Network grant for planning future excellence clusters for groundbreaking technologies

Requirements for applicants

The following requirements must be fulfilled for you to be eligible to apply for the grant. We carry out checks, and reject applications that do not fulfil the requirements.

Focus

The Swedish Research Council and Vinnova share the goal of realizing the government’s large-scale vision of world-leading excellence clusters for groundbreaking technologies. The agencies will coordinate their work throughout the initiative. The clusters are intended to become leaders in strategic areas of groundbreaking technology, in order to strengthen expertise and competitiveness of Swedish industry.

The current networking grant is a planning grant intended as preparation for an upcoming call for proposals to establish clusters of excellence in ground-breaking technology.

What may constitute a future cluster of excellence, as well as what can be included in such a cluster, may vary across different fields, within the following framework:

• Each cluster must involve a substantial and focused investment of tens of million SEK (at least 40) per cluster and year.
• The clusters must represent collaborations between higher education institutions with the aim of enabling research of the highest scientific quality within each technological area and pushing the frontiers forward to achieve international leadership in those fields.
• To enhance understanding of the interaction between new technologies, societal development, and international relations, each cluster of excellence must also include funding for social science and humanities research that explores opportunities, barriers, and risks, as well as research on international security policy related to emerging technologies.

Planned clusters may, but are not required to, include

• research infrastructure
• international collaborations
• strategies for future recruitment
• doctoral programmes.

Applicant

The applicant for a network grant must be an individual researcher together with their organisation (a Swedish higher education institution (HEI) or another Swedish organisation that fulfils our criteria for administrating organisations for Swedish Research Council grants). We must have approved your organisation as an administrating organisation for you to apply. The administrating organisation must sign your application in Prisma no later than 7 calendar days after the deadline for this call.

You must hold a Swedish doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, awarded no later than the deadline for this call. For applicants with Swedish doctoral degrees, the issue date of the degree registered in Ladok applies.

You shall be the project leader and have responsibility for the activities described. The time you set aside for the project (your activity level, that is the percentage of a full-time equivalent) must be suited to the task and its implementation throughout the grant period.

You do not have to be employed by the administrating organisation at the time of applying, but you must be employed at the start of and throughout the grant period and any further availability period. The employment must equal at least 20 per cent of a full-time equivalent.

Number of applications and previous grants

The requirements described in this section only apply to applicants (project leaders).

General information about overlaps between applications and grants

Your application must not cover costs for purposes that are already funded by the Swedish Research Council or any other funding body. Overlaps with other grants or applications may impact on the grant amount you are awarded, or be a reason for us to reject your application.

What grants may I apply for simultaneously from the Swedish Research Council?

You may only submit one application for this grant under this call. Further information about the grants you may apply for during the same year is found on the page Several grants simultaneously. You may not apply for other network grants for the same collaboration.

What requirements apply if I already have a grant from the Swedish Research Council?

There are certain restrictions if you are the project leader of an ongoing grant, that is to say a grant with a grant period that overlaps the period of the grant the application relates to. Please note that the availability period, that is to say the time during which you have the right to use your grant, is normally longer than the grant period. You can find information about your ongoing grant in your account in Prisma and in the “Approval of terms and conditions” you received from the Swedish Research Council.

If you already have an ongoing grant, then further information about the grants you may apply for is found on the page Several grants simultaneously.

Note: If you have been the project leader for previous grants from the Swedish Research Council that have ended, final financial reports for all of these must have been submitted within the permitted time frame in order for you to apply for a new grant. Please contact your administrating organisation if you are unsure whether all your final reports have been submitted.

What applies for applications to or grants from other funding bodies?

If your application to the Swedish Research Council relates to the same project concept as a grant you have already been awarded by, or are applying for to, another funding body, please describe this.

Participating researchers

You shall include a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 6 participating researchers in your application. Participating researchers are other researchers with a doctoral degree or equivalent competence (not doctoral students) whose scientific competence will be crucial for the implementation of the planned research. They do not have to be employed by a Swedish HEI. At least one of the participating researchers must be active at another HEI.

Participating researchers shall provide the necessary information themselves in Prisma, and upload these to the application. Any doctoral students and other collaboration partners and their roles shall be described in the planning description.

Costs and grant amounts

The grant is a standard amount of 1 200 000 SEK, and may be used for project and coordination-related costs, such as

• joint workshops and network meetings (such as travel and premises)
• salaries for coordination roles as part of the planning process for the cluster of excellence

You cannot apply for a grant to buy equipment or for depreciation. Grants may also not be used for scholarships or other research expenses.

The Swedish Research Council assumes that the administrating organisation will cover any costs in excess of the amount received.

Grant period

The grant period is 6 months, starting from October 2025.

