Grant Writing Activities
Kick-off seminar on starting grants from VR, RJ, FORMAS, and FORTE
The first grant writing activity of the year is usually a seminar about starting grants from VR, RJ, FORMAS, and FORTE. This also kicks off the grant writing workshop, as it is focused on these grants.
Topics covered:
- Success stories and tips from fellow junior researchers
- How to write a successful grant from a Reviewer Perspective
- Information from the funding bodies
Grant writing workshop
If you are planning to apply for either an early-career research grant (Starting grant/etableringsbidrag or similar) or a Project grant from the Swedish Research Council (VR), FORMAS, FORTE, and/or Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ), keep an eye out for Junior Faculty's Grant Writing Workshop.
The workshop targets early-career researchers at TekNat, MedFarm, and HumSam. During the writing workshops, small groups of applicants meet (with a mentor for the mentored workshops ). The schedule and format of these meetings are decided by the mentors/groups, but usually amount to between 2 and 4 meetings. Groups are formed based on similar topics/review panels as far as possible, and all participants are expected to read and comment on each other’s applications. There are two types of workshops:
2026 workshop schedule
November 30: Application deadline, apply here
Mid-December: Group allocations are sent out
January 15: Kick-off seminar (open for all, not just workshop participants). More information to come.
Mid-January to grant deadline in March/April (depending on grant): groups meet, usually 2-4 times, according to their own schedule
Mentored early-career workshop
TekNat/MedFarm: You are between 2 and 7 years (for VR) or 0-8 years (for FORMAS) after completion of a doctorate (in both cases adjusted for deductible time, e.g., parental leave) and plan to apply for an early-career project research grant (starting grant/etableringsbidrag or similar, not postdoc fellowships).
HumSam: You are early career and are planning to apply for any type of grant (VR, Formas, and/or RJ) including postdoc grant (3 years after completion of doctorate) as a project leader.
Each group has a mentor (a senior researcher with ample experience in writing and reviewing grant applications) who will give feedback to your grant proposals; moreover, all participants are expected to read and comment on each other’s applications. In case that there are many applicants and we don’t have enough mentors, there might be some groups that might only have peer-feedback.
Peer-feedback mid-career workshop
You are more than 7-8 years after completion of doctorate and plan to apply for a project research grant (VR projektbidrag, Formas forsknings- och utvecklingsprojekt or RJ project or Infrastructure for Research) or similar.
Each group is composed by 2-5 participants that are expected to read and comment on each other’s applications.
Workshop for small grants
Would you like to start applying for smaller grants? In the fall, we focus on smaller funders - we all aim to get a VR, Formas, Cancer Foundation, or ERC grants, but we can’t forget that there are many foundations that give small grants from 10'000-500'000 SEK. Do you want to learn more about them? Would you like to get feedback from your peers?
Topics covered:
- How to find smaller funding agencies
- Writing short applications
- Peer-feedback on proposals
Grant writing workshop with Elevate Scientific
Elevate Scientific, specialists in improving grant applications, offers a grant writing mini-workshop. Listen to interactive seminars with lectures, Q&As/discussions, and, time permitting, peer-to-peer exercises.
Grant writing seminars
- How to write your first grant in collaboration with the Research Support Unit
- How to write and manage your first project budget – from project application to reporting, learn from peers and senior researchers
- Impact Planning and hands-on exercise, in collaboration with UU Innovation.