Questions and answers Brain Health 2026

Consolidated Q&A – National Information Meeting (15 January 2026) EU Partnership Brain Health – JTC 2026

1. Will the presentation slides be shared after the meeting?

Slides will be available in the recorded presentation. If you would like a separate copy of the slides, you may contact one of the contact persons at FORTE/VR by email.

2. Can Austrian partners participate in the calls?

Austria participates only in JTC2026 Call 2: Neurodegenerative Disorders. Austrian applicants cannot apply for funding from another country’s funding organisation. The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has made a national decision to participate in Call 2 only. Austrian partners are therefore not eligible for Call 1.

3. Is submission in Prisma required, and at which stages?

There are two submission levels (international and national) and two stages (pre-proposal and full proposal).

Call 1 (FORTE):

• International pre-proposal is submitted via the Brain Health Portal.
• No national pre-proposal is submitted in Prisma.
• Only invited projects submit a full proposal also in Prisma.
• You submit in Prisma only the Swedish part of the project and budget.

Call 2 (VR/SRC):

Parallel submissions are required at both stages:

• Pre-proposal: international + national (Prisma)
• Full proposal: international + national (Prisma)

4. Should the national application be identical to the international proposal?

Each national partner must follow the rules of their national funder.

FORTE (Call 1): The Swedish part of the project description and budget must be identical at national and international level. An identical PDF of the full international proposal must be uploaded in Prisma.

VR/SRC (Call 2): An identical PDF of the full international proposal must be uploaded in Prisma. This applies to both pre-proposal and full proposal stages.

5. What happens if one national funder approves the proposal, but another doesn’t?

All partners must comply with both international and national eligibility requirements.

If one partner is declared ineligible or one funder cannot provide funding, the entire consortium becomes ineligible or unfunded. Partial funding does not occur.

Central EU -funding may be used for gap-filling, but this is not guaranteed.

6. What is the difference between a PI and a Coordinator?

PIs and ECR (Partners) are national principal investigators who lead parts of the consortium project.

The Coordinator is a PI who leads the entire consortium, submits the international application, and coordinates communication with partners and the Call Secretariat.

There can be only one Coordinator per consortium.

7. Can a Swedish applicant be both Coordinator and national PI?

Yes. A Swedish applicant may:

1. Act as both Coordinator and PI for the Swedish part; or
2. Act as Coordinator while another Swedish PI is a Partner.

A maximum of two partners per country is allowed.

8. Do PIs from other countries also submit national applications?

Each Partner/PI in the consortium is funded by their own national funding organisation and must submit some kind of application. Only Swedish partners submit applications to Swedish funders (FORTE for Call 1 and VR/SRC for Call 2).

9. Can there be two Swedish partners from the same university?

Yes, but administrative rules differ.

FORTE (Call 1):

• Only one national application may be submitted in Prisma. In case of two Swedish PI in one consortium, one PI must be designated as main applicant (huvudsökande) and the other as co-applicant (medsökande). The administrating organisation of the main applicant distributes funds to the co-applicant’s organisation.

VR/SRC (Call 2):

• Each Swedish Partner submits a separate national application in Prisma.

10. How is the project evaluated if only the Swedish part is submitted nationally?

No scientific evaluation is carried out at national level. All consortium projects are evaluated internationally by independent reviewers and an international review panel. National funders perform eligibility checks and administer funding only.

11. What are the main differences between FORTE and VR/SRC rules?

FORTE participates only in Call 1, while VR/SRC participates only in Call 2.

FORTE requires one national application per consortium, while VR/SRC requires separate national applications from each Swedish Partner.

VR/SRC has restrictions related to ongoing VR-funded international projects (for instance JPND); FORTE has no restrictions regarding international projects.

12. Which topics belong to Call 1 and which to Call 2?

Call 1 (FORTE):

• Neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. autism)
• Stroke
• Multiple sclerosis
• Mental, neurological and sensory disorders

Call 2 (VR/SRC):

• Neurodegenerative disorders listed in Section 2 of the call text
• Early-stage dementia and lifestyle factors
• Projects focusing on prodromal stages or risk factors may be eligible if scientifically justified.

