FAQ

Forte’s intention with the research centre grants is to support a cohesive research environment at a Swedish higher education institution (HEI). We see value in bringing researchers together in one location rather than linking researchers across different sites, as this facilitates collaboration and allows synergies to emerge more easily. Simultaneously, it is possible to include individual researchers from other organisations if there is a need to bring in specific expertise.

However, for some research areas it may be necessary for researchers from multiple HEIs or research organisations to join forces to reach the critical mass needed in order to create a strong research environment. In such cases, it is possible to apply for a distributed centre, where the need for this must be specifically justified in the application.

An application for a distributed centre must be coordinated by one HEI. In addition to the coordinating institution, several other HEIs or research organisations may participate. It is essential that the application demonstrates the ability to function as a cohesive environment with a joint research agenda and active, close collaboration. Only the coordinating HEI submits the application in Prisma.

When applying for a distributed center, at least two-thirds of the budgeted salary funds must be allocated to scientific personnel at the organisations that are part of the distributed centre.

Each higher education institution (HEI) may submit one application per track, regardless of whether it is an individual application or if the institution is coordinating a distributed centre together with other HEIs/research organisations. If an HEI is participating in an application coordinated and submitted by another HEI, it may still submit its own application in the same track. However, it is not allowed to submit an application that is very similar to another application submitted by a different HEI, whether in the same track or in a different one.

Organisations that are not HEIs cannot be the main applicant of a research centre. However, they may participate as partners in a distributed centre. A distributed centre must be coordinated by a Swedish HEI. In addition to this, individual researchers from research organisations that are not HEIs may be involved in a centre even though their employer is not a participating party.

Forte cannot fund research that already has received funding. However, we encourage including ongoing, previously funded research within the centre if it aligns well with the centre’s research agenda and contributes to its objectives. In the application, please describe the existing funding and how this research connects and contributes to the centre’s research and operations.

Forte is responsible for the entire application process, which means that applications are submitted to Forte and handled according to Forte’s procedures. Since this track is a collaboration between Forte and the Swedish Research Council, we work together to ensure that the appointed reviewers possess the appropriate expertise to assess research that falls within the remit of the track. Community representatives are always included in Forte’s review panels, and this also applies to this track.

Forte generally does not fund preclinical biomedical research, nor clinical medical research. The track for Women's health and diseases is conducted in collaboration with the Swedish Research Council, which funds this type of research. This collaboration allows Forte to support a broader range of research than we normally can in this specific track. Research centres applying for funding within this track must therefore include both preclinical or clinical medical research, as well as research in care science or public health. The other tracks are conducted solely by Forte, which means this opportunity is not available within them.

Several of the tracks include different themes, and the webpage for each respective track specifies whether the application is expected to cover one or multiple themes. While there are no general guidelines for how 'narrow' or 'broad' a centre should be, the application must reflect a reasonable level of ambition that matches the scale of the investment. This means it is important to describe and justify how the chosen theme of the centre is reasonable from both a scientific and practical perspective. It is also crucial to demonstrate that the organisation, staffing, and work plan are appropriate for carrying out the work and achieving the stated goals.

A maximum of ten researchers with leadership responsibilities for sub-projects or work packages within the research centre may be invited as participating researchers in the application in Prisma. Other contributors should be described in the application but should not be invited as participants in Prisma. These do not need to hold a PhD and may include, for example, doctoral students and collaboration partners.

For each track in the call, a group of experts is recruited to review the applications submitted to that track. The review panels will be published on Forte’s website once the final decisions about their composition have been made, at the end of the summer.

Forte views the ongoing reprioritisation of a centre’s activities and operations as an expected and desirable aspect of strategic academic leadership. It is therefore entirely reasonable that the application reflects this, for example by providing more detail for the initial years than for the later stages.

Research funded by Forte must primarily be conducted in Sweden, but we encourage international collaborations in line with our guidelines for international research. Given the current situation for many researchers at U.S. institutions, Forte offers the possibility of funding visiting researcher stays for this group within the framework of a centre application.

A research centre within this track should focus on practice-oriented and interdisciplinary research that evaluates the effects of various care science-based interventions. The point of departure is a broad health care science perspective, which may take place in a clinical setting but does not focus on medical aspects or concern biological processes and mechanisms, processes at the molecular level, or studies where pharmaceuticals or surgical methods are developed and tested.

Examples of relevant research include which forms of involuntary and inpatient psychiatric care are most necessary, appropriate and effective. This may also involve interventions, treatments and methods – for example, psychological or organisational – viewed from the perspective of different professional groups. Research on patient involvement, coordinated care and support, as well as how collaboration between healthcare providers, patients and relatives can promote recovery and improved treatment outcomes, is also of importance.

All applications that meet the eligibility criteria of the call will be forwarded to Forte’s review panels for assessment. The researchers included in the review panel for the severe mental illnesses track will primarily have expertise in care science, psychiatric nursing, healthcare methods, treatments and interventions in compulsory and inpatient psychiatric care, global mental health, social justice, and mental illness.

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.

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.

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

The annual call for project grants also has a restriction rule stating that if you are the project leader for an ongoing project grant in a thematic call, you are not eligible to apply in the annual call for project grants, regardless of whether the projects are similar or not. This means that if you receive a project grant in a thematic call, your parallel application in the annual project call will not proceed in the review process. If you are granted funding in both the annual call for project grants and a thematic call at the same point in time, you will need to choose which grant to keep, regardless of whether the projects are similar or not. Please note that you can never receive funding for similar projects or for overlapping parts of different projects in multiple calls.

If you are the project leader for an ongoing project grant awarded through any of Forte’s calls, you cannot be the main applicant for a new project grant in the annual call for project grants. A grant is considered ongoing during its project time (referred to as “grant period” in the contract for the grant). If the grant period has ended, but the availability period has not, it is possible to apply for funding for a new project.

You are also not eligible to be the main applicant for grants in the annual call for project grants if you have an ongoing starting grant with Forte.

However, you can apply for grants in the annual call for project grants if you have an ongoing project grant within an international cooperation call or the call “Project grants for new, improved and accessible research data 2024”. If you are the project leader for another type of grant, such as a program grant, impact grant or network grant, you are also eligible to apply.

You can apply for grants as the main applicant if you are a participating researcher in one or more ongoing projects.

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.

On the web page for the annual call for project grants you can read about the review panels and its focus. In the application form, you choose the group you believe the application fits best in. You can make three ranked choices. Forte reserves the right to place the application in a different review panel.

Funding opportunities

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. The decision letter includes a separate document containing the joint justification of the decision (statement) made by the review panel. You can find it in Prisma under the “Applications” page (alternatively the “Grants” page) under the “Details” button. Please note that for some of Forte’s grants, the statement is included in the decision letter.