Grant for centre of excellence

Application procedure

The scientific evaluation of the application is carried out in two stages. You will only submit one application on one occasion, but the contents are divided up into two parts to facilitate the assessment.

Requirements for applicants

The following requirements must be fulfilled in order 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’s funding of centres of excellence shall contribute to Swedish research remaining leading internationally and shall enable new research fields to emerge.

The centre shall be based on a central theme, or a central issue, to be defined by the applicant.

A centre for research and teaching activities shall be built up around this theme. An overarching goal for the centre shall be to contribute to developing new, cross-disciplinary/multi-disciplinary research fields, and pioneering research approaches within these.

The centre shall offer programme activities within the overarching thematic area, and shall be designed so that it creates preconditions for researchers from different established research disciplines to participate during shorter or longer periods.

In addition to the programme activities, the centres shall also cover one or several of the following components:

• International visiting researchers
• Graduate schools
• New recruitment of well-qualified junior researchers (up to 7 years after award of doctoral degree) in international competition.

The centres shall also be active within higher education (second and third cycle education), and shall actively communicate with/involve the surrounding society in their activities.

Applicant

The applicant for a grant for a centre of excellence shall 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 award date listed in Ladok applies.

You shall be the project leader and have scientific responsibility for the project. 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 application, 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

General information about overlaps between applications and grants

Your application must not cover costs for purposes that is already funded by the Swedish Research Council or by any other funding body. Also, it must not concern the same activity/purpose that you know another researcher is applying for from the Swedish Research Council. 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.

Which grants can I apply for at the same time from the Swedish Research Council?

You may only participate in one application for this grant in this call, either as the applicant or as a participating researcher. There are no other restrictions regarding grants you can apply for simultaneously.

What applies if I have a previous 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 have previously been awarded a research environment grant

You may apply for this grant if you are the project leader for an ongoing research environment grant. You must describe any overlaps between the grants, and your application cannot include costs that are already funded by the research environment grant.

If you have previously been awarded a grant for centre of excellence from the Swedish Research Council

If you are the project leader for an ongoing centre of excellence grant, you cannot apply again for this grant, nor can you be a participating researcher in a new application. If you are a participating researcher in an ongoing centre of excellence grant, you may apply for this grant or be a participating researcher in a new application, but you must describe any overlaps in the application.

There are no other restrictions for other previous or ongoing grants from the Swedish Research Council.

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. If you are the project leader for an ongoing grant that ends at the end of the year, you may apply for a new grant without having submitted the final report, as long as the deadline to submit the report has not passed.

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

If your application to the Swedish Research Council relates to the same activity/purpose that another funding body has already awarded funding for, or that you are applying for from another funding body, please describe this.

Participating researchers

You must include a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 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 activities. These must also be employed by and active in a Swedish organisation that fulfils our requirements for and has also been approved as an administrating organisation for grants from the Swedish Research Council.

Participating researchers shall provide the necessary information themselves in Prisma, and upload these to the application. Any further collaborating partners and their roles shall be described in the organisational plan (please see instructions under “Organisational plan” below).

Costs and grant amounts

The grant is 8 000 000 SEK per year. You may apply for a grant to cover costs associated with the programme activities, that is

• costs for administrative support, travel and subsistence for programme participants
• costs for graduate schools
• salary costs for international visiting researchers and the junior researchers newly recruited and participating in the programme activities (the researchers must have an activity level of at least 30 per cent in the centre).
• research expenses.

The grant may not be used for premises costs, doctoral student salaries, salaries for the applicant or participating researchers or for scholarships. The higher education institutions shall contribute co-funding by covering premises costs and other salaries. (Please note that this paragraph was updated on 14 January.)

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

Grant period

The grant period is 5 years, starting in January 2027. The first payment will be made during December 2026 at the earliest.

Applicants who have received funding for centre of excellence will be able to apply for a 5-year continuation grant of 10,000,000 SEK per year.

