Individual mobility - Collaborate with the US in advanced digitalization

With this the call for proposals Vinnova wants to strengthen Sweden's strategic competence in digital technology and develop lasting international collaborations for ongoing project within the Advanced digitalisation programme. The call for proposals focuses on enabling individual mobility (staff exchange) for research, development and innovation in the areas of:

• AI
• connectivity
• cybersecurity.

The exchange must be between Sweden and the USA and must last at least four weeks and only applies to one person.

The call for proposals is aimed at existing project within the Advanced digitalisation programme, and funds two types of individual mobility, either:

• A Swedish organisation within the ongoing project that wants to give an employee the opportunity to work in an organisation in the US to strengthen the employee's skills.

or

• A Swedish organisation within the ongoing project wants to invite an expert from the USA to strengthen the organisation's expertise.

The call for proposals is open to ongoing project within Advanced digitalisation and applicant actors must be Swedish companies, public organisations or research organisations. Each project can be funded with a maximum of SEK 300,000. The total budget of the call is SEK 2.4 million.

The funding may cover individual mobility of at least four weeks up to twelve months. The exchange may be spread over several periods .The call for proposals only applies to one person who is physically present at the receiving the organisation.

The project within Advanced digitalisation should be ongoing when the call for proposals opens. This means that the project's end date should be after the date the call for proposals opens.

Vinnova wants to increase Swedish strategic competence in AI, connectivity and cybersecurity through individual mobility, and at the same time establish cooperation between organisations in Sweden and the US. The rapid technological development in the areas of the call brings with it increasingly higher eligibility requirements for individuals and organisations to continuously renew their competence. Successful development in AI, connectivity and cybersecurity will require both specialized and general competence.

The exchange should build on or strengthen the ongoing project within the Advanced digitalisation programme from which it originates.

Vinnova's vision is for Sweden to be an innovative force in a sustainable world. According to our mandate from the government, we will contribute to a sustainable transition where different actors work together to promote innovation.

An innovative force in a sustainable world

Equal funding of innovations

Your project should consider whether aspects of sex and gender are relevant to the design of the project, and if so, in what way.

By integrating different perspectives, more inclusive and relevant solutions are developed. This strengthens both the innovation capacity and the project's results.

Gender equality as a tool for innovative social development

The call for proposals only accepts applications from a participant in an ongoing project within the Advanced digitalisation programme. The applicant the organisation must be a Swedish company, a public organisation or a Swedish research organisation.

The project party seeking funding must be a Swedish legal entity. In this respect, a Swedish legal entity is considered to be a foreign organisation that has a branch or establishment in Sweden. The costs in the project must be attributable to activities of the branch or establishment.

The project within Advanced digitalisation should be ongoing when the call for proposals opens. This means that the project's end date should be after the date when the call for proposals opens.

The funding can cover individual mobility of at least four weeks and can be spread over several periods. The exchange must be reported on by 15 December 2027.

The person in question will work with research and innovation within AI, connectivity or cybersecurity. The work may also include non-technical aspects, such as ethics, law or other necessary expert knowledge.

What costs can we finance?

Our funding is subject to state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals, two types of direct costs are eligible:

• Travel and accommodation costs for an employee or invited expert.
• Direct costs for, for example, mentoring and skills transfer.

For more detailed information about which costs we can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

In order for your costs to be eligible for support, the following applies:

• They must be factual, reasonable and necessary for the activities in the project.
• They must be booked correctly and under a separate project code in the accounting. You may not cover project costs with other public funding or your own funds intended for other project.
• You may not claim someone else's expenses as your own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exclusions apply, see our general terms and conditions.

state aid rules govern how much of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organisation. We therefore differentiate between how much funding the project can receive, and how much a participating organisation can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

The maximum grant per project is SEK 300,000. The total budget of the call is SEK 2.4 million.

How much funding can a participating organisation receive?

The amount of funding a participating organisation can receive depends primarily on:

• the organisation's size and activities
• which activities the organisation will carry out in the project.

Descriptions in the following sections about what support we can provide are simplified. For full information, see funding bases and levels.

Minor Support to businesses

We can provide de minimis support, also known as support of minor importance. We can fund up to 100 percent of an organization's costs.

An organisation can receive a maximum of 300,000 euros over a three-year period in this form of support, regardless of the funder and project. This means that if the same organisation has received support of lesser importance in other project from other funders in the past, it will affect how large the support can be in this the call for proposals.

Submit a certificate of de minimis support when you submit proposal. This is required for us to be able to grant this support.

Certificate of de minimis support

Support to universities, university colleges and other public organisations with non-economic activities

We also provide support to organisations that do not conduct economic activities. This means that the organisation does not offer a service or product on a market. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other public organisations.

