The Swedish Research Council is setting up a programme for strategic recruitment of associate senior lecturers

To strengthen the incentives for strategic recruitment at Swedish higher education institutions (HEIs), the Government has tasked the Swedish Research Council to contribute to funding a number of research positions at associate senior lecturer level.

The support is for researchers at an early stage of their careers, and they are selected in national and international competition. The positions are at associate senior lecturer level for five years, with the option to extend the employment at senior lecturer level for five years. The HEIs must also be prepared to co-fund the researchers they nominate.

The following conditions apply for nominating researchers:

• The nominated researchers may already have been employed as associate senior lecturers, but for a maximum of six months, and may only be nominated by one HEI per call.
• At least half of the researchers nominated by an HEI must have an international background – that is, they must have had their main employment and research activities outside Sweden during the last four years.
• The nominations from each HEI shall be gender equal, which means that a minimum of 40 per cent of the candidates shall be men and women respectively.

Four calls are planned

We will issue the call for career support for associate senior lecturers on four occasions: twice during 2026, and twice during 2027.

Each grant from the Swedish Research Council is for 3 million SEK per year, and we plan to fund 20–25 grants under each call. The employment as associate senior lecturer shall cover a minimum of 70 per cent of a full-time equivalent, of which a minimum of 50 per cent of a full-time equivalent shall be funded by the HEI.

How the application and assessment are made

The application shall include a research plan, a CV, and a description of the candidate’s mobility and international experience. It shall also include a nomination letter, describing among other things how the candidate will fit into the HEI’s strategic profile, and how the recruitment strengthens leading-edge research. More information on what the application shall include will be published this autumn.

The applications will be assessed by three international review panels within the following fields:

• Medicine and health, pharmaceutics
• Natural sciences, engineering sciences, and agricultural sciences
• Humanities, social sciences, educational sciences, and artistic research

Limited number of nominations per HEI

The number of researchers that each HEI can nominate under each call is based on the number of researchers and teachers at the HEI, and the amount of income the HEI receives from research.

HEI quotas for nomination: