Needs inventory of research infrastructure of national interest

General information about the needs inventory

The purpose of the needs inventory is to identify areas where the needs for new research infrastructure of national interest are clear. Proposals submitted to the Swedish Research Council shall belong to one of the following four categories:

1. Needs for new research infrastructure. Needs for new international infrastructure may also be submitted to the needs inventory. This relates to both Swedish participation in the build-up of new international research infrastructure and Swedish participation in existing international research infrastructure.
2. Needs for bringing together and significantly developing existing resources into a research infrastructure where all component parts are assessed as being of national interest and the bringing together of them results in clear added value for research within the field.
3. Needs for continued operation of research infrastructure with ongoing grants from the Swedish Research Council to research infrastructure of national interest that ends in 2027 or 2028. In order for a research infrastructure with an ongoing grant for research infrastructure of national interest (from the Swedish Research Council) to be eligible for prioritisation and, if the Swedish Research Council so decides, to apply for a new grant in 2027, it is required that a needs proposal has been submitted to this needs inventory.
4. Needs for more comprehensive development of research infrastructure with ongoing grants from the Swedish Research Council to research infrastructure of national interest that ends in 2029 or later. The aim of the development shall be to create a comprehensive change to the scientific production, or a significant change to the technical approach, and this must be planned to start before the current grant ends.

In order to be eligible to apply under the Swedish Research Council’s targeted call for grant for research infrastructure of national interest in 2027, the need must first have been submitted and prioritised in the needs inventory.

Read more about how research infrastructure is managed at the Swedish Research Council.

Read more about how the Swedish Research Council funds research infrastructure.

Please read the assessment criteria used by the reviewers to assess proposals received.

Requirements for submitting proposals

Who can submit a proposal?

The needs inventory is open to all higher education institutions (HEIs), public authorities with research responsibilities, research funding bodies, researcher groupings or individual researchers. Proposals submitted shall relate to research infrastructure according to the Swedish Research Council’s definition and criteria (see below), and shall relate to one of the four categories described above. The proposal shall be drawn up, formulated and submitted by you as representative of an HEI, a public agency with research responsibilities, a research funding body, or a researcher grouping, or by you as an individual researcher. The proposal may include participating proposers, that is, persons or organisations backing the proposal. A proposer may submit more than one proposal.

Please note that you can only access the needs inventory in Prisma via the following link. External link.

Definition and criteria for research infrastructure

The Swedish Research Council uses the following definition of research infrastructure of national interest:

Research infrastructure of national interest is intended to provide resources that enable research by several research teams and different projects within one or more research fields.

Research infrastructure of national interest shall

• enable research of the highest scientific quality
• be openly accessible primarily to researchers, but also to the business sector, the public sector, and other relevant actors. When access is limited, prioritisation shall be based primarily on scientific excellence.
• create distinct national added value
• have long-term plans for the scientific operation and its development
• take long-term responsibility for management and control, funding, competence accumulation and development of the operation
• contribute to societal development, for example by enabling research that addresses issues relating to societal challenges.

What must the proposal contain?

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

International experts are involved in the scientific evaluation of the proposals. To ensure fair and equitable assessment and efficient processing, please therefore complete your proposal in English.

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

Descriptive information

Please fill in the Swedish and English proposal title (a working title that briefly describes the need for new research infrastructure, or the name of an already existing infrastructure). Please also state SCB codes and key words (at least one SCB code; state the most relevant code first and at least three key words) that describe the need/infrastructure.

Abstract

The summary of the need proposal shall include a brief description of the national need that the research infrastructure is expected to fulfil, and how the need can be fulfilled. The abstract shall provide a summary guide to the infrastructure need. Please use wording to ensure persons with another subject specialisation can understand the information.

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.

Description of infrastructure need

The description of the infrastructure need may cover a maximum of 4 A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing, including any images.

