Upcoming call for proposals: grand projects 2027

2026-06-25

In 2027, following a one-year pause, the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies will announce again a call for funding for grand projects. Information on the upcoming call for proposals is provided below. Detailed instructions for application will be published on the Foundation’s website in autumn 2026.

Grand projects

Grand projects are undertaken by a larger group of 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 project must be well thought-out, from the overarching problem to practical execution. A grand project addresses a challenging research task, and the group must be carefully composed for the purpose. It is possible to apply for funding for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers within the framework of the grand project.

One requirement for obtaining funding for grand projects is an advanced research environment or advanced research network, with a sound base in the international research community, to be in place. Grand projects serve to establish a research group active in the long term that fosters collaboration across disciplinary and institutional boundaries and national borders and is characterised by a strong international element.

  • Eligible applicants: 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 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.
  • Project period: Four or five years. One year 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.

Important dates

  • The call will open on 14 December 2026 at 09:00 and close on 3 February 2027 at 15:00 (submit a complete and signed application).
  • Decisions will be taken by the Board of the Foundation in October 2027.
  • Project start date: 1 January 2028.

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. Throughout the project period the project manager must hold an appointment at Södertörn University.

Before the application is submitted, it must be approved by the grant administrator. See Södertörn University’s checklist with internal procedures.

Application process and assessment

Applications are submitted in a single-stage procedure. This means that a complete and signed application must be submitted at the time of application.

Applications for grand projects are reviewed by a by a specially appointed assessment panel, which reviews the applications in competition according to the established assessment criteria.

Assessment criteria

Conditions for employment of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers

  • PhD students and postdoctoral researchers are recruited at the start of the project after an appointment procedure (unlike the other participating researchers who must be named in the application).
  • If PhD students are included in the grand project, they must be well supervised and given particularly good conditions for becoming integrated in the research environment.
  • Up to four years’ salary funding for a PhD 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 PhD student after the project period ends: these costs are the grant administrator’s responsibility.
  • 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).
  • Funding for postdoctoral researchers 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.

Other upcoming calls for proposals

In addition to funding for grand projects, the Foundation will announce the following calls for proposals in 2027:

  • Project grants (two- and three-year projects)
  • Postdoctoral grants
  • Small-scale funding schemes, with calls issued twice a year:
    • research network grants
    • conference grants
    • publication grants

Further information will be published on the Foundation’s website during the autumn.

Contact

In case of questions, please contact Zofia Makowska Känngård zofia.makowska@ostersjostiftelsen.se.

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