. Co-Funding: If applying for funds from other sources for the same publication, disclose this in the application and inform the Foundation if other funds are granted.
7. Open Access: Immediate open-access publication is required.
8. Data Privacy: The project manager is responsible for informing participants of the data collection policies as outlined in the Foundation’s Data Privacy Policy

B. Applicant

1. Eligibility: Limited to researchers with previously funded Foundation projects or conference grants.
2. Application Period: Eligible for up to three years after submission of a final report for a research project or in conjunction with a conference grant.
3. Applicant Restriction: Only project managers of the original project or conference grant may apply; other project participants are not eligible.
4. Restrictions on Collaborations: 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: Funding may be requested only for specified, actual publication costs.
2. Eligible Costs: Language editing, layout, images, open-access publishing, and indirect costs. Translation costs may be covered only if required by an agreement with the publisher.
3. Publication Types: Supports journal articles, monographs, anthologies, and conference anthologies (when related to a Foundation-funded conference).
4. Excluded Costs: Conference abstracts and proceedings must be applied for separately under conference grants.

D. Application Timeline, Funding Availability, and Reporting

1. Application Period: Eligible for up to three years following the final report submission for a funded research project or in conjunction with an approved conference grant.
2. Grant Use Period: Approved publication grants must be used within 12 months of the award date.
3. Final Report Requirement: Submit a financial and scientific final report within four months after the funding period ends. The report must include publication details and a link to the published work, as well as a financial breakdown.

E. Assessment

1. Assessment Process: Applications are reviewed by the Foundation’s research director and research committee chair. Decisions are made three times a year. Documentation for the assessment comprises the application and the written agreement with a publisher.
2. Assessment Criteria:
   • The publication must be highly relevant to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe. The same description of this relevance as that relating to research projects is also applicable to publication grants. See below.
   • 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.
   • 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 in English through the Foundation’s application system.
2. Post-Submission Edits: Changes cannot be made after submission; contact the Foundation’s secretariat if necessary.
3. Application Components
   • Summary: Up to 1,500 characters, describing the publication’s content, relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, and target audience.
   • Project Description (max. two pages): Include the research task, especially its relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, relevance to society, the content of the publication and the target group.
   • Publisher Agreement: Upload a single agreement with one publisher.
   • Project Costs: Provide a detailed budget in SEK, including indirect costs per grant administrator’s policies.
   • Budget Commentary: Justify all publication costs, including language editing, layout, images, and open-access publication (up to 3,000 characters). Justification is required for all costs, with unexplained costs subject to rejection.
4. Signatures
   • Required Signatures: Both the project manager and grant administrator’s authorized representative (Head of department head, prefekt) must sign the application.
   • Digital Signatures: Use BankID in the application system. If unavailable, download, sign, scan, and upload the signature form.