Exploratory grant in groundbreaking research

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’s funding of groundbreaking research aims to stimulate groundbreaking research through scientific risk‑taking and research breakthroughs at the highest international level. Groundbreaking research entails generating new knowledge through research breakthroughs that significantly advance our understanding within a field and drive it in a new direction. The call is directed at innovative and transformative projects across all research fields.

This initiative is based on a government assignment and forms part of a new programme for groundbreaking research.

Applicant

The applicant 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 more than 2 years and no more than 12 years before the deadline for this call.

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) must be suited to the task and its implementation, and must equal at least 20 per cent of a full-time equivalent throughout the grant period.

You must have been granted an external research grant as project leader through competition, amounting to at least 2 000 000 SEK in total, with a grant period that is ongoing in 2026 or that ended no earlier than 1 January 2024.

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.

Career age

To apply for this grant, your doctoral degree must have been awarded more than 2 years ago and no more than 12 years ago at the deadline for the call, that is, awarded no later than 29 September 2024 and no earlier than 29 September 2014. For applicants with Swedish doctoral degrees, the issue date of the degree registered in Ladok applies. You will not be able to complete your application if your doctoral degree was awarded less than 2 years ago or more than 12 years ago. An exception applies if you have not been in paid employment for (a) long period(s) after being awarded your doctoral degree, and this has affected your ability to gain merit as a researcher (“deductible time”).

The Swedish Research Council’s approved grounds for deductible time are a minimum of one month’s consecutive absence due to one of the following reasons:

• parental leave
• position of trust in a trade union or student organisation
• mandatory service in the total defence force
• long-term illness (own reported illness or care of child/close family member)
• general medical internship/BT foundation period (maximum 24 months full-time work), or further training/specialisation medical internship for clinically active professionals (maximum 24 months full-time education/work).

Please note that we do not accept other employment, unemployment or holidays as deductible time.

If you wish to claim deductible time, you must specify the recognised grounds and time involved in your application (please see instructions under “Descriptive information” below).

We conduct sample checks. This means that we might request a certificate in evidence of your grounds for deductible time.

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?

You may only submit one application for this grant under this call, either as the applicant or as a participating researcher. You may only submit one application every other year, regardless of whether the application is granted or rejected. You may apply for other grants at the same time, but for a different project.

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

There are no restrictions regarding previous or ongoing grants from the Swedish Research Council, if its for a different project.

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).

You may only submit one application for this grant under this call, either as the applicant or as a participating researcher. You may only submit one application every other year, regardless of whether the application is granted or rejected.

Costs and grant amounts

The grant amount is a standard amount of 1 000 000 SEK per year. The grant may be used 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.

Grant period

The grant period is 2 years, starting from December 2026. The first payment will be made during December 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
• What is important about the planned research.

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.

Description of external grant awarded through competition

Describe your previously awarded external research grant:

• Total awarded grant amount (in SEK).
• End date of grant period.
• Funder, type of grant, project title and case number. The description may cover a maximum of 2 000 characters including spaces. This is approximately half an A4 page in Arial, with a font size of 11.
• Also attach a decision or equivalent that certifies your grant. The document may not exceed 5 A4 pages.

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.

Deductible time

Please state any longer interruptions in your active research time after your doctoral degree caused by any of the grounds recognised by the Swedish Research Council. Please state the interruption calculated as a full-time equivalent and rounded up into full calendar months. Please see the recognised grounds for deductible time under the heading “Career age” above.

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.

Sex and gender dimensions

Please state whether sex and gender dimensions are applicable in your planned research, and justify your decision. Please note that we are not asking for information about the composition of the research team (women/men). Read more about sex and gender dimensions in research content.

The following applies:

• If you answer “Yes”: Please justify your answer, and describe also how you take account of sex and gender dimensions in the research plan. If you have stated that sex and gender dimensions are applicable, but still choose not to include them in your research plan, you will need to justify this here.
• If you answer “No”: Please justify your answer.

The justification 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.

The groundbreaking potential of the project

Describe the research’s potential to generate significant advances in knowledge. Also describe how the proposed research idea differs from projects that have already been awarded funding.

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 6 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.

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 continues to build on research and scientific results from a previously awarded grant by the Swedish Research Council.

Project description

Describe the project design under the following headings:

• Theory and method: Describe the underlying theory and the methods to be applied in order to reach the project goal.
• 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.

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

Data analysis and statistics

Modern methods often generate complex data. Describe how you plan to analyse data collected in the project, and the statistical methods you will be using. If the project covers clinical studies, please include a power analysis.

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.

Independent line of research

If you are working or will be working in a larger group, please clarify how your project relates to the other projects in the group. If you are (continuing) working in the same team as your doctoral or postdoc supervisor, or if you are continuing a project that wholly or partly started during your doctoral or postdoc studies, you must also describe the relationship between your project and the research of your former supervisor.

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

List the 5 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. For each listed publication or research output, it must be stated whether it is peer‑reviewed or not.

