Deadline: 18-Aug-2026
The Swedish Research Council supports long-term collaborative research in humanities and social sciences through a research environment grant scheme. The grant funds larger, interdisciplinary, and inter-institutional projects involving three to seven qualified researchers working toward a shared long-term scientific objective. Annual funding ranges from 1,500,000 SEK to 3,000,000 SEK, including indirect costs, for the full project duration.
Overview
The Swedish Research Council provides funding to strengthen long-term research collaboration in the humanities and social sciences.
The grant is designed for larger and more challenging research projects that require cooperation across disciplines, universities, research institutions, or international organisations.
The scheme supports strong research environments where several researchers work collectively toward a shared scientific goal.
Purpose of the Grant
The purpose of the research environment grant is to build and strengthen collaborative research groups in humanities and social sciences.
The grant supports projects that are too large or complex for a single researcher to carry out alone. It is intended for research that requires combined expertise, interdisciplinary methods, and long-term cooperation between multiple researchers and institutions.
Key Focus Areas
The grant focuses on humanities and social sciences, long-term collaborative research, interdisciplinary research, inter-institutional cooperation, research environment development, national and international research collaboration, strong research groups, shared scientific objectives, and larger research projects requiring coordinated expertise.
What Is a Research Environment Grant?
A research environment grant is funding designed to support a group of researchers working together on a common research objective.
Unlike smaller individual research grants, this scheme supports broader research environments where multiple researchers contribute different areas of expertise.
The goal is to create conditions for high-quality research that benefits from collaboration, shared methods, strong project organisation, and long-term scientific planning.
Funding Amount
The annual funding range is between 1,500,000 SEK and 3,000,000 SEK.
This amount includes indirect costs and applies for the full duration of the project.
The Swedish Research Council normally funds up to 80 percent of salaries for researchers involved in the project.
Research Team Requirements
Each project must include a minimum of three and a maximum of seven researchers in total.
The research team must include:
- One applicant
- At least two participating researchers
- No more than six participating researchers
- A total team size of three to seven researchers
All researchers must hold a doctoral degree or have equivalent competence.
The combined expertise of the research team must be necessary for carrying out the project.
Collaboration Requirements
The grant encourages collaboration between researchers from different disciplines, universities, institutions, or countries.
Participating researchers may be affiliated with:
- Swedish universities
- Swedish research institutions
- International universities
- International research organisations
- Other relevant academic or research bodies
Their roles must be clearly described in the research plan. Each researcher’s contribution should be meaningfully integrated into the project design, methodology, implementation, and expected results.
Who Is Eligible?
Eligible applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Hold a Swedish doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign qualification
- Have received the doctoral degree or equivalent qualification no later than the application deadline
- Be affiliated with an approved Swedish administrating organisation
- Have the application formally endorsed by the Swedish administrating organisation
- Maintain employment at the administrating organisation for the entire grant period
- Dedicate a suitable level of activity to the project
- Maintain at least 20 percent employment equivalent to full-time work
The applicant is responsible for leading and coordinating the research environment and ensuring that the project is implemented according to the approved plan.
Who Can Participate as Researchers?
Participating researchers must hold a doctoral degree or equivalent competence.
They may come from different universities, research institutions, or international organisations.
Their expertise must be essential to the project and clearly connected to the research objectives.
Participating researchers should not be included only for symbolic collaboration. Their roles must be active, relevant, and justified in the application.
Why It Matters
This grant matters because humanities and social sciences research often requires broad perspectives, long-term collaboration, and strong institutional support.
Large-scale research questions may involve several disciplines, methods, regions, datasets, languages, historical contexts, or theoretical approaches.
By funding research environments, the Swedish Research Council helps researchers build stronger teams, develop deeper collaboration, and produce research with long-term academic and societal value.
The scheme also supports national and international cooperation, allowing researchers to address complex questions that cannot be fully explored through isolated individual projects.
What the Application Must Include
Applications must provide structured and clear information about the research project, research team, funding situation, and societal relevance.
Key application components include:
- Project abstract
- Research purpose
- Research questions
- Methods
- Project organisation
- Timeline
- Scientific significance
- Research environment description
- Roles of participating researchers
- Swedish-language popular science description
- Information on other ongoing or related grants
- Details of overlapping or related funding applications
- Justification for multiple submissions, if applicable
How to Apply
Applicants should prepare a complete application that clearly explains the research objective, team structure, collaboration model, budget, and long-term value of the project.
Step 1: Define the Long-Term Scientific Objective
Start by identifying the central research objective.
