Visions for world-leading research and innovation in strategic technology areas

Accelerating technological development, geopolitical uncertainty and the global arms race have increased the importance of an ambitious and targeted technology policy. International reports on the conditions for competitiveness clearly point to the need for large, synchronized investments in research and innovation. Most leading innovation countries now pursue an active technology policy.

Vinnova and the Swedish Research Council have been commissioned by the government to carry out a large-scale effort on clusters of excellence for groundbreaking and strategic technology.

Clusters of excellence refer to a powerful concentration of resources and capabilities that together can establish a very strong position. The ambition should be to become a world leader and successfully attract capital and significant international talents and actors to Sweden. The purpose of the investment in clusters of excellence is thus a clear increase in ambition for Swedish research excellence and competitiveness.

The goal of Vinnova's part of the initiative is that there will be up to five world-leading clusters of excellence in Sweden by 2035. Over the next four years, Vinnova will invest approximately one billion SEK in their establishment.

The following six technology areas are identified as strategically important for Sweden in the government's assignment to Vinnova:

• Artificiell Intelligens (AI) and autonomous systems
• Advanced digital technology, including semiconductors
• Quantum technology
• Energy technology
• Materials and production technology
• Biotechnology

The clusters of excellence can focus on strategic technology areas where Sweden already has a strong position. The clusters can also focus on emerging and breakthrough technologies where Sweden needs to become stronger, and aim to take an international leadership position. The focus can also be on technologies that are crucial for reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience to various threats.

A cluster of excellence should have a bold vision for research and innovation within one of the designated technology areas, or within several technology areas that converge. For further descriptions of the strategic technology areas, see Vinnova's report: Strategic technologies for Sweden.

Groundbreaking technology has potential to strategically change and create new markets and industries. Truly successful clusters therefore need not only to be able to capitalize on research excellence. They also need to become important drivers for an innovation ecosystem that is capable of giving Sweden prominent positions in the major growth markets of the future. This means that the clusters need to develop internationally attractive, world-class innovation environments where research excellence, research and demonstration infrastructures, leading companies and successful entrepreneurship come together in a creative and goal-oriented culture of collaboration. By creating such capabilities, state support achieves a significant leverage effect to attract even greater investments and for Swedish growth, resilience and a sustainable society.

The Swedish Research Council and Vinnova have together the goal of realizing the government's large-scale vision of a world-leading cluster of excellence for cutting-edge technology. The authorities will coordinate the work during the initiative. The cluster will become a leader in strategic cutting-edge technology areas to strengthen competence and competitiveness in Swedish business.

Aim and objective for the call for proposals

This the call for proposals is a first step in the initiative for clusters of excellence. The initiative will continue in several stages over the coming years. More information about how the entire initiative will be designed will be available in the autumn.

The purpose of the initial planning grant is to engage actors with the insight, capacity and collaborative skills required to formulate an initial bold and engaging vision and an overall plan to establish a world-leading cluster of excellence in strategically important technology areas in Sweden.

Vinnova's objective is to enable the development of around thirty sharp visions. With the vision work, we want to facilitate a comprehensive and inclusive mobilization that demonstrates Sweden's full potential in the area.

The visions developed will be important information for Vinnova in planning future calls for proposals and efforts to establish and develop clusters of excellence. The information will also be important for coordinating efforts between Vinnova and the Swedish Research Council.

We plan to open the next call for proposals at the turn of the year 2025/2026. The goal then is to enable more extensive preparatory projects for the upcoming establishment phase.

It is possible to participate in upcoming steps even if you do not apply for this call for proposals.

The Swedish Research Council and Vinnova's simultaneous calls for proposals

The Swedish Research Council's and Vinnova's calls for proposals are both aimed at actors who want to prepare for future clusters of excellence in cutting-edge technology, but they have different focuses and structures.

The Swedish Research Council's network grant is aimed at individual researchers, where at least two must be active at Swedish universities, and aims to support the establishment of research-based networks that can form the basis for future excellence cluster applications. The call for proposals provides a flat-rate grant of 1.2 million SEK for a six-month project that will result in a concrete plan.

Vinnova's effort is aimed at a broader target group and it is organizations that apply, for example from the business community or academia. Vinnova's call for proposals aims to develop visions for future research and innovation within designated strategic technology areas. Here, the support amounts to a maximum of 1.5 million SEK, but the project period is somewhat shorter.

The Swedish Research Council and Vinnova will synchronize the handling of applications so that the same project idea from the same applicant researcher will not be able to receive funding from both authorities.

This the call for proposals is aimed at one or more actors in collaboration. We are looking for people and organizations with ambition and the ability to formulate and realize a bold vision that positions Sweden at the absolute forefront of technology and innovation. The target group for the call for proposals is companies, universities and university colleges, research institutes and public actors. International actors are welcome in proposal as participant but not as coordinator.

Vinnova recommends that proposal are written in English as we use international evaluator for this call for proposals. Applications written in Swedish will undergo automatic machine translation.

Applicant may receive funding for costs associated with formulating a vision for a cluster of excellence, and for developing an overall plan to realize the vision. Funding may also include activities to identify and mobilize the right actors.

What costs can we finance?

Vinnova's funding is subject to state aid rules that govern what types of costs we can finance. They are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals these types of costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salaries, social security contributions and other personnel costs.

• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from an external party. Costs for consulting services from external parties may not exceed 20 percent of a project party's budget. We can accept a higher percentage than 20 percent in case of special needs. You must then justify the need for consulting services 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 an immediate consequence of but can be related to the project, for example regular premises and cleaning.
  Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel 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
• recorded correctly and separately from the organization's other costs.

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

How much funding can the project receive?

Each project can receive a maximum of 1.5 million SEK over six months.

How much funding can a participant receive?

All applicant can receive up to 100 percent aid intensity provided that our support can be provided according to one of the support bases below:

• De minimis support regulation (EU No 1407/2013),
• Non- state aid.

A company can only receive minor support of a maximum of 300,000 Euros over a three-year period. This limit only applies funding provided with this particular basis for support. Other support bases are usually applied. You can see in any previous funding decisions which basis for support was used.

In order for us to take a position on and assess your proposal, it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, proposal will be rejected without assessment.

Eligibility requirements on organizational form of project parties

• All project partners must be legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate as project partners.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• Foreign actors are welcome as co-applicant project partners but cannot be coordinators.

Eligibility requirements for the project

• The project manager must be employed by the coordinating party in the project.
• Project activities that lead to costs included in proposal may not begin before proposal is submitted.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions in section 8.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments.

What do we assess?

Proposal are assessed based on the following assessment criteria. We assess both potential of the vision and the quality of the applied project.

potential of vision

• The vision's potential to take an international leadership position in its research and innovation area.

• The vision's potential for Swedish growth and competitiveness.

potential of the project

• The value of what is to be achieved within the framework of the project.

Project actors

• The project partners' competence and ability to implement the project.

Project feasibility

• The realism and cost-effectiveness of the project plan in relation to the set objective.

How do we assess?

• Applications that meet all formal eligibility requirements according to section 5 are assessed in competition by an assessment group appointed by Vinnova consisting of national and international evaluator.
• Based on an overall recommendation from the evaluators, Vinnova then makes the formal decision to reject or grant funding.
• Each proposal is assessed based on its quality. Vinnova may then apply a portfolio perspective. This means that we strive to grant project that complement each other thematically.

We also assess the 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:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring, nor must they have unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• 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 means to implement the project according to their budget in proposal. They cannot use public funding or their own funds intended for other project to cover project costs in this call for proposals.

Once all applications have been assessed, a decision will be sent whether proposal has been granted or rejected. The decision will state how much funding each party in the project will be granted. Our decision cannot be appealed.

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, participant's approval, in which you approve your participation and commit to carrying out the project.
• You must submit a final report on the project's costs and results in Vinnova's e-service.

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

The following special conditions apply to this the call for proposals:

• The project's final report should contain a clearly articulated vision.
• In addition to reporting, approved project are expected to participate in activities organized by Vinnova during the project period.
• The following term replaces § 1.4 of the General Terms and Conditions. Project Agreement is not required in this project.

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

gender equality review

Vinnova will review the gender equality in the granted projects and how a gender equality perspective has been integrated into proposal. We do this in order to possibly support project to achieve increased gender equality. This may involve recommendations or instructions in our decision. Here you can read more about gender equality innovation: Gender equality funding of innovations.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you do not follow our term, you may be required to repay the amount. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or for an amount that is too high.

To apply for funding you fill out a proposal in our e-service. Proposal contains questions about the project, participating project partners and budget.

You also attach these attachments to proposal:

• Project description according to Vinnova's template (mandatory)
• CV for main actors according to Vinnova's template (mandatory)

Start proposal well in advance

Keep in mind that it takes time to make a proposal. Filling out templates can take several days, as it is based on the analyses you will do.

In our e-service you can start filling in the details and then continue at a later time. You can also distribute permissions to others who you want to contribute to proposal. When proposal is complete, mark it as done.

You can unlock proposal and make changes at any time, right up until the last application date. If you unlock proposal, you must then mark it as ready for it to be registered when the call for proposals closes.

Update in section "Who are we targeting?"

The following sentence was added on June 10, 2025

We are looking for people and organizations with ambition and the ability to formulate and realize a bold vision that positions Sweden at the absolute forefront of technology and innovation.

Update in section "What do we want to achieve with the offer?"

Next change June 10, 2025

Second paragraph after the bulleted list changed from:

A cluster of excellence should have a bold vision for research and innovation within one or more converging technology areas.

To:

A cluster of excellence should have a bold vision for research and innovation within one of the designated technology areas, or within several technology areas that converge.

Update in section "What do we want to achieve with the offer?"

The following text was added on June 13, 2025

The Swedish Research Council and Vinnova's simultaneous calls for proposals

The Swedish Research Council's and Vinnova's calls for proposals are both aimed at actors who want to prepare for future clusters of excellence in cutting-edge technology, but they have different focuses and structures.

The Swedish Research Council's network grant is aimed at individual researchers, where at least two must be active at Swedish universities, and aims to support the establishment of research-based networks that can form the basis for future excellence cluster applications. The call for proposals provides a flat-rate grant of 1.2 million SEK for a six-month project that will result in a concrete plan.

Vinnova's effort is aimed at a broader target group and it is organizations that apply, for example from the business community or academia. Vinnova's call for proposals aims to develop visions for future research and innovation within designated strategic technology areas. Here, the support amounts to a maximum of 1.5 million SEK, but the project period is somewhat shorter.

The Swedish Research Council and Vinnova will synchronize the handling of applications so that the same project idea from the same applicant researcher will not be able to receive funding from both authorities.