Cirkularitet FFI – spring 2026

Automotive Strategic research and Innovation (FFI) is a collaboration between the state and the automotive industry to jointly finance research, innovation and development activities with a focus on making Sweden a leader in the global transition to sustainable road transport.

This is the offer that funds project within the Circularity sub-programme. The aim is to support research and development that helps to minimise the climate and environmental impact of vehicle production, operation and disposal. The offer covers the entire life cycle of the vehicle: from idea, design and manufacturing to recycling and disposal.

The offer is subject to the following:

• Pre-studies with a project duration of 6 to 9 months and a maximum funding of SEK 500,000.
• Full-scale project with project durations of up to 4 years.
• Co-financing from the business community must amount to at least 25 percent of the project's total budget.
• Total grant budget for the call for proposals approximately SEK 60 million.

With the offer, we want to increase expertise and find concrete solutions for challenges linked to circularity, to achieve increased competitiveness and resilience, as well as reduced climate and environmental impact. The challenges include climate and energy, changing product and system requirements, and regulations and standards. Funded project should address one of the following focus areas:

The product - Design for circularity and reduced environmental impact

Future product development should enable circular flows to achieve maximum use of resources throughout the value chain. This can be achieved through new business models, methods and processes for, for example, modularization, traceability, remanufacturing and upgrading.

Human - Competence, cognitive and physical support, work environment and safety

The role of people needs to be strengthened, by focusing on skills, cognitive support, physical support, work environment and safety. These tools are important for resource-efficient and circular products, processes and business models. Work throughout the value chain should be attractive and sustainable.

The production system - Climate-neutral manufacturing, maintenance and decommissioning

The production system needs to become more circular, with production and logistics systems that promote circularity. Circularity in the automotive industry requires a development towards robust and sustainable value chains and ecosystems.
Read more about circularity here

Performance target

Project that are granted funding are expected to achieve all performance goals during the project period:

Pre-studies

• Well-founded project ideas that are in line with the focus of the call, with the possibility of being implemented in a possible upcoming full-scale research and innovation project.

• Increased knowledge and understanding of the context of the proposed solution.

• Strengthened collaboration between actors in the consortium and discussions with potential future collaboration partners.

• Development of the scientific or technical base, for example through "proof of concept" studies.

Full-scale project:

• Technologies and processes have been developed, tested or demonstrated with documented results that significantly contribute to the focus of the call.
• Innovative solutions have been developed and documented, with potential to contribute to a sustainable transition that is in line with the focus of the call.
• The constellation of actors has been strengthened and the conditions for realizing the proposed solution have increased.

• A clear, documented and anchored plan for how the project results will be taken forward and utilized nationally and internationally.

FFI's direction

The program has a roadmap that sets the direction towards 2030. FFI's mission is to drive road transport research and innovations for a sustainable society. The long-term vision is for Sweden to lead the global transition to sustainable road transport.

For a more detailed description of the content of the program, see FFI's roadmap

Contribute to a sustainable system transformation

Eftersom Vinnova is tasked with promoting sustainable growth and system transformation, should your project also contribute to increased gender equality and climate change? We are based on the UN's global sustainability goals, defined in the 2030 Agenda. There, we focus on two perspectives: gender equality and climate change.

This means that gender equality and climate change should be integrated into both how your project group is composed and in the intended outcome of your project.

Equal funding of innovations

An innovative force in a sustainable world

Making scientific publications and results available

This the call for proposals will also help make results available to everyone. Therefore, all scientific publishing should be open access. When results from research and innovation are made freely available, more people can contribute to solving societal challenges.

This the offer is aimed at groups that want to develop solutions to minimize the climate and environmental impact from the production, operation and decommissioning of vehicles.

The owner of the end result (product/process/system owner) needs to be actively involved and have a central role in the project to ensure that the solution, if the project is successful, is taken forward to a full-scale project (applies to feasibility studies) or implementation (applies to full-scale project).

Foreign actors may be relevant and possibly necessary to include as project partners in the project. In order for such actors to be granted funding from Vinnova, their costs in the project need to be incurred in the actor's branch or operating location in Sweden.

This offer funds research and development that contributes to one or more of the focus areas.

