Decided
Call for proposals
Starting Grants 2025
This call aims to support skills and career development for junior researchers and to promote researcher mobility. In total, around SEK 100 million is reserved for the period 2026–2028.
Granted applications
Here you find information about granted applications in this call. If you have applied in this call, you will receive a notification and can view the decision in Prisma. Please note that the list show applications that have been granted funding at the main decision point for the call. The list do not indicate whether an applicant has declined their grant or if reserve-placed applications have been awarded funding at a later date.
- Funded project grants: 26
- Total applicants: 272
- Succes rate: project grants: 10,9 %
Quick facts
Grant type: Starting grant.
Funding amounts: Maximum SEK 2.5 million for two-year projects and SEK 3.75 million for three-year projects.
Project duration: Two or three years.
Budget: Around SEK 100 million, for 2026–2028.
Applicant: You are sole applicant for this grant type. To apply for a starting grant in this call for proposals you must have your doctoral degree issued at some point during the period 2022-03-20 to 2025-03-20.
Decision: A decision is scheduled to be made by Forte’s board on 23 October. Applicants will receive an email via Prisma once the decision is available. Granted applications will be published on this page on 24 October.
Background and purpose
The annual call for starting grants aims to support skills and career development for junior researchers and to promote researcher mobility. The starting grant is intended to promote establishment and independence in research by providing junior researchers with the opportunity to conduct their own research project.
Projects in this call for proposals may be carried out fully or partially abroad. Please note, however, that the project leader must be employed by a Swedish organisation that will serve as the administrating organisation. The research must also be relevant to Sweden and Swedish conditions, and this must be explained and justified in the application.
Guidelines for international research
The call for proposals welcomes applications within Forte’s areas of health, working life and welfare. The research that receives funding shall be of high scientific quality and have good potential to benefit society in the short or long term. For a more detailed description of the research areas that we support and do not support please visit the link below.
About the call
Starting grants aims to support the development of junior researchers’ academic careers. The grant is intended to promote independence and establishment in their own research field by providing an opportunity to lead their own defined research project. The purpose of starting grants is also to stimulate mobility among junior researchers.
You may apply for a starting grant up to three years after your doctoral degree certificate has been issued.
Project duration: Funding may be sought for either two or three years.
Funding amounts: You may apply for a maximum of SEK 2.5 million for two-year projects and SEK 3.75 million for three-year projects. Please note that the maximum amount includes so called indirect costs/overheads (OH). Applications that exceed the specified limit will be rejected.
Staffing: You are sole applicant for this grant type. You may not invite participating researchers to join the application.
Budget: Around SEK 100 is reserved for the call for proposals.
Eligibility requirements
Doctoral degree and career age
You may apply for a starting grant up to three years after your doctoral degree certificate has been issued. To apply for a starting grant in this call for proposals you must have your doctoral degree issued at some point during the period 2022-03-20 to 2025-03-20.
If you have been prevented from conducting research for extended periods it is possible to apply for an exemption from the career age requirement. You do this by invoking so-called deductible time. If you have invoked deductible time, Forte may request certificates or documentation to confirm the grounds for the specified absence.
Activity level
You are expected to have an activity level in the project of at least 50 percent of full-time. You should also be paid in the same proportion as the activity level. Applications where the activity level is below 50 percent will be rejected.
Employment
The project can be carried out at a Swedish organisation or university, or at an organisation in another country. Please note, however, that you must be employed by a Swedish organisation that will manage the funds (the administrating organisation).
Previously obtained grants
You cannot be the main applicant for an application under this call for proposals if you have previously received a postdoc grant or starting grant, regardless of the research funding body. Exceptions apply if you have obtained an additional doctoral degree after your previous starting grant was granted.
Parallel application in Forte's annual call for project grants
You may not be the main applicant for an application in this call if you are also applying for a grant in Forte's annual call for project grants. You may apply in this call and at the same time be a participating researcher in an application in the annual call for project grants.
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.
Assessment
The following conditions will be checked in this call for proposals:
- The main applicant has been awarded a doctoral degree and meets the career age requirement
- 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, which are health, working life and welfare (this is verified in consultation with the chair of the review panel)
- The budget in the application is within the maximum grant amount specified in the call for proposals
- The application has been signed by the administrating organisation within 7 calendar days of the closing date of the call for proposals
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.
If the application does not fulfil the conditions, it will be refused or rejected.
