Grant for accessibility to infrastructure

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 call for proposals for accessibility to infrastructure covers two subsidiary focuses, and the application shall be for at least one of them:

Subsidiary focus 1. Facilitate and increase participation in and use by business and the public sector in the research infrastructures SciLifeLab, Max IV and ESS. The funds shall be used to develop competence and capacity at the infrastructure to guide and support users from the business sector and public sector, and to attract new user groups. This specialisation also includes the opportunity to develop methods and techniques that enhance the accessibility of data from these infrastructures.

Subsidiary focus 2. Promote Swedish participation in the development and upgrading of research infrastructure of major strategic value to researchers in Sweden and the Swedish business sector (does not have to be linked to the research infrastructures SciLifeLab, Max IV or ESS). The funds shall be used to develop technically advanced methods, technologies and components.

The projects shall be carried out in collaboration with two or more parties from different stakeholder groups (such as research infrastructure, academia, public sector, business sector, or research institutes). A participating research infrastructure and a non-academic partner are a requirement for a granted application. The requirement shall be verified through a letter of support from each party (read more under “Letter of support” below for details of how these shall be produced). If more than one application under the call is linked to a specific infrastructure, the facility itself must submit a prioritisation list to the Swedish Research Council after the deadline for applications has passed.

Applicant

The applicant for a 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 scientific responsibility for the research 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 by any other funding body. Also, it must not concern the same purpose/project 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.

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

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

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

If you are the project leader for an ongoing grant for accessibility to infrastructure from the Swedish Research Council, you cannot apply for this grant. If you are a participating researcher for an ongoing grant for accessibility to infrastructure from the Swedish Research Council, you cannot apply for a grant that constitutes a continuation of the ongoing grant or that is based on the same project. If you are the project leader of a grant for accessibility to infrastructure from the Swedish Research Council that has ended, the final scientific report, that you have already submitted, will be part of the assessment of the application.

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 project 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 may include up to 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.

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 research plan (please see instructions under “Research plan” below).

Costs and grant amounts

You can apply for a grant for 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.

The grant amount includes cover of indirect costs as a percentage of the direct costs, according to the model used by your administrating organisation. 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.

The minimum amount you may apply for is 400 000 SEK per year, including indirect costs.

Grant period

You may apply for a grant to cover a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 3 years, starting from January 2027.

The first payment will be made during November 2026 at the earliest.

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 research will be carried out: project organisation, time plan and scientific methods
• How the research promotes the subsidiary focus/focuses in question.

The abstract shall provide a summary of the purpose and implementation of the research. 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 research 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 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 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, 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 project 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 project 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.

Research description

Ethical aspects

Legal and formal requirements

State whether the research covers the handling of personal data, 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 project 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 your project, 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 that you have identified?
• 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.

Research plan

The research plan shall be forward-looking and consist of a brief but complete description of the research task. It may cover a maximum of 9 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 research 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 research project and how the research promotes the subsidiary focus/focuses applied for.

Preliminary and previous results

Describe briefly your own previous research and pilot studies within the research area that make it probable that the project will be feasible. If no preliminary results exist, please state this. State also whether the project builds on research and scientific results from previously awarded funding by the Swedish Research Council.

Project description

Describe the project design under the following headings:

• Time plan and implementation: Describe summarily the time plan for the project during the grant period, and how the project will be implemented. Describe also any crucial risks or obstacles that may impact on the implementation, and your plan for managing these.
• Project organisation: Clarify how you and any participating researchers will contribute to the implementation of the project. 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 project, and also other key persons (including any doctoral students) who are important for the implementation of the project.
• Risk description: Describe risks or obstacles that may affect the implementation and performance of the project, and your plan for managing them. For each identified risk type, the risk level (low, medium or high), potential cost increase, mitigation strategy or other relevant information should be stated. Examples of different kinds of risk:
  • Technical equipment does not meet performance, undeliverable, delayed, raw material cost, etc.
  • Specification changes or unclear description of deliverables
  • Loss of key personnel, loss of key competence
  • The cooperation do not lead to added value
  • Other risks

Provide the following information also. If a heading is not relevant to your application, please state this under the heading.

Equipment

Describe the basic equipment you and your team have at your disposal for the project.

Need for research infrastructure

Specify the project’s need for international and national research infrastructure. The Swedish Research Council funds research infrastructures that are open to all. If you need to use other infrastructures instead, please justify this (also applies for local research infrastructure).

International and national collaboration

Describe your own and the team’s collaboration with researchers and research teams in or outside of Sweden. State whether you contribute to or refer to international collaboration in your research.

Description of societal benefit

Describe how the project may benefit the sector of relevance to the project, but also its overall societal benefit. Describe also the expected returns from the project, for example in the form of possible future procurement, employment and competence enhancement, in the short and long term.

