FAQ

It is possible to apply for funding in Forte’s calls for proposals as an individual researcher (unless otherwise stated in the call text). When assessing the application, the project’s staffing is weighed into the feasibility criterion and Forte’s reviewers then assess whether it is appropriate for the project to be carried out by an individual researcher.

The date on which your doctoral degree is issued is specified In Ladok Länk till annan webbplats.. This is the date that Forte uses to determine your eligibility for our calls for proposals.

Please note that the date of your thesis defense, or the date on which you completed your studies, is not the same as the date on which your doctoral degree certificate is issued.

If you have recently defended your thesis, or plan to do so soon, please note that it may take some time for your doctoral degree certificate to be issued after you have submitted your application.

There are no restrictions on the number of participating researchers or other participants in Forte’s annual call for project grants, but restrictions may apply in other calls. Therefore, always read the call text carefully.

The participating researchers must have personal accounts in Prisma where they submit their resume. They must also agree, via Prisma, to participate in the project before the call closes, otherwise the application cannot be submitted. Other participants are not required to have a personal account or agree to participate, nor do they need to be named.

In calls for project grants, tasks are financed, not positions. These tasks can be performed by for example a doctoral student. Anyone applying for funds at Forte, both main applicants and participating researchers, must have a doctoral degree and their own account in Prisma. However, it is possible to seek funding for salary costs for other project participants who are not formally participating researchers. Remember to describe what all participants bring to the project.

Please specify salary costs for all participants when completing the budget portion of the application. The participants do not need to be named. Note that Forte does not fund doctoral studies.

Each person included in the application as a participating researcher must create a personal account in Prisma. All resumes and details of publications by main applicants and participating researchers should be saved in each applicant’s/researcher’s personal account.

Anyone who is not a participating researcher does not need a personal account in Prisma and thus should not upload this data.

As a main applicant, you do not need to have a position at the time of application, but if the application is granted, you are expected to be employed by your chosen administrating organisation. The employment must at least cover the time set aside for the project (activity level). The intended project leader must have enough time to be able to implement the project. This is weighed into the assessment made by Forte’s reviewers.

All Swedish higher education institutions and universities meet our criteria and are approved as administrating organisations. This also applies to most research institutes and regions. If you open a draft application in a Forte call for proposals in Prisma, you can filter organisations under the “Administrating organisation” section. If your organisation appears there, it is approved by Forte.

• Table of restrictions for applicants who already have an ongoing grant from Forte pdf, 143.6 kB.

As a general rule, the restrictions in the table above apply to applicants who already have an ongoing grant from Forte. However, specific restrictions may apply in individual calls. You are therefore advised to carefully read the webpage for the call you intend to apply for.

A grant is considered ongoing throughout the project’s grant period. After the grant period ends, a disposition period follows, which is usually twelve months. The disposition period is not considered an ongoing grant. The grant period and the disposition period are specified in the grant terms and conditions.

You may apply for funding as the main applicant even if you participate as a participating researcher in one or more ongoing projects.

No, you cannot receive funding for research activities — either in full or in part — that are already funded by Forte or by another research funder.

If you are nevertheless awarded multiple grants for the same or partly the same research, it is important that you contact Forte as soon as possible and explain the situation.

Yes. Forte’s grants can be used to fund research where certain parts are carried out in other countries. However, the research must be initiated, led and mainly carried out from Sweden or be a clear part of collaborative research. The research must also be relevant to Sweden and Swedish circumstances. Remember to always consider defense and security policy aspects in international research collaboration.

At the start of the project, the intended project leader (i.e. the main applicant) must be employed by an organsation that is approved as an administrating organisation by Forte. The administrating organisation must be a Swedish organisation and meet a number of criteria.

Forte’s criteria for administrating organisations

Yes, the grant from Forte may be used to cover costs for foreign personnel or activities and services performed in other countries. Foreign participants can therefore be paid in the project. This, like all costs, should be justified in the budget.