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 are 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 abstract, please describe in brief the following:

• What is to be done: purpose and aims
• How the activities will be carried out: project organisation, time plan and methods
• What is important about the planned activities

The abstract shall provide a summary of the purpose and implementation of the activities. Please use wording to ensure persons with another subject specialisation can understand the information.

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

• What are the centre’s activities about?
• Why is it important to research this?
• In what way may the new knowledge be important?

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 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 the relationship between the different projects if

• you are applying for, have applied for or intend to apply for other grants from the Swedish Research Council in the year in question
• 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 activity/purpose with 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. Also verify that you are not applying for the same activity/purpose that you know another researcher is also applying for, or has already been awarded funding for, from the Swedish Research Council.

Each 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 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 scientifically responsible for implementing the proposed research 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.

Part 1. Organisational plan

Organisational plan

The organisational plan shall consist of a brief but complete description of the centre’s activities. It shall cover a maximum of 8 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins, including references and any images. References may be provided either throughout or at the end of the plan. All sources must be provided with complete information; links alone are not sufficient.

The organisational plan must include the following headings and information, listed in the following order:

• Purpose and aims: State the overall purpose and specific aims of the centre.
• Central theme: Summarise briefly the centre’s central theme or overarching question. State also how the centre is using new ways to combine theories, methods, factual knowledge and/or data from different disciplines to open the door to new research approaches and innovative research and/or contribute to the development of new interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary research fields.
• Organisational structure: Describe the centre’s organisational structure, that is, an organisational plan with management and role allocation among the participants. Clarify how you and the participating researchers will contribute to supporting and realising the proposed activities. Explain in particular how the time allocated by you (that is, your activity level) as project leader is suitable for the task, including the relationship with your other research undertakings. Describe and explain the competences and roles of the participating researchers in the centre’s organisation, and also any other key persons who are important for the implementation of the project. Describe also how the centre works with gender-equality aspects in its own leadership and organisation. Any deviations from a 40/60 gender distribution must be justified.
• Formats for the programme activities: Describe the planned programme activities and other activities planned within the framework for the centre’s activities, and describe how the chosen activities contribute to fulfilling the centre’s purpose and aims. The description shall cover the following points:
  • The centre’s components (international visiting researchers, graduate schools, or new recruitment of well-qualified junior researchers (up to 7 years after award of doctoral degree))
  • Planned activities (for example lectures, seminars, courses or workshops)
  • Plan for educational initiatives for higher education
  • Plan for involvement and communication with the surrounding society.
• Processes for recruitment: Describe the processes for recruitment of associated researchers and participants in the programme activities, including relevant gender equality aspects. Describe also how gender-equality aspects will be taken into account in recruitment.
• Time plan and goal description: State a time plan and goal description for the centre’s activities during the grant period. State specific intermediary goals to be reported annually and evaluated in conjunction with a possible application to extend the grant period. The goals must be specific, measurable and timed.
• Importance: Describe how the centre’s activities are expected to contribute to the development of new interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary research fields that contribute to Swedish research continuing to be leading internationally.

Part 2. Central theme for the programme activities

Ethical aspects

Legal and formal requirements

State whether the research covers the handling of personal data, or experiments on animals and/or studies involving humans.

If the research covers any of the above, you must also describe/state the approvals and permits your research requires, and how you plan to obtain these. Describe any other permits that affect your application, such as whether parts of the research will be done in a country other than Sweden. If no approvals or permits are needed, 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.

More information is available on the page “Conducting ethical research”.

Ethical considerations

Reflect on the ethical issues that may arise for the activities and describe these. You must also describe how you plan to address ethical dilemmas that may arise. Please justify why the research should be carried out against the background of the ethical issues you have identified. Examples of issues to reflect on:

• How do your research questions and expected results measure up in relation to the ethical issues?
• What (direct) risks (physical, mental, or integrity) will research persons or animals be exposed to?
• What long-term risks may arise from the research? Is there any risk that the research may be used in a way that is detrimental to animals, nature/the environment, or society (whole or parts of the same) in other respects?
• Is the research expected to contribute to other values over and above the knowledge gain? If so, to whom?
• How do you weigh up the risks (in particular short-term risks) against the value (which is often more long-term) of the research?