Activities for which funding can be applied for

Examples of activities for which funding can be sought include developing, testing and evaluating solutions and preparing for implementation and utilization.

The types of project activities approved within the framework of this call for proposals must be covered by one of the following funding bases:

• Feasibility study

• Industrial research

• Experimental development

See more information about the grounds for support in section 4 below.

Development and innovation projects should aim to develop and validate technology, methods, processes and business models. But also the conditions and strategy for dissemination, scaling up and utilization of the project's results.

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, these types of costs are eligible:

• Salary costs: Gross salary paid as well as employer contributions and other salary-related costs.
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises.
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from an external party. Costs of this type may constitute a maximum of 20 percent of a project party's budget. We can accept a higher proportion than 20 percent in case of special needs. You must then justify the need for this in proposal. This justification is taken into account in our assessment.
• Other direct costs: For example, materials, supplies and travel necessary to carry out the project.
• Indirect costs (overhead):Costs that are not incurred as a direct result of but can be related to the project, for example regular premises and cleaning. Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of salary costs. Universities, university colleges and certain research organizations and government agencies have higher maximum limits depending on the type of activities.

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

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be:

• necessary for the activities in the project
• accounted for correctly and separately from the organisation's other costs.

An organisation may also not claim someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs

The rules on state aid govern how large a proportion 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 each participant can receive. Of the total funding within the entire FFI programme, Vinnova intends to grant funding of a maximum of 50 percent, which is also a guideline for this offer. The total budget for the call for proposals is approximately SEK 60 million.

How much funding can the project receive?

Each individual project must have at least 25 percent business funding. The maximum funding for feasibility studies is SEK 500,000.

How much funding can a participant receive?

How much funding each participant can receive depends mainly on:

• party size and activities
• which activities the party will carry out in the project.

Descriptions in the following sections about what support we can provide are simplified. For full details, see funding Criteria and Levels.

Support for companies conducting research and development

In this the call for proposals we provide support for industrial research, experimental development and feasibility studies.

Industrial research can be simply described as seeking new knowledge through planned research or critical analysis to develop or significantly improve products, processes or services.

Experimental development can be simply described as combining, shaping and using existing knowledge to develop new or improved products, processes or services.

Feasibility studies can be simply described as an evaluation and analysis of:

• strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks in an upcoming research and development project
• what resources are required to carry out the project
• how likely it is that the project will succeed.

How much of the costs can we finance?

The organisation's size and type of activity determines how large a proportion of the costs we can finance, i.e. the maximum level of support.

Bonus Basics

If the project is covered by a bonus basis, we can finance a higher proportion of the costs according to the table below. Examples of bonus bases are:

• Actual collaboration: Some level of collaboration between small and larger companies, between companies in two different European countries or between research organisations and companies
• Dissemination of results: Extensive dissemination through, for example, conferences or open databases.

For complete information about these and other bonus bases, see funding bases and support levels

Support for non-economic activities

In this the call for proposals we [also] provide support to organisations that do not engage in 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 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 for project parties

• All project partners must be legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• At least two project partners must participate in the project. This includes the coordinating party.

Eligibility requirements for the project

• The project must start no earlier than 2026-06-15 and no later than 2026-08-25
• The project manager must be employed by the coordinating party in the project.
• The project may not begin before proposal is submitted.
• Co-financing from the business community must amount to at least 25 percent of the project's total budget.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 9.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments. Please note that no attachments other than those specifically stated may be attached to proposal.

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 four 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 desired results.
• Gender equality: We assess the extent to which the project can contribute to increased gender equality.

Eftersom Vinnova is tasked with contributing to increased gender equality and climate change, and we always follow up and assess these perspectives.

Criteria for full-scale project

Potential (weighted 40 percent)

• The project proposal's potential to contribute to sustainable road transport and business benefit/Swedish competitiveness.
• potential of the project proposal to contribute to the call's focus and results objectives.
• potential of the project proposal to develop innovative solutions, rather than incremental improvements.
• potential of the project proposal in relation to existing knowledge and solutions, nationally and internationally.