The first payment will be made during October 2025 at the earliest.

Reporting

The grant results must be communicated to the Swedish Research Council no later than 31 March 2026 in the form of a report (maximum 20 pages). The report should serve as a planning document both for the authors in preparation for future applications, and for the Swedish Research Council as input for designing future calls for proposals related to clusters of excellence in ground-breaking technology. The planning document for the cluster of excellence should ultimately be translatable into an application for an upcoming call.

The report must address the following:

• Research area and scientific position: Description of the research field, its current research front (state of the art), and a justification for why the area should be considered a ground-breaking technology.
• Long-term vision and impact: Assessment of the technology’s potential impact on research and society over a 10–20-year period.
• Collaborations and networks: Identification of current and potential future collaboration opportunities, both nationally and internationally, within the framework of the cluster of excellence, as well as what each partner will contribute. Key collaborations within the cluster must be supported by letters of support or intent.
• Cluster development and infrastructure: Plan for the establishment and expansion of the cluster, including needs for research infrastructure.
• Humanities and social science perspectives: Analysis of opportunities, challenges, and risks associated with emerging technologies, including aspects of security policy and the technology’s impact on societal development.
• Resource plan and budget: Overall cost assessment, financing strategy, and project plan.

What must the application contain?

Please refer to the application form in Prisma in parallel with reading the instructions below, which describe the call-specific content of the application. More information on what to do in practical terms is available in our Guide for applicants.

International experts may be involved in the scientific assessment of the applications. To ensure fair and equitable assessment and efficient processing, please therefore complete your application in English, apart from the popular science description, which you must write in Swedish.

The information we request under each tab in the application form is described below.

Descriptive information

Abstract

In the summary of the planning description, you should briefly describe the following:

• Research area and relevance
• Networks and collaboration
• Forms of cooperation and planned activities

The text should provide an overview of the purpose and implementation of the collaboration. Write in a way that is accessible to individuals from other research fields.

The description may cover a maximum of 1 500 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately one third of an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Popular science description

Describe the planned activity in such a way that a person who is not a researcher can understand it. Do this by answering the following questions:

• What is the research within the proposed cluster about?
• Why is it important?
• How will the network collaborate/plan for the cluster?

The popular science description is important when we inform about the research funded by the Swedish Research Council.

The text must be in Swedish and may cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately half an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Other applications or grants

Describe briefly the different projects and their relationship if

• you are applying for or intend to apply for other grants from the Swedish Research Council
• you are receiving an ongoing grant from the Swedish Research Council with a grant period that wholly or partly overlaps the grant you are now applying for
• there are applications or grants relating to the same project concept/purpose with the Swedish Research Council or other funding bodies (from you or another researcher).

In all cases, you should also justify why you are submitting one or several further applications. If there are no other applications or grants, please state so.

The description may cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately half an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Research description

Plan for use of the grant

The description may be a maximum of 4 numbered A4 pages, using Arial font size 11, single line spacing, and 2.5 cm margins, including references and any images. References must provide full source details; links alone are not sufficient.

The planning description must include the following headings and information, in the order listed below:

Description of the research area

Briefly describe the research area and the current research front within the field or domain for which the cluster of excellence is being planned. Also explain its relevance to ground-breaking technology and how the cluster is expected to contribute to the development of the field. Provide key references.

Network description and mode of cooperation

Describe the following:

• The collaborating partners and how they contribute to strengthening the planning process
• The contributions of each partner to the research theme and how they complement each other
• A structure for collaboration, i.e., leadership and the distribution of roles among the participating partners

Forms of collaboration

Specify planned activities, such as:

• Coordination of research questions
• Knowledge exchange and mobility between collaborating partners
• Joint seminars, courses, or workshops
• Needs assessment of infrastructure

Description of merits

Describe how the merits you state in your CV and list of publications and other research outputs confirm your competence as project leader and responsible for implementing the proposed activities.

The description may cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately half an A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Publications and other research outputs

The applicant’s publications and other research outputs

Please attach your list drawn up according to the headings and information below. The list may cover a maximum of 5 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins.

Sort the outputs under each heading in reverse chronological order, so that the latest publication is at the top of the list. Please only include articles or equivalent that are published or accepted for publication at the time of applying. The author name order shall be identical to that of the published work. You cannot supplement the application with outputs after the deadline for the call.

1. Selection of research outputs

List the 10 publications or other outputs that are the most important for confirming your competence as project leader and responsible for implementing the proposed activities. Describe how you contributed to each output, and its relevance to the research project described (maximum 4 lines per output). Highlight your name in bold in the author list/corresponding.