Guidelines for international research

If the foreign researcher is essential for the realisation of the planned research, they can create their own account and be included as a participating researcher in the application. Participating researchers must have a doctoral degree. Please note that Forte sometimes has special international calls where different conditions may apply. Always read the call text for the call you are interested in applying for.

Yes, this is permitted — with one exception. If you are eligible to apply to both the annual call for project grants and the annual call for starting grants at Forte, you must choose one of these calls.

Please note that you may not be the main applicant for a new project in the annual call for project grants if you are already the project leader of an ongoing project grant from Forte, regardless of whether the projects are similar or not. A grant is considered ongoing throughout the project’s grant period. The availability period is not regarded as an ongoing grant.

No, you can be a participating researcher in several projects. You can also apply for grants as a main applicant if you are applying as a participating researcher in one or several other projects.

Your previous grant must be completed by the project start for new applications within the annual call for project grants. The grant is considered ongoing during its project time (grant period). The grant period is specified in your contract. If the grant period has ended, but the availability period has not, it is possible to apply for funding for a new project.

No, in the annual call for project grants, Forte has no budget limitation per year. Where there are limitations, this applies to the total amount for the entire grant period. In other calls, other rules may apply, so read the call text carefully.

The choice of review panel is important because it determines where your application will be assessed. You can find information about the review panels and their members on the call’s webpage. In the application form, you select the review panel that you believe best fits your application. Base your choice on the research questions of the application. You may make three ranked choices. Forte reserves the right to place the application in a different review panel, although in most cases applications are assessed by the applicant’s first choice.

If you have been awarded a project grant in another Forte call that is assessed in parallel with the annual project grant call, your application in the annual call will not proceed further in the assessment process. This applies regardless of whether the projects are similar or not. International collaboration calls are exempt from this rule.

If you are awarded funding, at the same decision-making occasion, both in the annual project grant call and in another project grant call issued by Forte, you must choose which grant you wish to retain. This applies regardless of whether the projects are similar or not.

Forte has no rule prohibiting the engagement of commercial entities within the framework of a project. However, it is important to ensure that the research conducted within the project does not have commercial ties that could affect its objectivity, independence, or openness.

No, you may not be the main applicant for a new project in the annual call for project grants if you are already the project leader of an ongoing project grant from Forte, regardless of whether the projects are similar or not. A grant is considered ongoing throughout the project’s grant period. If the grant period has ended but the availability period remains, you may apply for funding for a new project.

If a project is extended, it is the availability period that is prolonged, not the grant period. You are therefore eligible to apply even if the project is extended, provided that the ordinary grant period has ended.

You may also apply for funding in the annual call for project grants if you hold an ongoing project grant within an international collaborative call, or if you are the project leader for a different type of grant than a project grant, such as a programme grant, impact grant, or network grant.

However, you may not be the main applicant in the annual call for project grants if you hold an ongoing starting grant from Forte.

• Table of restrictions for applicants with an ongoing grant from Forte pdf, 143.6 kB.

Forte’s three fields of research are health, working life and welfare. Forte is also responsible for coordinating national research in five designated areas: children and young people, ageing, international migration and ethnic relations (IMER), disability, and social research on alcohol and narcotics. Forte funds research in these areas as well.

Which research can receive funding?

Applications are assessed based on Forte’s assessment criteria. Keywords, subject classification, global sustainability goals and similar classifications are primarily used for analysis and follow-up and are not considered in the assessment of the application.

The table “Activity level in the project” indicates how much the respective participants will work in the project. This is often the same scope for which participants are also seeking salary funding, but sometimes people work more in a project than they are paid for. If a participant is to be paid to the same extent as their level of activity, the same percentage is entered under “Activity level” and “Percentage of salary”.

The results of publicly funded research should be accessible to all. This is why Forte requires that the researchers we fund must publish their results with open access. Forte funds open access publishing by contributing to national funding of so-called transformative agreements between the Royal Library of Sweden, funders, universities and publishers. The agreements allow for free publication without publication fees for the authors (APCs). In the light of this, the costs of general publication may not be included as direct cost in the application. If this occurs, Forte will deduct the requested publication costs if the application is granted funding.