The following information shall be included in the description under separate headings, listed in the following order:

For proposals relating to needs for entirely new research infrastructure, new membership of international research infrastructure or needs to bring together existing resources (Categories 1 and 2 under the heading “General information about the needs inventory”):

Science case (approximately two A4 pages)

Specify the particular scientific questions that the proposed infrastructure is expected to address. Describe how the infrastructure and its operations can contribute to answering the identified questions and what type of research it will enable. Provide an overview of how the proposed infrastructure could promote research of the highest scientific quality and enable new scientific discoveries in the long term. Describe how the criteria of the Swedish Research Council for infrastructure of national interest are fulfilled.

User base (approximately half an A4 page)

Clearly describe the research fields, and if possible, the research groups that could constitute potential users, both nationally and, if relevant, internationally. Also outline the overall geographical distribution of the Swedish users.

Survey of the field (approximately half an A4 page)

Describe whether there are other infrastructures within the research area. If so, which ones and where are they located? What is the relationship between the described activities or the proposed research infrastructure and other infrastructures in the field? To what extent could existing infrastructures meet the identified needs?

Implementation (approximately half an A4 page)

If the infrastructure is not yet established, specify the current phase of planning. Outline the overall steps required to reach an operational infrastructure or to complete the development of an existing one. Briefly describe the various components or units that together constitute the complete infrastructure. Where applicable, provide an account of contacts or collaborations with existing infrastructures.

Budget overview (approximately one fourth of an A4 page, excluding the budget template)

Provide an overview of the total cost of the infrastructure over the planned grant period, broken down by year according to the template (see below). Specify what proportion of the total infrastructure costs is expected to be covered by the Swedish Research Council. Present estimated costs for construction, upgrading, investment, and development of the infrastructure, and also include an estimate of the annual operating costs. Comment on any uncertainties or considerations that may affect these estimates.

If participating in international infrastructures, use the template to indicate the total Swedish contribution and how much of that is expected to be funded by the Swedish Research Council. Also provide the total cost of the entire international infrastructure and the expected Swedish share, both during the grant period and in the longer term.

Attach a budget according to this template xlsx, 22 kB. (xlsx, 22 kB)

For existing research infrastructure with a grant from the Swedish Research Council (categories 3 and 4 under the heading “General information on the needs inventory”):

Science case (approximately two A4 pages)

Specify the particular scientific questions that the infrastructure is expected to address. Have these questions changed during the grant period, or are changes anticipated in the upcoming period? Describe how the infrastructure and its operations can contribute to answering the identified questions and what type of research is enabled. Provide an overall description of how the infrastructure will continue to promote research of the highest scientific quality and enable new scientific discoveries in the long term.

User base (approximately half an A4 page)

Describe the main research areas and research groups that currently constitute the user base, as well as any expected changes in the user base over the coming years. The description should include national and, if relevant, international users, as well as the overall geographical distribution of Swedish users.

Survey of the field (approximately half an A4 page)

Describe whether there are other infrastructures within the research area. If so, which are they and where are they located? What is the relationship between the research infrastructure and other infrastructures in the field? If the existing research infrastructure does not receive continued funding from the Swedish Research Council, what possibilities exist for users to address their research questions—for example, through continued but reduced capacity, other infrastructures, or alternative solutions?

Infrastructure development (approximately half an A4 page)

What changes in the infrastructure’s range of services to researchers and other users are planned for the coming years? What is required to implement these changes? Describe whether, and if so what, changes in the infrastructure’s modular structure can be expected.

Budget overview (approximately one fourth of an A4 page, excluding the budget template)

Describe the continued funding needs for the infrastructure, both in total over the period and broken down per year according to the template (see below). Is the total budget expected to change significantly compared to the current grant period? If so, justify and describe in text what the change is due to. Specify what proportion of the total infrastructure cost the Swedish Research Council is expected to contribute (broken down per year).

If participating in international infrastructures, use the template to indicate the total Swedish contribution and how much of that is expected to be funded by the Swedish Research Council. Provide an account of the total cost of the international infrastructure and the size of the Swedish share.

