Applied welfare research - sustainable social services 2026 - Project grants

Background and purpose

Forte has been responsible for a national research programme on Applied Welfare Research since 2017, with the central aim of strengthening client- and practice-oriented research within the social services' areas of activity. In 2025 Forte was assigned by the Swedish government to start a new national research programme on Sustainable Social Services. During 2025 Forte will initiate the process of putting together a strategic research agenda for the new programme, while the programme Applied Welfare Research will come to its end. This call is launched in collaboration between the two programmes.

In July 2025 a new Social Services Act entered into force in Sweden with the aim of making the Swedish social services more preventive, accessible and knowledge based. The new act states that the social services shall base its operations on science and proven experience, which means that research-based knowledge and the professional and experiential expertise among staff and service users shall form the basis for the planning and execution of services and interventions.

An important component in the development towards a knowledge-based practice is a strengthened collaboration between researchers and practitioners. To achieve this there is a need for established platforms for knowledge exchange over the challenges and needs faced by practice and policy as well as by clients and their relatives. Practitioners must also be given the means to participate in research.

Collaboration between academia and practice can also contribute to a better understanding of each other’s circumstances and promote a more effective exchange of knowledge, ideas and experience between researchers, practitioners, decision makers and user representatives. Collaboration may also lead to the identification of new important research questions from a clinical, policy and user perspective, which in turn can generate new research initiatives.

The overall purpose of the call is to help strengthen the preconditions for sustainable, more preventive and knowledge-based social services. In this call you can apply for two types of grants:

The purpose of project grants is to create and disseminate knowledge about an identified issue within the framework of a defined research project. The aim of the call is to finance research projects of high quality that helps build a sustainable, preventive and knowledge-based practice within the Swedish social services sector.

Collaboration grants: Within this call, it is possible to apply not only for project grants but also for collaboration grants.

Focus of the call

In this call for proposals, applications with a focus on sustainable social services are prioritized. In the Swedish research and innovation bill (prop. 2024/25:60 Forskning och innovation för framtid, nyfikenhet och nytta) the following research needs are mentioned among others in connection with the announcement av Forte’s new programme on sustainable social services:

• Effects of interventions, with a special focus on user-oriented social work.

• Increased knowledge on qualitative interventions within the social services and on preventive measures against crime.

• Research on how digitalization affects social care work and its staff.

• Knowledge of how threats and violence against social workers can be addressed and prevented.

The list of examples is not meant to be exhaustive. The call is open to other research questions under the condition that the relevance for the social services sector and its users/clients can be clearly motivated and that the project fits the purpose of the call.

Research financed by the call must be of use for the social services to develop and improve the organisation and services provided as well as the situation of the users. Research projects should be planned and carried out in close cooperation with practitioners, users/clients or other stakeholders.

About the grant

The purpose of project grants is to create and disseminate knowledge about an identified issue within the framework of a defined research project.

Project duration

Funding may be sought for three or four years.

Funding amounts

The grant amount you can apply for per project is flexible, but since the funding period is limited, a guideline is SEK 5 million for three-year projects and SEK 6.5 million for four-year projects. Please note that the maximum amount includes so called indirect costs/overheads (OH).

Staffing

For this grant type, you as main applicant may invite participating researchers to join the application.

Eligibility requirements

To apply for a grant under this call for proposals, you must have obtained a doctoral degree no later than the closing date of the call for proposals.

Reporting for previous grants

The main applicant must have submitted the final report for any previously approved grants from Forte within the reporting deadline. This only applies to grants where the deadline for final reporting has passed. Any previously granted extensions of project duration, and consequently of reporting deadlines, will be taken into account.

Important to know before you apply

Before starting your application, please read this page and ensure that the following conditions are fulfilled:

• The main applicant and any participating researchers included in the application have created personal accounts in the Prisma application system External link.
• The main applicant and any participating researchers included in the application have stored their CV and details of their publications in their respective personal accounts.
• The administrating organisation for the grant has an organisational account in Prisma and has been approved as an administrating organisation at Forte. Information for administrating organisations

Terms and conditions for grants

In order to receive a grant from Forte, both the main applicant and the administrating organisation must sign the terms and conditions laid down in the call for proposals. The signing takes place in Prisma after a decision on the grant has been made. Forte’s general terms and conditions apply to this call for proposals.

Forte’s general terms and conditions for grants

Language

Since applications are reviewed by international experts, your application should be written in English (apart from fields where Swedish is specifically requested). If the application is submitted in Swedish, the quality of the assessment may be compromised. Forte is not responsible for the quality of any translations.

The use of AI tools

The use of AI in the application must comply with Forte’s guidelines for the use of AI tools.

International research

Applications with an international element must follow Forte's guidelines for international research.

