Career Grant for Early-career Researchers, career age 0–3 years

The Career Grant for Early-career Researchers supports promising early-career researchers in taking the next step in their careers through funding for independent research projects. This call welcomes researchers who have recently received a doctorate to conduct their own research project, formulating their own research question within Formas' areas of responsibility: Environment, Agricultural Sciences, and Spatial Planning. The grant encourages interdisciplinary research questions and aims to give early-career researchers the possibility to improve leadership skills, run their own project, and contribute to the clear advancement of knowledge. The Career Grant aims to broaden perspectives, help researchers become more independent, and enable them to take the next step in their career by taking on a new or partially new focus for their research compared with previous work. To expand opportunities for improved career development, projects must include national or international mobility to other research environments, intended to improve abilities and opportunities to contribute to research relevant to society and of the highest scientific quality. The mobility should contribute to new impressions, ideas, and perspectives, preferably in new or partially new subject areas, and expand networks and skills in cooperating and collaborating with others. This specific track supports researchers with career age 0-3, meaning individuals who received their doctorate (degree certificate issued) no earlier than 1 January 2023 and no later than 1 October 2026. Researchers can apply for a 3- or 4-year project with a budget of at most SEK 1.5 million per year on average. The grant ultimately aims to strengthen researchers early in their careers and their opportunities to work in leading positions within academia, the public sector, civil society, or business. The administering organization must be a Swedish higher education institution, certain research institute, or government agency with a research mission. Co-applicants are not permitted, and funding cannot be applied for doctoral students. The call aims to strengthen society's access to expertise within Formas' areas of responsibility and contribute to continuous and long-term knowledge development.