Implementation (weighted 30 percent)

• To what extent does the project proposal have a well-thought-out strategy for realizing the potential and disseminating and utilizing results.
• The project proposal is based on thorough monitoring of the external environment and state-of-the-art description.
• The effectiveness of the project plan:
  - Reasonable project time and budget for what the project is intended to achieve.
  - Adequate project plan with activities, work packages, milestones, division of responsibilities, specific project goals and plans for how goal achievement will be measured.
• How well any consulting and licensing costs are relevant to the project's aim, reasonable in relation to scope and justified based on expected benefit.

Actors (weighted 20 percent)

• Active participation and budget from need owners, users/customers, product/process/system owners and actor(s) with the intention of taking forward expected results.
• Composition, competence and ability, as well as commitment and co-financing of the actor constellation in relation to project objectives and implementation.
• The project manager's ability and commitment to lead the project.

Gender equality (weighted 10 percent)

• How well equality aspects such as gender perspectives that may be important to take into account have been integrated into the project plan and its implementation.
• The composition of the team with regard to gender distribution, as well as the distribution of power and influence between men and women.

Criteria for feasibility studies

Potential (weighted 50 percent)

• potential of the project proposal to contribute to the call's focus and results objectives.

Implementation (weighted 20 percent)

• The project proposal's positioning in relation to the state of knowledge nationally and internationally.
• The appropriateness of the project proposal in terms of a reasonable project time and budget for the work to be carried out.
• How well any consulting and licensing costs are relevant to the project's aim, reasonable in relation to scope and justified based on expected benefit.

Actors (weighted 20 percent)

• Composition, competence and ability, and commitment of the actor constellation in relation to project goals and implementation.

Gender equality (weighted 10 percent)

• How well equality aspects such as gender perspectives that may be important to take into account have been integrated into the project plan and its implementation.
• The composition of the team with regard to gender distribution, as well as the distribution of power and influence between men and women.

How do we assess?

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

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.

Once the evaluators have reviewed the applications, we have an assessment meeting where the evaluators recommend which applications should be granted.

How does it affect an organization's financial status?

Before deciding on funding we also conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those receiving funding. We use information we obtain from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding the following applies:

• Organisations seeking funding for payroll costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organisations must not be insolvent, or undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring. They must also not have any significant unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• Organisations may not cover project costs in this the call for proposals with public funding or own funds intended for other project.
• Limited liability companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.
• If requested, SMEs must be able to demonstrate that they have the financial capacity to carry out the project according to their budget in proposal.

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 much 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 regularly during the project period.
• If you are multiple parties, you must agree on your mutual rights and obligations in the project in an agreement. It can take time to get a project agreement in place, so it is a good idea to get this in place before the project starts.
• How the results will be used and how scientific publication will take place.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them

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

1. Reporting and follow-up
   - Reporting and follow-up must be carried out in accordance with decisions, templates and special instructions available on FFI's website, ffisweden.se (under the templates and guidance tab).
   - The project must be represented at the seminars or program conferences that Vinnova and FFI will organize and convene specifically during the project period. Costs for participation in such a seminar/program conference are eligible for support. Upon request, the project coordinator must provide Vinnova and FFI with image and text material for project catalogs, annual reports, and the like.
2. Project Agreement
   If the project concerns feasibility studies, the requirement for a project agreement in § 1.4 of the General Terms and Conditions is deleted.
3. Indication that the project was financed by the FFI program
   The following replaces § 7.3 of the General Terms and Conditions:
   - When providing information about the project and when publishing project results, it must be stated that the work was carried out with support from the Fordonsstrategisk Forskning and Innovation programs, FFI.
4. Publication on the Knowledge Exchange
   The coordinator must provide information on the project summary, project manager and actor constellation for publication on https://kunskapsformedlingen.se Instructions and templates will be announced in close connection with the decision.

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In such cases, 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 required to repay.

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 make additions if we ask you to.

1. Call for proposals closes
2. Formalities review
3. Applications open for evaluator
4. Assessments are submitted
5. Assessment meeting
6. Preparation and formalities review
7. Authority decision

• Programme manager responsible for the entire process
• Administrator at Vinnova
• Specially Appointed Independent evaluator
• Decision maker at Vinnova

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by Vinnova employees 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.

How we handle public documents and confidentiality