13. Can Early Career Researchers (ECRs) act as Coordinators or Partners?

Yes. ECR Coordinators are allowed and encouraged. ECR-funded researchers are encouraged to be included as full Partners, not only as collaborators.

14. How is an Early Career Researcher defined?

FORTE: Up to 3 years after PhD certificate, with possible extensions for deductible time. See more: Deductible time

VR/SRC and international criteria: Up to 7 years after PhD or medical specialisation, with extensions for parental leave, illness, national service, or clinical training. (See footnote nr 5 under the call text on Brain Health website)

15. Can a Swedish PI be Coordinator while their postdoc is a Partner?

No. If two partners from the same country participate, they must represent different research groups. This also applies if one of them is the Coordinator.

16. What is the total budget of a consortium?

Each national funder sets its own funding limits. The total consortium budget therefore consists of several national contributions, which may differ in size.

Detailed limits are available in the National Annexes.

17. How should exchange rates be handled?

FORTE: Budgets should be first calculated in SEK. Conversion to EUR can be done when completing the international budget. You can only receive what you apply for in Prisma.

VR/SRC: Fixed exchange rate: 11.33 SEK/EUR.

18. Are indirect costs and overheads covered?

FORTE: No strict limits on overheads; all university overheads are accepted.

VR/SRC: Indirect costs are included as a percentage of direct costs according to institutional models.

19. How are depreciation costs handled?

FORTE: Small equipment should be reported as operating costs, not depreciation.

VR/SRC: Depreciation is allowed for larger equipment.

20. Are there limits on participation in multiple proposals?

FORTE (Call 1): You may be Partner or Coordinator in only one proposal, but you can participate as a research team member in multiple proposals.
VR/SRC (Call 2): You may be Partner in only one proposal.

21. Can one be involved in two proposals as a co-PI?

A shared leadership within the role of Partner/Coordinator is not allowed.

22. Can a PI apply to both Call 1 and Call 2?

Yes, a PI may apply to both calls with different projects, but not with the same or substantially overlapping project.

23. What rules apply regarding ongoing JPND or VR-funded projects?

FORTE: No restrictions related to ongoing JPND projects funded by FORTE. The same applies to all projects in international calls funded by FORTE, independently of amount of ongoing grants. Double funding is not permitted.
VR/SRC: If you have an ongoing JPND project funded by VR/SRC ending after 31 December 2026, you may apply only to Call 1. Double funding is not permitted.

24. Can SMEs participate in the consortium?

SMEs cannot receive funding from FORTE or VR/SRC. They may participate as “partners on own funds”, subject to international eligibility rules and approval by the administrating organisation. Their role and added value must be clearly described.

25. Can different departments within the same university be included under one Partner?

Yes.

FORTE: A PI may include team members from different departments within the same university.

VR/SRC: Only one PI name is listed per Partner; multiple PIs may be listed as separate Partners if applicable.

26. Is cancer-related research eligible?

Projects with cancer as the underlying disease are not eligible. Secondary effects of cancer treatment may be considered only if cancer itself is not the focus.

27. How is Patient and Public Involvement handled?

Patient and Public Involvement is part of the evaluation criteria. Details are provided in both Section 5.3 of the calltext and Procedures (EPBrainHealth_Procedures-JTCs2026.pdf External link.).

28. You mentioned at the beginning that there are priority research areas for the EU Partnership Brain Health. Is Priority 1 the one related to this call, or are the other priorities something that will be announced in the future?

The current calls address several of the priorities. Please see the Brain Health Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) External link. for more details. Aspects of the SRIA that are not covered by the current calls are likely to be addressed in future calls.

29. What does the word “trajectory” mean in the title of the call? Are we expected to study disease evolution over time, starting from prodromal stages?

There are no requirements with respect to specific time points and age ranges for projects submitted to these calls. A longitudinal approach is advised. A project should justify, through its design and argumentation, that it addresses the question of factors impacting health across lifespan, but the joint call secretariat has no specific guidelines on methodologies. It will be the evaluation by the peer review panel that decides, considering feasibility and scientific excellence, whether a project is competitive for funding. Specificities of the disorder and the factors in question will be considered.