140 million SEK allocated to research on mental ill-health and suicide prevention

The call was conducted within the framework of Forte's ten-year national research program on mental health. Individual researchers or research groups could apply for three- or four-year research projects of 5 or 6 million SEK. The majority of the submitted projects aimed to develop and improve psychiatric care in Sweden, with several focusing on suicide prevention.

– The approved projects span a range of important areas and have a clear connection to Forte's national research program on mental health's four priority research areas. The projects cover everything from mental health in expectant parents to anxiety in young children. Several projects focus on the well-being of children and young people, but there are also projects focusing on women with refugee experiences and mental health, and examining debt relief as suicide prevention," says Frida Alicedotter Bartonek, responsible for the call and senior research officer at Forte.

– There are also projects evaluating various care and support interventions, including several levels and forms of care, or looking at social factors related to genetic vulnerability, early detection of severe psychiatric conditions, gender-affirming care and mental health, and several projects focusing on suicide prevention," continues Frida.

One of the approved projects focuses on psychological treatment for suicidal patients in psychiatric inpatient care and is led by Christian Rück, Professor of Psychiatry at Karolinska Institutet. He comments on how it feels now that they have received the news that their application has been funded:

– It feels super exciting! And I know it feels super disappointing for all those who applied with good projects that didn't get funded. We are so happy that we can now start our study on providing treatment to suicidal patients while they are hospitalized, instead of waiting until after discharge, because we know that the risk of relapse is high right after discharge.

Additional 60 million SEK

– It feels very good that we received an increased budget in this targeted call within such important and relevant areas. With 140 million SEK instead of the original 80 million SEK, we have been able to approve many more applications," says Lidija Kolouh, program manager for Forte's national research program on mental health.

Of the total 249 applications submitted from ten different universities and regions, many were deemed to be of high scientific quality.

– Many of our reviewers would have liked to approve even more projects in these important and relevant areas. Therefore, we are especially pleased that the Swedish Research Council has a similar call this year which gives even more researchers a second chance," continues Lidija.

– Now we look forward to follow the various research projects and hope to visit several of them during their progress. .

Read more about the approved projects and the call for proposals

Amounts, project leaders, and administrators for each project.

Call for proposals: Mental ill-health and suicide prevention 2025