Attach a budget according to this template xlsx, 22 kB. (xlsx, 22 kB)

Administrating organisation

To register the needs proposal, the administrating organisation and project site must be stated. Usually, the administrating organisation and project site correspond to the organisation or the department or corresponding organisational unit where you, as the responsible proposer, are employed.

Please note that proposals in the needs inventory do not need signing by the administrating organisation.

Review panels

Please request the review panel or panels (in priority order) that you wish to carry out the assessment of your proposal.

The final allocation of the proposal is determined by the Swedish Research Council.

Review panels

Participants

Under this tab, you, as the responsible proposer, may invite other participants to your proposal. Participating researchers/proposers refers to other researchers or representatives of HEIs or agencies who may be invited to participate in formulating the proposal. Please note that the number of participants is not weighted into the assessment of a proposal; instead, it is only the description of the infrastructure need that forms the basis for the assessment. A participating administrator is a person who can help you to input and edit information in the proposal.

Participating researchers/proposers shall provide the necessary information themselves in Prisma, and upload these to the proposal. Any further participating partners and their roles can be described in the description of infrastructure needs.

CV

Under this tab, please upload CV information about your current employment from your personal account in Prisma. Any participating researchers/proposers shall themselves upload CV information about their current employment to the proposal. No further CV information is requested.

How your application is assessed

Evaluation process

The scientific and strategic assessment of your proposal is carried out by active researchers within advisory groups (RÅG) to the Council for Research Infrastructures (RFI). In their assessment, they also weigh in views from the Swedish Research Council’s scientific councils, and possibly from relevant committees and the Universities’ Reference Group for Research Infrastructures (URFI). A final assessment decision is made by RFI.

At least three members from an RÅG assess and grade your proposal individually. RÅG then holds a meeting to discuss and prioritise the proposals. The RÅG may, if considered necessary, request supplementary factual information to reach a more complete assessment of an area. Factual information may be obtained from the proposer or other relevant sources. Each proposal submitted usually consists of an area (of needs), but two or more proposals that are assessed as relating to the same needs may be grouped together and form an area. At the meeting, the RÅG also weighs in views from committees and URFI, whereafter they will submit documentation to RFI. Using RÅG’s documentation, RFI will make a decision in spring 2026 on the final grading of the needs proposals. In conjunction with this, RFI will also make a distinction between the grades A1 and A2, that is, which of the proposals assessed as being of national interest that will be prioritised by the Swedish Research Council.

Review panel (advisory groups for RFI)

Following the decision, the proposers will receive a statement including the grading and a summary of RÅG’s and RFI’s discussion and assessment of the needs proposal. In cases where several proposals relating to the same needs have been grouped into one area, they will receive identical statements.

Evaluation criteria and grades

The assessment of the needs proposal is carried out within RFI’s advisory groups (RÅG) based on four evaluation criteria. During the assessment, the proposals are assigned a grade. For proposals concerning new infrastructures, there are six possible grades for the overall assessment, and for existing ones, there are four. For the other criteria, the evaluation is provided in free text.

1. Scientific relevance (text only)
2. Strategic and national relevance (text only)
3. Other aspects important to consider? (text only)
4. Overall assessment (grade A-X and text)

Grades

• A1: The described need is of highest priority and is considered ready for call (new needs) / the infrastructure is eligible to seek renewed funding (existing infrastructures). Only used by RFI.
• A2: The described need could be fulfilled by an infrastructure of national interest within VR’s remit, and if the available funding and strategic considerations so allow, the infrastructure could be considered eligible for call.
• A3: The described need could be fulfilled by an infrastructure of national interest, but the thematic area is not considered ready for call. (Less relevant grade for existing infrastructures.)
• B: The described need could not be fulfilled by an infrastructure of national interest. (Less relevant grade for existing infrastructures.)
• C: Not relevant to be prioritised by VR, because need can be handled within existing national or international infrastructure or should be funded/handled by another organisation or in a different way.
• X: Need cannot be assessed due to incomplete information or unclear description.