If no ethical issues are raised, please justify this. 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.

Central theme

The description shall consist of a brief but complete description of the central theme or question. It shall cover a maximum of 10 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins, including references and any images. References may be provided either throughout or at the end of the text. All sources must be provided with complete information; links alone are not sufficient.

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

• Purpose and aims: Describe in overall terms the purpose and long-term aims of the collaboration around the theme.
• State-of-the-art: Describe briefly the current research frontier within the research fields of relevance to the theme. Describe how the centre can generate new knowledge, beyond the current research frontier, that may be valuable for promoting scientific development within the centre’s fields.
• Research questions/hypotheses: Give examples of pioneering research questions/hypotheses that could be investigated within the theme.
• Pioneering: Describe how the theme can contribute to the emergence of new interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary research fields that enable pioneering research approaches.
• Education: Describe how the theme is linked to education at different levels or contributes to the development of new or partially new courses with close links to the theme.
• International collaboration: Describe the opportunities for creating/enabling internationally prominent research collaborations around the proposed theme.
• Recruitment: Describe how the theme can attract both internationally prominent researchers and junior prominent researchers within different disciplines.
• Organisation: Describe in brief the centre’s organisation, management and other components, as well as gender equality aspects linked to these.
• Scientific expertise of management: Describe in brief how the differing scientific backgrounds and expertise of the management personnel (applicant and participating researchers) complement each other and relate to the proposed theme/question, and how these provide the potential to realise the centre’s purpose and aims.

CV (applicant and participating researchers)

CVs shall include the headings below and focus on experiences of organisation and operational management. Each CV may cover a maximum of 3 page-numbered A4 pages per person in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins. Please note that the CVs of participating researchers shall be merged into a single file and be uploaded separately.

CVs shall include the following headings. If a heading is not relevant to your application, please state this.

• Education: First, second and third cycle higher education and specialist degrees.
• Current and previous employment: Postdoctoral visits and/or research exchanges relevant to the research described and any longer interruptions in the research that have impacted on your opportunity to gain merit as a researcher.
• Organisation and management: Describe your experience in organisation and leadership (for example from major centres, research collaborations, or educational programs), and explain how these experiences make you suitable to lead/participate in the leadership of the centre.
• Docentship: State details about any docent/associate professor competence.
• Supervision: State number of postdocs/doctoral students supervised, and at what HEI and department.
• Expert assignments, such as review assignments, investigations, committees.
• Invited talks, such as keynote speeches at major conferences.
• Other relevant distinctions and merits

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

Publications and other research outputs

The applicant’s and participating researchers’ publications and other research outputs

Upload all, applicant’s and participating researchers’, publication lists drawn up according to the headings and information below. Each list shall cover a maximum of 5 page-numbered A4 pages 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 publication lists of participating researchers shall be merged into a single file and be uploaded separately.

Sort the publications 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. The application cannot be supplemented with publications after the deadline for the call.

1. Selection of research outputs

List the 10 publications or other outputs of greatest importance to your application. Describe how you contributed to each publication/output, and its relevance to the activities/research questions of the centre described (maximum 4 lines per publication). Highlight your name in bold in the author list.