2. Relevant peer-reviewed research outputs from 2017–2025

In this part, the outputs listed under Item 1 shall also be included if they were published during the period in question. Sort them with your name highlighted in bold in the author list/corresponding under headings (type of output) in the following order:

• Original articles
• Conference contributions, the results of which are not included in other publications
• Edited volumes
• Research review articles
• Books and book chapters
• Artistic work
• Other outputs that do not fit under any of the headings above. Please note that intellectual property rights shall be shown in the CV section of the application.

3. Relevant non peer-reviewed research outputs from 2017-2025

In this part, the outputs listed under Item 1 shall also be included if they were published during the period in question. Sort them with your name highlighted in bold in the author list/corresponding under the respective headings (type of output) in the following order:

• Artistic work
• Publications including popular science books/presentations
• Preprints
• Other outputs that do not fit under any of the headings above. Please note that intellectual property rights shall be shown in the CV section of the application.

Participating researchers’ publications and other research outputs

Attach all participating researchers’ lists merged into one file.

The list for each researcher shall include the 10 publications or other research outputs that are the most relevant for the implementation of the research activities described, and shall cover a maximum of 1 A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins. The name of the researcher in question shall be highlighted in bold and also be included in the page header of each list.

The outputs may be of the following types and must be published or accepted for publication at the time of applying. The author name order shall be identical to that of the published work. The application cannot be supplemented with publications after the deadline for the call.

Peer-reviewed research outputs

• original articles
• conference contributions
• edited volumes
• research review articles
• books and book chapters
• artistic works
• other outputs

and

Non peer-reviewed research outputs

Budget and research resources

The grant is a standard amount and you therefore do not need to enter any budget applied for in the application form.

Justification of the budget applied for

Describe briefly the primary costs you intend to cover within the framework for the grant budget. The description may cover a maximum of 4 000 characters including blank spaces. This is approximately one A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing.

Administrating organisation

Please state the administrating organisation and project site.

Participants

Here you shall invite participating researchers and any participating administrators to your application.

CV

Under this tab, please upload your relevant CV information from your personal account in Prisma. The information/merits shall confirm your competence as project leader and responsible for implementing the proposed activities. Participating researchers must upload their own CV information to the application.

The following information (where available) must always be included in the respective CV:

Education

First, second and third cycle higher education and specialist degrees.

Work

• Current employment (including information on employment format)
• Longer relevant employment
• Post-doctoral visits (state also as employment if applicable)
• Researcher exchanges of relevance to the research described
• Any longer interruptions in the research that have impacted on your opportunity to gain merit as a researcher.

Merits and awards

• Docentship/associate professorship
• Persons you have supervised (postdoctoral and doctoral students; state the number of persons in each category and list the names of the maximum 10 most relevant)
• Relevant grants you have received in competition (list maximum 10)
• Your most relevant prizes and awards (list maximum 10)
• Any other merits of relevance to the application, such as invitations to lecture, leader assignments, representative assignments, membership of scientific organisations and similar.

Intellectual property rights

For example, patents and open access computer programs developed by you; state up to 10 of your most relevant.

How your application is assessed

Scientific quality is the fundamental criterion used by the Swedish Research Council when awarding research grants. Your application is assessed in competition with other applications based on the evaluation criteria below.

Your application is assessed by a review panel composed of secretary generals from the Swedish Research Council. At least three panel members review and assess your application individually. If additional expertise is needed, the application may also be reviewed by external experts. The full panel then meets to discuss and rank the applications, and finally submits a funding recommendation to the Director General of the Swedish Research Council.

To allow for more in-depth discussions of applications with higher quality and a reasonable chance of being funded, not all applications are necessarily discussed in detail at the review panel’s meeting. The applications that are not discussed thoroughly are those that the panel members during their individual review have assessed having the lowest quality among the panel’s applications. Following the grant decision, all applications receive a final statement that includes the review panel’s grading of the application. The applications that have been discussed in more detail at the panel meeting receive an individual final statement which, in addition to the grades, also contains a summary of the review panel’s discussion and joint assessment of the scientific quality of the application.

A more general description of the Swedish Research Council’s evaluation process can be found here.

Evaluation criteria and guiding questions

The assessment of your application considers the scientific merits of the proposed research constellation and the relevance of the proposal in relation to the aim of the call – to plan for a future application for funding to establish clusters of excellence in ground-breaking technology.

The evaluation of the researchers’ scientific merits and the relevance to the call is done using a seven-grade scale.

Scientific merits (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• How strong are the scientific merits of the applicant researchers?
• How well do the researchers’ different areas of expertise complement one another in strengthening the planning of the proposed cluster?

Relevance to the call (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• How well will the proposed activities serve as a foundation for a future application to establish a cluster of excellence?
• Assuming the proposed planning activities are carried out, how relevant is the resulting application likely to be for a future call for clusters of excellence in ground-breaking technology?