Annual open call: Forte is now granting SEK 330 million in funding to 70 new research projects with significance for society and peoples’ lives. The projects, which will run until 2027, cover all of Forte’s areas – health, working life and welfare.

The annual call for project grants is a call for researcher-initiated research within Forte’s areas of health, working life, and welfare. The call is not targeted towards specific knowledge needs or prioritised areas – instead, it is up to the researchers to initiate projects based on needs they have identified themselves.

This results in a wide range of research projects addressing a variety of research questions. Now, 70 research projects receive funding totalling SEK 330 million over three years. Many of the funded projects address some of our time’s major and most pressing societal challenges, while others deal with more specific challenges of great significance to certain groups of individuals.

Below, we describe some of the societal challenges that will be tackled by the funded projects. A list of all approved applications, including project titles and project leaders, can be found on the page Grant decisions.

Selected research themes

Crime and justice

A problem area addressed in several of the funded projects is crime. In recent years, Sweden has witnessed a significant increase in serious gang-related violence, with increasingly younger individuals serving as both perpetrators and victims. The granted projects will contribute in various ways to improve our understanding of the causes of crime, preventive efforts, as well as risk factors for criminality.

Examples of funded projects:

  • Entering the heated zone – on gang conflict breakdowns and their societal responses
    Project leader: Kristina Alstam, University of Gothenburg
  • Labeling Neighborhoods: Assessing the neighborhood level impact of vulnerable area designations on health, crime, and trust
    Project leader: Jeffrey Mitchell, Umeå University
  • Criminality in former child welfare clients: continuity and change from adolescence to midlife.
    Project leader: Marie Berlin, Stockholm University
  • Trials in transition: An explorative study of videolinks in courts
    Project leader: Lisa Flower, Lund University
  • Piecing the puzzle together: High-risk combinations of early risk factors and developmental paths behind juvenile delinquency.
    Project leader: Karin Hellfeldt, Örebro University

Mental health of children and young adults

There is a need for more knowledge about the increasing mental ill-health among children and young adults. Several of the funded research projects focus on various aspects of the mental health of children and young adults – including prevalence, consequences, and preventive measures.

Examples of funded projects:

  • Young and Troubled: A Comprehensive Study of Longitudinal Development and Time-Trends in Self-Injury, Disordered Eating, and Mental Health Challenges among Youth
    Project leader: Daiva Daukantaite, Lund University
  • Autism – a greater problem now than before? On autism, school performance and mental health issues over time
    Project leader: Sebastian Lundström, University of Gothenburg
  • Promoting Mental Health in Generation Z – Co-producing and Evaluating a Digital E-health Solution for Mental Health Literacy and Peer Support
    Project leader: Annika Lexen, Lund University
  • Gaming for Better or Worse: Longitudinal Analysis of Objective Video Game Play Data and Mental Health
    Project leader: Kristoffer Magnusson, Karolinska Institutet
  • The clinical- and cost-effectiveness of a parenting support group intervention for parents of preschool children with subclinical neurodevelopmental disorders and mental health problems
    Project leader: Karin Fängström, Region Uppsala
  • Premenstrual disorders: the key to addressing sex disparities in mental health among adolescents and young adults
    Project leader: Donghao Lu, Karolinska Institutet
  • Evaluating the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the school-based Solution-focused Intervention for Mental health (SIM) in first year of upper secondary school students
    Project leader: Fredrik Söderqvist, Region Örebro
  • #WiredGeneration: Examining the consequences of adolescent social media use
    Project leader: Geir Brunborg, Karolinska Institutet
  • Over-indebtedness and suicidal behavior – mapping of risk factors with particular focus on young adults, gender, and gambling disorder
    Project leader: Henrik Levinsson, Lund University

Equality in the workplace and on the labour market

As societal inequalities grow, working life becomes increasingly segregated. Several research projects will seek solutions for an inclusive working life with equal conditions for all.

Examples of funded projects:

  • The new inequalities: gender/class divides and labour market flexibilization
    Project leader: Charlotta Magnusson, Stockholms universitet
  • Family policies and Migrant integration: understanding parental leave and childhood education and care use and their consequences among migrants in Sweden
    Project leader: Eleonora Mussino, Stockholm University
  • Equal chances in active labour market program placements for different ethnic groups? Examining decision making in the Swedish Public Unemployment Agency.
    Project leader: Carolin Schütze, Malmö University
  • The impact of women’s and men’s careers on the family and children
    Project leader: Lena Hensvik, Uppsala University
  • Uncovering sustainable work strategies for individuals with Multiple Sclerosis
    Project leader: Emilie Friberg, Karolinska Institutet
  • Opportunities and challenges with neurological diversity in manufacturing companies: Development and adaptation of human resource management for neurodiverse work places
    Project leader: Jim Andersén, University West
  • Segregation across multiple domains: How does workplace and neighbourhood segregation shape the employment trajectories of refugees and their children?
    Project leader: Rosa Weber, Stockholms University