2. Relevant research outputs from 2018–2026

In this part, the publications listed under Item 1 shall also be included if they have been published during the period in question. Sort the publications, with your name highlighted in bold in the author list, under each heading (publication type) in the following order:

• Peer-reviewed original articles
• Peer-reviewed conference contributions, the results of which are not included in other publications
• Peer-reviewed edited volumes
• Research review articles
• Peer-reviewed books and book chapters
• Exhibitions, concerts, performances, etc.
• Other publications including popular science books/presentations

Budget and resources

Centre personnel

State the activity level (per cent of a full-time equivalent) of all personnel active in the centre, that is, you, any other researchers and other personnel. The time you allocate to the project as project leader must also be justified in the organisational plan, in accordance with the instructions above. Also specify any requested salary for potential international visiting researchers and/or junior researchers newly recruited, as well as other personnel working at the centre – both as a percentage of a full-time salary and as actual annual amounts (including social security contributions). Please state the amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Running costs

Describe any running costs of the centre. Please state annual amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Total cost of the centre

Prisma will automatically add up your budget items in a table. The total amount you are applying for shall also include indirect costs. You will have to add these to the table yourself. Here you can also add any additional costs that the centre entails (for which you are not seeking funding under this call).

Indirect costs follow the model that your administrating organisation uses. Please contact your administrating organisation if you have any questions about what constitutes indirect and direct costs.

Justification of the budget applied for

Justify briefly each cost applied for in your 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.

Co-funding

State, in table format, each HEI’s share in the co-funding of the centre (premises costs and other salaries). Please state annual amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK. The description shall cover a maximum of 1 A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins.

Other funding

Please state your or any other researcher’s funding for the centre over and above what is applied for in this application. Please state the amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

Letters of support

A formal letter of support for each participating researcher (that is, the applicant and all participating researchers) shall be signed by representative of the HEI in question. This also includes the administrating organisation. The researcher’s name shall be stated clearly, as well as the name and function/position of the person writing the letter of support. With the support letter, the HEI confirm its support of the application and the co-funding described in the application.

Please note that the letter of support is an important part of the assessment of the application, and that we are not asking for a letter of recommendation.

The document may cover no more than 1 A4 page, plus one further page if required for any digital signature. The letter of support shall be written in English, and shall be drawn up according to the template. No further information shall be included. All the support letters shall be merged into one PDF document.

You can download a template for the letter of support here. docx, 43.6 kB. (docx, 43.6 kB)

Administrating organisation

Please state the administrating organisation and centre site.

Participants

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

CV

Under this tab, please upload the following CV information from your personal account in Prisma:

Education: Third cycle higher education (doctoral degree)

Work: Current employment (including whether it is permanent employment or not).

Please note that participating researchers must upload their own CV information to the application. The information will be used to follow up the initiative.

How your application is assessed

Scientific quality is the fundamental criterion when the Swedish Research Council allocates grants to research. Your application is evaluated in competition with the other applications on the basis of the following assessment criteria.

Evaluation process

Your application for a grant for a Centre of Excellence will be evaluated by a review panel composed of international researchers with extensive experience in management, organisational work, and programme activities.

Review panel

At least three members review and grade your application individually. The assessment of the application is done in two stages. In the first stage, the review panel will assess Part 1 of the application, which consists of the organisational proposal, focusing on the design of the programme activities, recruitment processes, management and organisation. In step 1, the application’s relevance to the call is also assessed, i.e., whether the centre’s theme is of the highest scientific quality and relevant to various research disciplines.The applications assessed as being of the highest quality in Stage 1 will go on to Stage 2. In Stage 2, external reviewers with subject expertise will be appointed to assess the remaining applications. The external reviewers assess Part 2 of the application, focusing on the scientific description of the central theme/central question. Finally, the review panel will read the scientific assessments from the external reviewers and make an overall weighted assessment of each application, and then submit a proposal for decision.

Following the grant decision, all applications will receive a final statement showing the grades given to the application by the review panel. The applications that have not gone through to the scientific assessment in Stage 2 will not receive any grades for Novelty and originality or Scientific quality of the proposed theame. The applications that have gone through to Stage 2 will receive a final statement that, in addition to showing the grades, also contains a summary of the review panel’s discussion and assessment of the quality of the application.

Here you will find a more comprehensive description of the Swedish Research Council's assessment of applications.

