Instructions on funding applications for postdoctoral projects 2026

15/12/2025

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 2026).

Project period: Two years.

Grant amount: There is no maximum amount. Salary funding may cover 80–100% of a full-time annual position.

Grant administrator: Södertörn University.

A.    Key dates

• The call for applications opens on 15 December 2025 at 9:00 am.
• Stage 1: The deadline for applications is 28 January 2026 at 3 p.m.
• Notification of whether applications have been approved to proceed to Stage 2 will be sent in March 2026.
• Stage 2: The deadline for applications is 28 April 2026 at 3.00 p.m. (a complete and signed application must be submitted).
• Decision on application will be announced in October 2026.
• Project start date: 1 January 2027. Additional year of grant availability period will apply.

B.    General conditions

1. Grant administrator: All projects must be based at Södertörn University, which acts as the grant administrator.
   • It is the grant administrator who decides on and is responsible for, where necessary, appointing foreign staff or paying for activities and services carried out in other countries.
2. Approval: Already in the first stage, project manager must anchor the application with the grant administrator (Södertörn University). See Södertörn University’s checklist with the internal procedures. In stage 2, this approval is confirmed through digital signatures or a signed form (before the application is submitted). See more about signing and what it means under F. Instructions for application, Signatures.
3. 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.
4. Research in other countries: 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.
5. Government’s request: 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.
6. Use of AI: The project manager is responsible for following Foundation’s Guidelines for the use of AI tools in the preparation of research grant applications.
7. 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 in 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. The Foundation does not support research carried out abroad that would clearly not be authorised in Sweden.
8. 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. 
9. Open access: Researchers with grants from the Foundation must publish their research results open access. This applies to peer-reviewed journal articles and to conference publications.
10. Data Privacy Policy: The Foundation collects and processes personal data as part of the application process. In the application, the project manager confirms having read the the Foundation’s Data Privacy Policy.
11. SweCRIS: Information on grants awarded by the Foundation is submitted for publication in SweCRIS, a national database of grant-funded research.
12. Website: The Foundation publishes information about the funds granted on its website.
13. Follow-up:
    1. Mid-term review: 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.
    3. Other forms of project follow-up may also occur.

C.    Applicant – project manager

1. 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 2026 at the latest).
2. 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. If the project manager has still not obtained a doctorate by the start of the grant period, 1 January 2027, the granted funds may not be used. 
3. 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).
4. Grant administrator: 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.
5. 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.
6. Number of applications: Participation in only one application for research funding per year is allowed, regardless of whether the researcher is the project manager or a project participant. For more information see ‘Which grants may I apply for and have simultaneously?’.
7. Rules for parallel projects: If the applicant is a participant in an ongoing project supported by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, the total activity rate, in temporally overlapping projects, may not exceed 100 per cent.

D.    Assessment

Assessment process

The Foundation’s research committee assesses the applications for postdoctoral projects in competition and on the basis of the set assessment criteria. The research committee comprises a group of researchers with a broad composition in terms of subject expertise. See the research committee’s composition.

Stage 1

The project manager submits an application with a project description in outline format. A number of applications are selected for further review and approved to proceed to stage 2, while the others are rejected. No reasons for the rejections are given.

Stage 2

For the applications selected for further review in stage 2, the project manager submits an in-depth application. Applications in stage 2 are reviewed by at least two external experts, appointed by the research committee. Nominations of experts from applicants will not be accepted.

The committee then assesses the in-depth applications and uses the external experts’ statements as supplementary documentation. After ranking the applications in order of priority, the committee proposes to the Board of the Foundation which applications should be rejected and approved respectively.

After the Board’s decision, the applicants are notified by email, and also receive the external experts’ statements. No individual reasons for decisions are given. For every granted project, an agreement is signed by the project manager, the grant administrator’s authorised representative and the Foundation.

Assessment criteria

• Scientific/scholarly quality
• Relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe
• Relevance to society

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 research committee 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 committee considers gender composition and the distribution of disciplinary research domains in selecting the projects for which it proposes support.

E.   Budget

Grant amount: Salary funding for postdoctoral projects may be applied for to cover 80–100% of a full-time annual position for two years.

Costs:

1. Salaries
   • Specify the monthly salary and employment rate per year.
   • For project managers 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.
   • 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.
2. Payroll overhead in the form of social security contributions (lönekostnadspålägg, LKP) is a general mark-up on total salary costs. 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.
3. 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 school where the project will be based at 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.
4. Costs of premises usually include the costs of room at the grant administrator.
5. Investigation costs refer to expenses directly linked to the collection and analysis of material. Costs may include, for example, access to archives or surveys.
6. Costs for conferences and travel mean costs related to organising or participating in conferences, meetings and workshops.
7. Other costs refer to external services, equipment, ethical review and similar.
   • In exceptional cases it is possible to include linguistic and other assistance in a postdoctoral project. 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 Head of School concerned. 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.
8. Costs for dissemination of project results are included in the application in the form of a flat-rate grant: SEK 60 000. 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, also the 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 is obligatory.

F.   Instructions for application

Important information

• 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.
• Mandatory attachments: Project description, references and CV must be uploaded as separate PDF files. No attachments may be included other than the PDF files requested in the application system.

Application form

The main parts of the application form are the same in stages 1 and 2. The project description is developed between stages 1 and 2.

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 specialisations, 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

In stage 1, the project description must comprise a maximum of four 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
• 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 within the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, and also both in Sweden and internationally.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide detailed justification of the relevance to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe, as well as the relevance to society.

Project description in stage 2

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.

Project description in stage 2 must comprise maximum six pages (Times New Roman 12 points, line spacing 1.5 and normal margins).

Between stages 1 and 2 of the application, the project description must be developed. Otherwise, no major changes should be made to the application between stages 1 and 2.

References

References are listed in a separate file. Complete references must be given for the sources referred to in the project description. The references may not exceed five pages in length.

CVs

CVs 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.

Signatures

In stage 1, indicate in the application that approval has been obtained from the grant administrator.

In stage 2, 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. Please note that applications in stage 2 cannot be submitted without the signature of the Head of School (prefekt). The Foundation processes only signed applications.

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.