We can finance up to 100 percent of such an organization's costs.

How is it determined whether an organisation is engaged in economic activities?

An organisation that offers any kind of service or product on a market is considered to be conducting economic activities and cannot be granted this form of support. It does not matter how the organisation is financed: whether it is public or private, or whether it has a profit motive. It also does not matter what legal form the business has. For example, whether it is a limited liability company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

If you are unsure whether an organisation in your project is conducting economic activities, contact call manager. However, The organisation is responsible for assessing whether it is conducting economic activities.

In order for us to assess your proposal it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, we will reject proposal immediately.

Eligibility requirements on participants

• All participating organisations must be legal entities. Individuals or sole proprietorships cannot participate. Foreign legal entities can participate if they have a branch or establishment in Sweden and the costs are incurred by the branch or establishment.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.

Eligibility requirements on the project

• The project may apply for a maximum of 300,000 SEK.
• The project may start no earlier than November 1, 2026 and must start no later than November 13, 2026 and be completed no later than November 15, 2027.
• Only one person with at least 4 weeks on site at the receiving the organisation.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal should follow the instructions under the heading “ How to apply”.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments.
• Proposal must include some form of certificate / confirmation / letter of intent / interest or similar from the USA- the organisation regarding the planned individual mobility.

Applications that meet our eligibility requirements will proceed to assessment. In the assessment, we look at how much potential your idea has, how realistic it is and who will implement the project.

What do we assess?

When assessing applications, we look at three main criteria:

• Potential: We analyze what effects and what value we can expect from the project.
• Actors: We assess the participants' competence and ability to implement the project and achieve the desired results and effects.
• Feasibility: We assess how realistic and credible the project plan is, both for implementing the project and for achieving the desired results.

Potential

• How much potential the project proposal has to achieve the call's objective and aim.
• The value of the knowledge transfer for the applicant the organisation.
• To what extent does the project proposal build on previous activities and results from the ongoing project within the Advanced digitalisation program.
• potential of the exchange to lead to long-term cooperation between the countries and the organisations.
• The project's potential to contribute positively to the global goals in Agenda 2030 - with particular focus on objective 17 (strengthen the global partnership for the implementation of all other objective) where applicant should justify how their project increases lasting and sustainable collaborations and relationships through personnel exchange, as well as the extent to which these partnerships create added value in Sweden and internationally.
• How likely it is that the project proposal will lead to new knowledge and new skills that can be used for scaling up or implementation in the ongoing project or of new solutions.
• How well perspectives on sex, gender and climate change have been integrated into the project proposal, and what significance these have for the project's results.

Actors

• The project constellation's competence and ability to contribute to knowledge transfer to the ongoing project.
• Credibility regarding the project's anchoring and commitment in the respective organisation.

Feasibility

• That the plan for the project and the personnel exchange is feasible within the intended budget.
• That the plan for knowledge transfer both within and outside the organisation is realistic.
• How credible the project plan's risk analysis and action plan for these risks are.
• How well the project proposal identifies and describes what the next steps are after the stay has been completed.

How do we assess?

Once we have received the applications, we review them. We will screen out any applications that are incomplete or do not meet our eligibility requirements.

The applications that are correct and complete are distributed among different evaluator and assessed in competition with each other. The evaluators are appointed by us based on their expertise in the field. Each proposal is assessed by at least three evaluator.

How does it affect an organization's financial status?

Before we decide on funding we also make a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those who receive funding.

We use information we receive from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet. We may also ask small and medium-sized businesses to demonstrate that they have the financial capacity to carry out the project.

In our assessment we check this:

• That organisations is not insolvent, or undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring. You must also not have any significant unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• That the project manager is employed by the coordinating party in the project.
• That a limited liability company has not used up half or more of its share capital.

Once we have assessed all applications, we will send you a decision either granting or rejecting your proposal. Since applications are assessed competitively, you may be rejected even though you meet all eligibility requirements and criteria.

In the decision we state how large a proportion of the costs we will cover for each organisation.

You cannot appeal our decision, but you are welcome to apply to us again at another time.

What happens if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding. The terms include, among other things:

• That you will sign a special document in which you approve your participation and commit to carrying out the project.
• That you report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us during the project period.
• How the result will be used.

See our general terms and conditions

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals:

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In that case, they will be stated in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you have received more money than you are entitled to or if you do not follow our term, you may be liable for repayment.

When the call for proposals closes, your proposal will be registered as. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, as well as to the project manager and the signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing, please contact us.

Once the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. You can only supplement if we ask you to.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by employees at Vinnova and the evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under a duty of confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if requested. However, we keep certain types of information confidential if disclosure could be expected to cause financial harm to the individual. This applies to information about business and operational conditions, inventions or research results.

General documents and confidentiality