Open access and data management plan  

Results from research funded by Forte must be published with immediate open access. However, Forte does not cover the costs of open access publishing within the research grants we award. Instead, Forte contributes financially through the Bibsam consortium to the joint funding system for publications. In cases where publication costs are included in the application, such costs will be deleted from any grant awarded. 

Forte's guidelines for publication with open access

In all Forte funded projects that generate research data, a data management plan has to be established in accordance with the recommendations of the administrating organisation.

Open access to research data

Principle of public access to official records

According to Swedish law, your application is considered a public document once it has been submitted to Forte. This means that anyone can request and read your application. Information may only be kept secret if it is covered by the secrecy provisions in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400).

If your application is granted, abstracts in Swedish and English will be published in open project databases without a confidentiality assessment.

Translations of information in the call for proposals

Call texts, application forms and instruction texts are available in English translation, but in case of ambiguity in the translation, the Swedish versions take precedence.

Types of project participants

The person who creates the application in Prisma is the main applicant and is intended to be the project leader for the research project. The project leader must be employed by the administrating organisation at the start of the project. The employment must at least cover the time set aside for the project (activity level).

Participating researchers may also be invited to join the application. Participating researchers are other researchers who are crucial for the implementation of the project. Both the main applicant and the participating researchers must have a doctoral degree and a personal account in Prisma.

It is also possible to include other participants in the project. These persons do not need to be researchers. This means they do not need to have a doctoral degree or their own accounts in Prisma.

The main applicant may invite a participating administrator to help them complete the application form. The administrator is not part of the project but has access to the draft application. A participating administrator cannot register the final version of an application and does not have access to the application once the final version has been registered in Prisma.

Requirements for different types of participants

Assessment

Verification of your application

Forte checks if your application fulfils the conditions laid down in the call for proposals. If the application does not fulfil the conditions, it will be refused or rejected. The following conditions will be checked in this call for applications:

• The main applicant has been awarded a doctoral degree.
• The main applicant has submitted the final report for any previously approved grants from Forte within the reporting deadline.
• The content of the application does not obviously fall outside Forte’s areas and/or the focus of the call (verified in consultation with the chair of the review panel).
• The application has been signed by the administrating organisation within 7 calendar days of the closing date of the call for proposals.

Review

All applications that fulfil the conditions in the call for proposals are forwarded to Forte’s review panels for assessment. Based on their assessment, Forte’s Board makes the final decisions on which applications will be granted funding.

To be eligible for funding from Forte, applications must meet the requirements, be of high scientific quality, be relevant to society, and feasible. Applications are assessed against the assessment criteria described below. The assessment is an overall assessment that weighs all the criteria and relates them to the call for proposals and its objectives. Key to the assessment is how the applicant has explained and justified the various choices made in the application.

Assessment criteria for project grants

Requirements

• Relevance to Forte: The research must be relevant in relation to Forte’s areas and the focus of the call.
• Sex and gender perspective: A sex and gender perspective must be taken into account, if applicable.
• Ethical considerations: The research must be conducted in an ethical manner, and any ethical issues must be addressed in an appropriate way.

Scientific quality

• Purpose, research questions, theoretical framework and background: The clarity and coherence in the description and justification of the purpose of the research, research questions, theoretical framework and background, including how well grounded it is in previous research.
• Study design, materal and methods: The clarity and coherence in the description and justification of the research design, empirical material and methods for data collection and analysis, as well as the appropriateness of these in relation to the purpose of the research and research questions.
• Originality: The potential of the research to contribute to the research front, for example by developing new knowledge, new methods, theories and/or data.
• Multidisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary approach: The relevance of a multidisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary approach to the scientific quality, if applicable.

Societal relevance and utilisation

• Relevance to the wider community: The importance of the research to current societal challenges and how the research will help address these.
• Benefit to the wider community: The short and/or long-term benefit of the research to the wider community, and how this is intended to be promoted.
• Collaboration with the wider community: The clarity and coherence in the description and justification of the plan for collaboration with the actors affected by the research, if applicable.
• Communication of research results: The reasonableness and appropriateness of planned communications for all relevant audiences.

Feasibility

• Work plan: The clarity and reasonableness of the work plan for conducting the research.
• Competence: The competence and skills of the participants in relation to the needs for conducting the research.
• Budgets and staffing: The reasonableness of budgeted costs and participants’ planned activities for conducting the research.

After the decision

When a decision has been made in respect of your application, it will be published in your Prisma account. You will receive an email when the decision is published. Applicants will also have access to the statement written by the review panel about their application. This can be found in Prisma on the “Applications” page under the “Details” button. You will also find the statement on the “Grants” page.

Forte's processes for assessment and final decision