Enhancing well-being for the future 2023 is a two-step call for international research projects. The call is initiated by NORFACE (New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe) in collaboration with CHANSE (Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe).

Despite our increased knowledge about well-being, the prevalence of mental health problems in the general population in Europe has not declined, and there is no evidence for improved happiness and well-being at a population level. On the contrary, new evidence suggests that due to turbulent times and increasing insecurity and uncertainty (related to e.g., war, economic uncertainty, measures to fight the Covid-19 pandemic or climate change) mental health issues and loneliness levels have increased across various social groups.

Mental health problems are currently one of the leading causes of disability, reduced working capacity, social decline, reduced quality of life, and premature mortality, which – in addition to having serious effects on the individuals – leads to high societal costs.

The aim of the call is to improve well-being for the future and to make these improvements sustainable for all groups in the population. What mechanisms is the basis for well-being? How does well-being develop over time? A special focus may also be needed on understanding well-being in specific (e.g., vulnerable) subgroups, including children, migrants, minority groups, and less economically and socially advantaged individuals.

About the call

The call consists of project grants with a duration of between 24 and 36 months.

Within this call for proposals, only transnational projects will be granted funding. Project teams are composed of at least four and maximum six Principal Investigators, i.e. partners, eligible to receive funding from four or more different countries participating in the call.

Forte and the Swedish Research Council will fund Swedish participants in the call. The Swedish applicants in a consortium can apply for up to a maximum amount of 2 million SEK per year (regardless how many Swedish researchers participate in the consortium).

The call follows a two-stage procedure. First, a short outline proposal is submitted to CHANSE. If the outline is selected, the project consortium is invited to submit a full proposal.

Scope of the call

Applications must cover one or more of the following areas, which are described in the call text on chanse.org:

  • Crises, challenges, and well-being.
  • Environmental challenges and well-being.
  • Well-being and mental health.
  • Well-being, economy, and politics.

Information meetings

An online webinar was hosted by the Call Secretariat on June 16 2023, 10:00 – 12:00 CET, aiming to answer the questions related to the call.  To view the presentation, click here (pdf).

June 21 2023, 10:00 – 11:00 CET, there was a national information meeting about the Swedish application. Presentation from the meeting is attached further down on this site.

Timeline

Applications are submitted to CHANSE in the Electronic Proposal Submission System (EPSS). Swedish applicants are also required to register their outline proposal/full proposal in Prisma. This will be possible first a few days after the call has closed in EPSS.

26 May 2023: registration of proposal outline in EPSS opens
21 September 2023, 14:00 CET: deadline for submitting proposal outline in EPSS
26 September 2023, 10:00 CET: registration of proposal outline in Prisma opens
5 October 2023, 14:00 CET: deadline for submitting proposal outline in Prisma

Mid-January 2024: registration of full proposal in EPSS opens, step 2
26 March 2024, 14:00 CET: deadline for submitting full proposal in EPSS
28 March 2024: registration of full proposal in Prisma opens
9 April 2024: deadline for registration of full proposal in Prisma
October/November 2024: announcement of call results
December 2024/January 2025: start for earliest funded projects