Research Project Grant — Natural and Engineering Sciences

Research Project Grant — Natural and Engineering Sciences

Supports natural and engineering researchers in Sweden through multi-year research funding for scientific progress and innovation.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Research Project Grant within Natural and Engineering Sciences is Vetenskapsrådet's (VR) primary annual individual research grant for the natural and engineering sciences. It is an undirected call, meaning VR imposes no thematic restrictions and funds any scientifically excellent project within the broad disciplinary scope. The 2026 cycle opened 4 March 2026 and closed 14 April 2026; decisions are expected no later than the end of November 2026, with projects starting in January 2027. The call is a recurring annual programme.

Grants range from SEK 600,000 to SEK 1,400,000 per year for project durations of one to four years. Individual researchers with a Swedish or equivalent foreign doctoral degree apply as principal investigators. The applicant must be employed by the administrating organisation at a minimum of 20% full-time equivalent throughout the grant period. Up to six additional participating researchers holding doctoral degrees may join the team. Applications are submitted and processed through VR's Prisma system; the administrating organisation must countersign the application within seven calendar days of the submission deadline. Applications must be written in English, except for the popular-science description which must be in Swedish.

Evaluation uses four criteria: scientific quality, novelty and originality, applicant merits, and feasibility. Feasibility functions as a hard gate — an application receiving a grade below 2 on feasibility is disqualified regardless of its scores on the other three criteria. Applicants preparing proposals should therefore ensure that budget, timeline, and resource plans are rigorously specified. Researchers planning to apply to the next annual cycle should monitor VR's calls page for the opening of the 2027 round, typically announced in November of the preceding year.