The objective should be ambitious, clear, and suitable for a larger collaborative project in humanities or social sciences.
It should explain why the research requires multiple researchers and why a research environment grant is appropriate.
Step 2: Build the Research Team
Create a team of three to seven researchers, including the applicant.
The team should include researchers whose expertise is essential to the project.
Each participant’s role should be clearly connected to the research plan.
Step 3: Confirm Institutional Affiliation
The applicant must be affiliated with an approved Swedish administrating organisation.
The organisation must formally endorse the application.
The applicant must also remain employed by the administrating organisation throughout the grant period.
Step 4: Prepare the Research Plan
The research plan should explain:
- The project’s purpose
- Research questions
- Theoretical framework
- Methods
- Data or source material
- Work packages
- Collaboration structure
- Timeline
- Expected scientific contribution
- Role of each researcher
- How the project strengthens the research environment
Step 5: Prepare the Abstract
The abstract should clearly summarise the project for academic review.
It should include:
- Purpose of the research
- Main methods
- Project organisation
- Timeline
- Expected significance
- Contribution to humanities or social sciences
Step 6: Write the Popular Science Description in Swedish
Applicants must include a Swedish-language popular science description.
This section should explain the project in accessible language and describe its relevance, value, and societal importance.
It should be understandable to non-specialist readers.
Step 7: Disclose Related Funding
Applicants must disclose any ongoing, overlapping, or related funding applications or grants.
If the applicant has submitted similar or connected applications, they must explain the relationship between them and justify why multiple submissions are necessary.
Step 8: Prepare the Budget
The requested funding should fall within the annual range of 1,500,000 SEK to 3,000,000 SEK, including indirect costs.
The budget should be realistic and clearly linked to the project’s activities, staffing, collaboration, and implementation needs.
Step 9: Submit the Endorsed Application
Submit the completed application through the required system with all necessary sections, documents, and endorsements from the Swedish administrating organisation.
Tips for a Strong Application
A strong application should show why the project needs a collaborative research environment rather than individual research funding.
Applicants should:
- Present a clear long-term scientific objective
- Demonstrate strong relevance to humanities or social sciences
- Explain why each researcher is essential
- Show genuine interdisciplinary or inter-institutional cooperation
- Provide a realistic and well-organised timeline
- Clearly describe the project management structure
- Ensure the budget matches the scale of the work
- Write a strong Swedish-language popular science description
- Disclose related funding transparently
- Explain how the project strengthens research capacity and collaboration
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Applicants should avoid weak or unclear collaboration structures.
Common mistakes include:
- Including researchers whose roles are not clearly justified
- Submitting a project that appears suitable for a single researcher
- Failing to show a shared long-term scientific objective
- Providing an unclear research environment description
- Missing the Swedish-language popular science description
- Not disclosing related or overlapping funding
- Requesting funding outside the permitted annual range
- Failing to confirm employment and affiliation requirements
- Not showing how the research team’s combined expertise is essential
- Providing a vague timeline or poorly structured research plan
FAQ
1. What is the Swedish Research Council Research Environment Grant?
It is a grant that supports long-term collaborative research in humanities and social sciences by funding larger projects involving several researchers and institutions.
2. What fields does the grant support?
The grant supports research in humanities and social sciences. It is intended for projects that require interdisciplinary or inter-institutional cooperation.
3. How much funding is available?
The annual grant amount ranges from 1,500,000 SEK to 3,000,000 SEK, including indirect costs, for the full duration of the project.
4. How many researchers must be involved?
Each project must include at least three and no more than seven researchers in total, including the applicant and participating researchers.
5. Who can apply as the main applicant?
The applicant must hold a Swedish doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign qualification awarded no later than the application deadline. The applicant must also be affiliated with an approved Swedish administrating organisation.
6. Can international researchers participate?
Yes. Participating researchers may be affiliated with international universities, institutions, or organisations, as long as their contributions are clearly integrated into the research plan.
7. What must the application include?
The application must include an abstract, research plan, project organisation, timeline, Swedish-language popular science description, information on related funding, and details explaining the roles of participating researchers.
Conclusion
The Swedish Research Council Research Environment Grant offers major support for ambitious humanities and social sciences research that depends on collaboration across disciplines, institutions, and countries. With annual funding of 1,500,000 SEK to 3,000,000 SEK, the grant helps build strong research environments, support larger scientific projects, and promote long-term academic cooperation. Applicants should submit a well-structured proposal that clearly demonstrates the need for collaboration, the strength of the research team, and the project’s scientific and societal value.
For more information, visit Swedish Research Council.