The description shall cover a maximum of 1 A4 page in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins.

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.

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 scientifically responsible for implementing the proposed research 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 2018–2026

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 2018-2026

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

If you have any participating researchers, you shall attach their 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

Letter of support

Letter of support from non-academic partners

The letter of support from non-academic partners shall describe in as concrete terms as possible how the project will benefit the non-academic partner’s activities, both in the short and the long term, and how this partner can contribute actively to making the project unique. The name and contact details of the person writing the letter of support shall be stated.

The letter of support may cover a maximum of 2 A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing, plus one further page if required for any digital signature. If several letters of support are attached, they must be joined into a single file.

Letter of support from the infrastructure

The letter of support from the infrastructure shall include answers to the following six questions:

• Is the project practically feasible at the infrastructure?
• Is the proposal in line with the strategy of the infrastructure? State the period for the strategy.
• Is the proposal in line with the infrastructure’s (detailed) planning for the time period stated in the application?
• Is the budget in the application reasonable?
• Does the proposal in the application impact on the infrastructure’s operating budget? If yes, then estimate the size of the impact.

The name and contact details of the person writing the letter of support shall be stated. The letter of support may cover a maximum of 3 A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing, plus one further page if required for any digital signature.

Budget and research resources

Project personnel

State the activity level (per cent of a full-time equivalent) of all personnel active in the project, that is, you, any other researchers, doctoral students and other personnel. Please also state the salary you are applying for, for yourself and/or other personnel in the project, 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.

Other costs

Describe any other costs of the project (premises costs, running costs and depreciation costs). Please state annual amounts in Swedish krona, rounded to the nearest 1 000 SEK.

You may include depreciation costs for equipment to be used in the project, provided that:

• the equipment has an economic life of at least three years
• the equipment has an acquisition value above a certain amount
• the need cannot be satisfied through use of national or international infrastructure supported by the Swedish Research Council and thereby open to all.

You may only include the proportion of depreciation costs that corresponds to the use of the equipment in the proposed project, and you may not include depreciation costs for equipment that is wholly funded by other grants. Please contact your administrating organisation for information about what is included in local research infrastructure, acquisition values or how to calculate depreciation costs.

Total cost of the project

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 project 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 every cost 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.

Other funding

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

Administrating organisation

Please state the administrating organisation and project site.

Participants

Here you may invite other participating researchers and 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 scientifically responsible for implementing the proposed research activities. If you have any participating researchers they 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 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 evaluation criteria.

Evaluation process

Your application for Grant for accessibility to infrastructure 2026 is evaluated by a review panel where the members are Swedish researchers and governmental agency representatives.

At least three members review and grade your application individually. If extra competence is needed, your application might also be evaluated by an additional, external, reviewer. The entire review panel (not including any external reviewers) then meets at a review panel meeting to discuss and prioritise the applications, and to make a proposal for a decision to the Council for Research Infrastructures.

Review panel

During the evaluation process, a two-stage procedure is used. In the first step, the section “Description of socio-economic impact” will be graded through an external assessment by a reference group with special knowledge of the social benefits of infrastructure investments. The applications then proceed to the review panel, which conducts an overall assessment of the complete application and prepares a proposal for a decision.

To allow for more in-depth discussions of applications with higher quality and a reasonable chance of being funded, not all applications are 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.

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

Evaluation criteria and guiding questions

The evaluation of the scientific quality of your application is made based on four criteria: The project’s relevance for the call, the project’s significance and impact within a research area, the project’s expected socio-economic impact and the project’s feasibility. The purpose of using several components is to achieve a multi-faceted evaluation. The criteria are assessed on a seven-grade scale, except for feasibility, which is assessed on a three-grade scale.

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

The project’s relevance for the call (1-7)

• To what extent and in what way is the application relevant in relation to the call text and to at least one of the two sub-directions described in the call text?
• To what extent does the project represent a novel approach to broader usage or deliveries to the infrastructure?

The project’s significance and impact within a research area (1-7)

• Is the significance of the project in relation to usage and/or deliveries, as defined in the call text, well described?
• What impact will the project have with respect to enabling new research capacity or non-academic research? If the project is a continuation of an already finished project, is the new project an essential development for the research capacity or non-academic research?
• What is the scientific value of the project?

The project’s expected socio-economic impact (1-7)

• What is the expected socio-economic impact of the project?
• How does the project affect the industrial / non-academic landscape in Sweden?

Feasibility (1-3)

• Is the feasibility of the project described, with letters of support, in such a way that it is reasonable that the intended objectives of the stakeholders involved (the infrastructure, the industrial / non-academic partner and the principal investigator) can be achieved?

Overall grade (1-7)

The above subsidiary criteria are weighed together into an overall grade, which reflects the review panel’s joint evaluation of the application’s scientific quality.