The list may cover a maximum of 1 page-numbered A4 pages in Arial, font size 11, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins.

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

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 5 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.

Budget and research resources

Please state your activity level (per cent of a full-time equivalent) in the project. Your activity level as project leader must correspond to no less than 20 per cent of a full-time equivalent.

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.

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 exploratory grant in groundbreaking research is evaluated by subject-specialised international researchers.

Applications are processed and evaluated continuously through individual assessment by at least three international reviewers who are part of a larger review pool with broad disciplinary expertise. The applications are ranked based on the individual scores assigned; see description below for details.

A reference group consisting of members from the Swedish Research Council’s scientific councils and committees submits a proposal for decisions based on the ranking list. Funding decisions are made by the Swedish Research Council’s Board.

Reviewers

After funding decisions are made, all applications receive a statement indicating the average scores assigned by the reviewers and the ranking group to which the application belonged.

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 two criteria: the groundbreaking potential of the research and the scientific approach. Each criterion is accompanied by guiding questions to support the reviewers’ assessment of your application. These may also serve as guidance for you when preparing your application. The criteria are assessed on a five-grade scale according to the guidelines below.

Groundbreaking potential of the research (1–5)

• To what extent is the project idea challenging current paradigms and the state-of-the-art that are relevant to the field of research?
• If successful, to what extent is the proposed research likely to lead to a breakthrough, a major advancement in knowledge?
• To what extent is the project novel and unique in terms of concepts and approaches?

For score 5, the following applies:

• The successful implementation of the project has exceptional potential to generate significant advances in knowledge.
• The project is characterized by a very high degree of originality and innovative thinking and has the potential to lead to groundbreaking research breakthroughs.
• Funding of the application is of the highest priority.

For score 4, the following applies:

• The successful implementation of the project has strong potential to generate significant advances in knowledge.
• The project is characterized by a high degree of originality and innovative thinking and has the potential to lead to groundbreaking research breakthroughs.
• Funding of the application is a high priority.

For score 3, the following applies:

• The successful implementation of the project has the potential to generate significant advances in knowledge.
• The project is characterized by originality and innovative thinking and has the potential to lead to groundbreaking research breakthroughs.
• Funding of the application is of medium priority.

For score 2, the following applies:

• The successful implementation of the project has some potential to generate significant advances in knowledge.
• The project is characterized by some originality and innovative thinking and has a possible potential to lead to groundbreaking research breakthroughs.
• Funding of the application is a low priority. The application may be funded if resources are available.

For score 1, the following applies:

• The successful implementation of the project is unlikely to generate significant advances in knowledge.
• The research may in itself be solid and of good quality, but the project is not characterized by originality, innovative thinking, or the potential for groundbreaking research breakthroughs.
• The application should not be funded.

Scientific approach (1–5)

• To what extent are the study design and methods of high quality and relevant for the proposed idea?
• Are the merits and experiences of the applicant and participating researchers relevant and sufficient for the proposed project?
• Bearing in mind the ground-breaking ambition of the call, is it feasible to execute the proposed research? Please note that you should not penalize proposals for risks associated to novel or unconventional ideas or approaches.
• Are the project’s ethical considerations and legal/formal requirements adequately described and addressed, including risk–benefit assessment and necessary permits?
• To what extent are sex and gender perspectives, where relevant, adequately justified and integrated into the research plan?

For score 5, the following applies:

• The proposed research plan is of exceptionally high quality in terms of study design and methods.
• The applicant and any participating researchers possess sufficient expertise for the project.
• The project, as described in the application, is considered feasible.

For score 4, the following applies:

• The proposed research plan is of very high quality in terms of study design and methods.
• The applicant and any participating researchers possess sufficient expertise for the project.
• The project, as described in the application, is considered feasible.

For score 3, the following applies:

• The proposed research plan is of high quality in terms of study design and methods.
• The applicant and any participating researchers possess sufficient expertise for the project.
• The project, as described in the application, is considered feasible.

For score 2, the following applies:

• The proposed research plan exhibits certain weaknesses in terms of study design and methods, but the application may be funded.
• The applicant and any participating researchers possess sufficient expertise for the project.
• The project, as described in the application, is considered feasible.

For score 1, the following applies:

• The proposed research plan is not of sufficiently high quality in terms of study design and methods. OR:
• The applicant and any participating researchers lack sufficient expertise for the project. OR:
• The project, as described in the application, is not considered feasible.
• The application should not be funded.

Ranking of the applications based on the reviewers’ scores

Applications are sorted into ranking groups based on the scores given by the three reviewers, as outlined below. Applications in ranking group 1 have the highest likelihood of being funded, while applications in ranking groups 4 or 5 cannot be funded. Within each group, applications are ranked first according to the average score for the research’s groundbreaking potential, and then according to the average score for scientific approach. The resulting ranking list forms the basis for the reference group’s proposal for decisions.

Applications in this group are not fundable due to insufficient scores for the groundbreaking potential of the research.

Applications in this group are not fundable due to insufficient scores for the scientific approach.