Guidelines for publication with Open access

Forte does not have a rule prohibiting the use of companies in a project, but it is important to ensure that the research carried out in the project does not have commercial ties that affect its objectivity, independence or transparency.

General terms and conditions for grants

Forte cannot fund projects, substudies, or activities that are already funded by Forte or any other funder. However, it is possible to combine funding from Forte with funding from other sources to, for example, expand a project. In this case, it is important to clearly state this in the application, specifying which parts are already funded and how the funds requested from Forte will be used. Please note that you must always indicate in the application if you have applied for or received funding for all or parts of your project from Forte or any other funder.

Forte does not prohibit the use of AI tools in research or for writing applications. As an applicant, you are responsible for ensuring that the content of your application is accurate and that the research can be carried out as described. Applications must not include plagiarism, false, manipulated, or otherwise inaccurate information.

If artificial intelligence is used substantially in your research (e.g., for data interpretation or conducting a literature review), it should be described in the application as you would describe any other research method. When signing (submitting) the application, you confirm that the information provided is accurate and adheres to Forte’s guidelines.

It is not permitted to use AI to assess applications. Evaluation is a task to be carried out by an expert researcher or a community representative recruited for their expertise in the relevant field.

However, AI may be used to enhance the language of statements written by the review panel, provided that no personal or sensitive information from the application is shared with the tool.

Yes, please send an email to forte@forte.se to request public documents. Keep in mind, however, that the registry has limited ability to pick out relevant applications. We therefore recommend that you first identify a relevant project in the database Swecris. In Swecris you will find information about all projects that have been funded by Forte, and you can search using keywords and other variables. Please include the project ID in your request to Forte.

Swecris (at The Swedish Research Council's website) Länk till annan webbplats.

No, unfortunately it is not possible to postpone the start of the project. However, Forte always grants extra time to dispose of the grant beyond the specified grant period, which in practice allows for some flexibility. The availability period usually covers one year, but this might vary depending on the grant type (see the terms of your grant). Read more about availability period under point 3.2 of the General Conditions.

General terms and conditions for grants

Yes, from 2022 all applications receive written feedback justifying the decision, regardless of whether the application is granted or rejected.

When Forte has made its decision on whether to fund or reject the application, you will receive a notification by e-mail. The decision letter includes a separate document containing the joint justification of the decision (statement) made by the review panel. This applies to both applications that are approved and those that are rejected.

You can find the statement in Prisma under the Applications and grants page. Click on Details for the relevant application and then Deeds in the next view. The available documents are listed in a table, with the option to download them in PDF-format.

Please note that for some of Forte’s grants, the statement is included in the decision letter.

The main applicant must be the project manager or co-applicant in a research project or programme that has been granted funding in one of the following calls for proposals within the national research program for work life research:

• Working Life 2017
• Challenges in Working Life 2019
• Challenges in Working Life 2021
• Green Transition and Working Life 2021
• Challenges in Working Life 2023
• Co-Production for a Sustainable Working Life 2023
• Challenges in Working Life 2024
• Challenges in Working Life 2025

If you are unsure of whether you are eligible or not, please contact Forte before you start your application.

A grant is considered ongoing throughout the entire grant period of the project.

Once the grant period has ended, the availability period follows. The availability period is normally twelve months and is not considered part of an ongoing grant.

Information about the grant period and the availability period is set out in the terms and conditions of the grant.

Yes, with the exception of Forte’s annual call for project grants. If you are eligible to apply to both the starting grant call and the annual call for project grants, you need to choose which of the calls to apply to.

Yes, doctoral students can be salaried for their work up to a total of 30 per cent. If two doctoral students work on the project, they can each be salaried up to 15 per cent, and so on.

Support staff refers to non-research personnel, for example assistants or statisticians. Researchers with a doctoral degree cannot be salaried as support staff within the starting grant.