Assessment criteria and guiding questions

The assessment of the quality of your application is based on the Swedish Research Council’s four basic criteria (Scientific quality of the proposed theme, Novelty and originality, Merits of the applicants, and Feasibility). The purpose of using several basic criteria is to achieve a multi-faceted assessment. The criteria are assessed on a seven-grade scale, with the exception of feasibility, which is assessed on a three-grade scale.

In addition to the basic criteria, in Part 1 your application is also assessed using two additional criteria (Management and organisation (seven-grade scale), and Relevance (three-grade scale).

For each criterion, there are guiding questions to support the panel members’ assessment of your application. These can also function as guidance for you when you write your application.

For Part 1 of the application

Management and organisation (1-7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent is the process for recruiting researchers/participants adequate for attracting researchers from different disciplines?
• To what extent are the proposed activities suitable for achieving the goals set?
• To what extent does the centre management have experience and expertise of the proposed activities that the centre covers?
• To what extent are the responsibilities of the individuals in leading roles and their role in the development of the centre described? Is the division of responsibilities reasonable and relevant to the objectives of the centre? Are any deviations from a 40/60 gender distribution among these leading individuals well justified in relation to the activity?
• Are the proposed recruitment processes designed in a way that makes it probable that the recruitment goals set can be achieved within the timeframe stated?
• To what extent are gender equality aspects taken into account in processes for recruiting associated researchers and participants in the programme activities?
• Has the applicant shown that there is a sufficient basis of applicants to the programme/research positions that will be offered?
• To what extent has the centre, through its organisation and activities, have the potential to open the door for new research fields and research approaches?
• Has the applicant presented a suitable plan for educational initiatives within higher education?
• Is the communication plan designed in a way that enables adequate communication/involvement/knowledge exchange with the surrounding society?

Merits of the applicants (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent do the applicants have experience of organising and leading major centres, research collaborations or educational programmes?
• Do the applicants/management demonstrate high-level scientific competence within their respective research areas and are they well established in their respective research fields?
• How does the applicant’ combined competence contribute to achieving the centre’s objectives?

Feasibility (1–3)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent is the design of the centre/programme activities realistic, including the time plan?
• Is there sufficient overall competence/experience of organising and leading major centres, research collaborations or educational programmes to manage the proposed operation?
• Do the applicants together have a sufficiently high level of scientific competence within the entire area/all the areas that the centre intends to work in?

Overall grade (1–7)

The above criteria are weighed together into an overall grade that reflects the review panel’s overall evaluation of the application’s scientific quality, where the criterion Management and organisation will be weighted particularly heavily.

Relevance (1-3)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent are the theme and its questions of the highest scientific quality?
• Have the applicants convincingly described how the theme/the central questions are (made) interesting for researchers from different established research disciplines?

For Part 2 of the application

Novelty and originality (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent can the theme contribute to the emergence of new interdisciplinary and/or multidisciplinary research fields?
• To what extent does the theme have the potential to open the door for new research fields and pioneering research approaches?

Scientific quality of the proposed theme (1-7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent are there preconditions for creating/enabling internationally prominent research collaborations around the proposed theme?
• Have the applicants convincingly described how the theme can attract both internationally prominent researchers and junior prominent researchers?
• To what extent is the centre, through its organisation and activities, adequately designed for the proposed thematic area?
• Is the thematic question of the highest scientific quality?
• To what extent does the centre’s theme address relevant and current scientific questions?
• Are the planned educational initiatives appropriate for the centre’s theme?
• Are any ethical considerations for the proposed activities properly described and addressed? Does the applicant adequately consider risk/value /suffering for humans, animals, nature and/or society?
• Does the applicant adequately consider relevant legal and formal requirements for the proposed activity, such as ethical permits and guidelines?

Merits of the applicants (1–7)

Guiding questions:

• To what extent has the previous research conducted by the project participants contributed new knowledge within the research field?
• How good are the project participants’ scientific production, impact and other merits in a national and international perspective, in relation to the research field?

Overall grade (1-7)

The above criteria are weighed together into an overall grade, where the criterion Novelty and originality will be weighted particularly heavily.