Review
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
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, material and methods: The clarity and coherence in the description and justification of the research’s 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.
Skills and career development
- The importance of the research and the choice of host institution to the development of the applicant’s skills, career and research network.
Independence
- The importance of the research and the choice of host institution to the applicant’s ability to independently conduct their research and contribute to the research field.
Decision and statement
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.
Review panels
When you fill in your application in Prisma, you will be asked to choose a review panel for your application. However, we reserve the right to allocate the application to another panel. The following review panels can be selected:
Important to know before you apply
Before starting your application, please read the information on this webpage carefully and ensure that the following conditions are fulfilled:
- You have created a personal account in the application system Prisma External link..
- You have stored your CV and details of your publications in your personal account in Prisma
- The administrating organisation for the grant has an organisational account in Prisma and has been approved as an administrating organisation at Forte. Administering organisation
Applicants with a Swedish doctoral degree must import his/hers doctoral degree from Ladok and validate it in the application system Prisma. A recommendation is to do this well in advance before the call opens. Read more about on the link below.
Prisma’s user manual External link.
Terms and conditions for grants
In order to receive the 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.
General terms and conditions for grants
Open access
By accepting grants from Forte, the main applicant also accepts Forte’s guidelines for publication with open access. Forte does not cover the costs for open access publication within the research grants we award. In cases where publication costs are included in the application, these costs will be deleted from any grant rewarded.
Guidelines for publication with open access
The use of AI tools
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 conducted as described. Applications must not include plagiarism, false, manipulated, or otherwise incorrect 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.
Guidelines for the use of AI-tools
International research
Applications with an international element must follow Forte’s guidelines for international research. Forte views international research collaborations positively. Forte’s areas of research cover complex societal challenges where international research collaboration and researcher mobility can provide important contributions. Defense and security policy aspects must always be taken into account in international research collaboration.
Guidelines for international research
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.
Application
All applications are to be submitted via the Prisma application and review system External link.. Please bear in mind that it takes time to complete an application. Therefore, start the application process well in advance. You can start filling in your data, then save and continue at another time.
The application form includes both mandatory and non-mandatory information. The application cannot be submitted if mandatory information is missing. Ensure that the non-mandatory information you wish to include is also included in the application upon registration.
Language
Applications under this call for proposals can be written in Swedish or English.
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).
In this call for proposals, it is not possible to include participating researchers in the application. However, to some extent you may include support staff, so-called “other participants” in the project. These persons do not need to be researchers. This means that they do not need to have a doctoral degree or their own accounts in Prisma. Read more about requirements for different participants on the link below.
Are you eligible to apply for funding?
Participating administrators
The main applicant can 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.
Funding for potential stay abroad
Funding of additional expense allowance when staying abroad
In this call for proposals, you can receive funding for increased living costs when staying abroad, known as an additional expense allowance. The allowance is paid out for you, an accompanying cohabiting partner and children under the age of 19 who you are obliged to support. See the document “Instructions for the application form” on the call’s web page for information on how to apply for an additional expense allowance. Forte does not provide accompanying spouse allowance, meaning compensation for the loss of income for the accompanying partner.
If your application is granted funding, any additional expense allowance will be calculated based on the need and information provided by you in the application. Decisions on funding for additional expense allowances will be made later after dialogue with Forte.
More information and the current table for the additional expense allowance can be found at the Swedish Agency for Government Employers’ website, arbetsgivarverket.se.
Guidelines for the additional expense allowance (In Swedish) External link.
Funding for increased accommodation costs when staying abroad
Forte covers potential increased accommodation costs during a stay abroad. In your application, state your potential need for this as well as an estimate of and justification for your increased accommodation costs. Calculations must be based on actual increased accommodation costs in connection with your stay abroad. It is the difference between your current accommodation cost and your accommodation cost abroad that Forte reimburses.
If your application is granted, funding for potential increased accommodation costs will be calculated based on the information you provided in the application. Decisions on funding for increased accommodation costs will be made later after dialogue with Forte. Forte may request additional documents and calculations if necessary.
Application
Forte’s general guides
Please read the above texts carefully before starting your application. You are also encouraged to visit our pages containing general information about the application and review process.
Application (Please note: this call is closed)
All applications are to be submitted via the Prisma application and review system. Please refer to the document “Instructions for the application form” (see below) when completing your application.
Frequently asked questions and answers
Can I use AI tools to write my application, and should I indicate if AI is used in the research?
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.
Last published: 24 October 2025