Instructions on funding applications for research networks in 2026

15/12/2025

The research networks form of support concerns funding for either creating new networks of researchers or maintaining already established ones. The networks must 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 funding.

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. It is preferable that a great majority of participants comes from research environments outside Sweden. Doctoral students may be included.

Intended for: Costs associated with meetings and workshops.

Grant availability period: Maximum of one year.

Grant amount: SEK 250,000.

Grant administrator: A Swedish higher education institution.

A.    Key dates

Calls for proposals – round 1

• The call for applications opens on 15 December 2025 at 9:00 am.
• The deadline for applications is 28 January 2026 at 3 p.m.
• Decision on application will be announced in March 2026.
• Start date: 1 July 2026. The grant availability period is one year.

Calls for proposals – round 2

• The call for applications opens on 17 August 2026 at 9:00 am.
• The deadline for applications is 29 September 2026 at 3 p.m.
• Decision on application will be announced in November 2026.
• Start date: 1 January 2027. The grant availability period is one year.

B.    General conditions

1. Grant administrator: must be a Swedish higher education institution. There may be other Swedish grant administrators, but the Foundation’s approval must be obtained before the application is submitted.
2. Approval: Applications must be approved by the grant administrator, through digital signature or a signed form (before the application is submitted). See more about signing and what it means under F. Instructions for application, Signatures. For networks based at Södertörn University, see Södertörn University’s checklist with the internal procedures.
3. Continuation of a network grant: It is possible to apply for funding for an extension of a previous approved grant for a research network.
4. Co-funding: The Foundation approves co-funding of research networks with another research funder. Clearly indicate the Foundation’s contribution to the total budget in the application. If funds for the same or a similar network are also applied for from another funder, this must be stated in the application. If funding is received from another funder for the network, the Foundation’s secretariat must always be notified of this fact. Funds granted cannot be used for costs covered by another research funder.
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. 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.
8. SweCRIS: Information on grants awarded by the Foundation is submitted for publication in SweCRIS, a national database of grant-funded research.
9. Website: The Foundation publishes information about the funds granted on its website.
10. Follow-up:
    • Final report:  A final report (financial and scientific) is due within four months of the last grant availability date.
    • Project monitoring may take other forms as well.

C.   Applicants

Project manager:

• The project manager must have obtained a doctorate by the date of application and must be a researcher from a higher education institution in Sweden.
• The project manager is responsible for the ongoing work of the network. The project manager is also the contact person for the network vis-à-vis the Foundation and the grant administrator when the application is created, during the assessment period and after a funding decision has been made.

Participants:

• It is preferable that a great majority of participants comes from research environments outside Sweden. The core group of participants in the research network must include researchers at Södertörn University.
• The research network’s core group of participants and their role must be clearly defined and the participants must be named in the application and their CVs attached.
• Research networks may also include doctoral students.
• Number of applications: It is possible to submit several applications for research networks at the same time and to apply during ongoing projects. For more information see ‘Which grants may I apply for and have simultaneously?’.

D.   Assessment

Applications for research networks are assessed by a specially appointed assessment panel. See the composition of the panel. The panel assesses the applications in competition and on the basis of the set assessment criteria and makes decisions on funding. The applicants are notified by email. No reasons for the decisions are given.

Assessment criteria

• Scientific/scholarly potential
• relevance of the research network to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe
• relevance to society
• composition of the research network
• 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 Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe

The content of the research network must be highly relevant to the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe. The same description of this relevance as the one applying to research projects is also applied with respect to research networks.

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.

E.     Budget

1. Grant amount: The network’s budget may not exceed SEK 250,000.
2. Costs:
   • Funding may be applied for costs related to meetings and workshops: costs of premises, travel costs, other costs and indirect costs (overheads).
   • In the estimates for travel, board and lodging, these costs must be compatible with the grant administrator’s rules for travel and work-related entertainment.
   • Funds cannot be applied for to cover salaries, hold conferences, issue publications, conduct pilot studies and the like.
3. Budget commentary:
   • Please note that all costs 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 network. Second, it means that the costs must be justified, and arguments for them presented, in terms of the purpose and implementation of the individual network. Unspecified or unjustified costs are not approved.
   • The calculation of the amount of indirect costs must be stated in the budget commentary.
   • 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

Summary: may be up to 1500 characters, including spaces, in length. It must report on the research network’s purpose and implementation.

Project description: must comprise a maximum of three pages of text (Times New Roman 12 points, line spacing 1.5, normal margins).
The project description must give a clear account of how the research network meets the assessment criteria.

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.

If the application is for an extension of previously approved funding for a 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.

References: Complete references must be given for the sources referred to in the project description. The references may not exceed five pages in length.

CVs: For the core group of participants, the 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 network; previous external research grants; project management and supervision experience; international research stays; and language skills relevant to the network.

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. Please note that applications cannot be submitted without the signature of the Head of School. 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
• the project manager will comply with all the conditions applying to the grant.

The grant administrator’s signature represents confirmation that:

• the activity described can be accommodated at the school during the period and on the scale specified in the application
• the grant administrator approves the cost calculation in the application
• 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.