Continuous mandates in clinical research
As a public agency, we receive our mandates from the Government. They can be found in our ordinance with directive. Here you can find more information about continuous mandates.


From our directive: The Swedish Research Council shall support and develop the prerequisites for clinical studies in Sweden.
You can read our complete directive on the Riksdag’s website (in Swedish) External link.


From our directive: The Swedish Research Council shall assist the steering group for the agreement between the Swedish Government and certain county councils on collaboration in the training of physicians, clinical research and development of health and medical care (ALF agreement) with administrative support.
You can read our complete directive on the Riksdag’s website (in Swedish) External link.


From our directive: The Swedish Research Council shall set up an advisory function that actors who wish to use health data for research and innovation can contact for answers to their questions.


From our appropriations document: The Swedish Research Council shall evaluate the quality of the clinical research at the regions covered by the ALF agreement. The starting point for the evaluation shall be the proposals decided on by the national steering group for ALF, and it shall be based on the following aspects: the quality of scientific production, the clinical significance and societal benefit of the research, and the prerequisites of the research. During this work, the Swedish Research Council shall maintain a dialogue with the National Board of Health and Welfare and the national steering group for ALF.
The task shall be reported to the Government (Ministry for Education) no later than 31 March 2023.
From our directive: The Swedish Research Council shall improve accessibility to and facilitate the use of register data for research purposes, and shall assist researchers with information about the relevant rules governing registers.
You can read our complete directive on the Riksdag’s website (in Swedish) External link.
Temporary mandates in clinical research
In addition to our continuous mandates, we may receive temporary mandates from the Government. Here you can find more information about these (both ongoing and concluded mandates are shown).


The Swedish Research Council shall temporarily reinforce the activities within Clinical Studies Sweden to increase the opportunities for clinical researchers in Sweden to conduct clinical studies linked to the disease COVID-19.
The Government mandates the Swedish Research Council to allocate funding to national collaboration networks for clinical research, linked to health and medical care. The purpose is to bring together national competence in research, health and medical care, patients and users and also the business sector to support knowledge exchange, increase interaction and stimulate thematic research and innovation collaborations within specific diagnosis areas.
The task shall be carried out in collaboration with the national coordinator of the life sciences field and other actors.
Note: From our appropriations document: Due to the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, the terms and conditions for the mandate on collaboration networks for clinical research have been changed. Funding within the framework for the mandate that have not yet been used during the current year may, as needed, be allocated to clinical therapy research with special prioritised knowledge needs related to COVID-19.
From our appropriations document: During 2019, the Swedish Research Council shall allocate 30 million SEK to a joint initiative for research and health and medical care to coordinate national research infrastructure for the collection and storage of biological material from humans in biobanks. This requires, among other things, standardisation of IT and patient record systems as well as equipment for collecting and storing tissue samples in biobanks, including options for long-term storage of samples also for research purposes.
From our appropriations document: The Swedish Research Council shall review its organisation in relation to the activities carried out within the framework for the Committee for Clinical Studies and the Committee for Clinical Therapy Research. The assignment includes analysing how the activities can be developed to increase the quality of clinical studies in Sweden, and to enable the needs of the business sector to be fulfilled to a greater extent, in order to increase the number of company-funded studies in Sweden. The Swedish Research Council shall obtain the opinions of external actors.
The Swedish Research Council shall report on the task to the Government (Ministry for Education) no later than 30 September 2020.
Statistics and follow-up
The Swedish Research Council, via the Office for ALF, is responsible for collecting and reporting on follow-up statistics on clinical research in the regions and universities covered by the ALF agreement. These statistics shall provide a general overview, contribute to the development and provide background material for future ALF evaluations. In parallel with this, we have also been tasked with ensuring access to statistics relating to clinical studies taking place in Sweden outside the ALF agreement.
The regions’ reporting of ALF payments – our statistics (in Swedish) External link.
Bibliometric statistics for publications in clinical research (in Swedish) External link.
Ethical approval for medical research – statistics (in Swedish) External link.
PublISHED ON
UpDATED ON