Project grant for research collaboration between Sweden and USA on sixth-generation wireless systems (6G)

Application procedure

This call is for collaborative projects between Swedish and US research groups and is administered by NSF. The name of the call is Verticals-enabling Intelligent Network Systems (VINES) and the Swedish Research Council funds Swedish researchers in track 1 of this call. Please see the call text on the NSF website. External link.

Applicants from both countries will collaborate to write a single proposal.

The joint proposal is sent to NSF which is the administrating organisation. NSF will fund the US researchers while the Swedish Research Council will fund the Swedish part.

Please observe that NSF requires the Swedish applicant to provide a 'Confirmation of Eligibility for Funding' letter issued by the Swedish Research Council as a supplementary document (within the application). In order to append this letter to the joint application, the Swedish applicant should ask the Swedish Research Council for such a letter no later than 11 August 2025 by emailing to 6gnsf@vr.se. If assessed eligible, the Swedish Research Council issues a 'Confirmation of Eligibility for Funding' letter to the Swedish applicant.

The joint proposals are reviewed by the NSF and they will select which projects will be funded. If the project is selected for funding by the NSF, the Swedish research Council will invite the Swedish applicant to submit an application via the application system Prisma. The administrating organisation must sign the application in Prisma. The Swedish Research Council decides whether it will support the Swedish sub-project.

Focus

For information about the focus of the call, please see the call text on the NSF website. External link.The Swedish Research Council funds Swedish researchers in track 1 of this call. Track 1 (Use-inspired Fundamental Research) will support activities focused on use-inspired fundamental research to develop novel networking techniques and solutions.

The Swedish applicant

The applicant for the project grant must be the Swedish project leader in a joint research collaboration with a project leader in the USA. 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 must hold a Swedish doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, awarded no later than 25 August 2025. The degree award date we use is the date you fulfilled all the requirements for a doctoral degree, such as mandatory courses, oral defence and an approved doctoral thesis. For applicants with Swedish doctoral degrees, the award date listed in Ladok applies.

Grants from the Swedish Research Council shall be administered by a Swedish university or HEI or another Swedish public organisation that fulfils our criteria for administrating organisations. Your organisation must therefore be approved as an administrating organisation for you to apply.

If you are awarded a grant, you must be employed by the administrating organisation at the start of and throughout the grant period and any additional availability period, unless the Swedish Research Council approves an exception from this requirement. The employment must equal at least 20 per cent of a full-time equivalent. You do not have to be employed by the administrating organisation at the time of applying.

Number of applications and previous grants

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 participate in one project in this call. Further information about the grants you may apply for during the same year are shown in on the page “Several grants simultaneously”. Grants under this call are counted as ”Project grant with focus”.

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, 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, 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 are shown in on the page “Several grants simultaneously”. Grants under this call are counted as ”Project grant with focus”.

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 financial reports have been submitted.

Costs and grant amounts

The grant may be used to fund all types of project-related costs, such as

• salaries (including your own salary), however no more than corresponding to the person’s activity level in the project
• premises
• running costs (such as consumables, travel including stays at research facilities, publication costs and minor equipment)
• depreciation costs

Grants must not be used for scholarships. If a doctoral student participates, project funds may not be paid out as salary during teaching, other departmental duties, or courses that are not directly relevant or necessary for the implementation of the project.

Grant period

The grant period is 3 years, starting from January 2026. The first payment will be made no earlier than December 2025.