How assessment and decisions are made

Assessment and decision-making process

Applications received are assessed according to two main assessment criteria: research excellence and innovation potential. Very high grades in both categories will be required to receive funding.

The Swedish Research Council is responsible for assessing research excellence and Vinnova is responsible for assessing innovation potential. The basic characteristics of successful clusters of excellence are a central starting point for the assessment criteria. 

Learn about characteristics of successful clusters

Approximately 20 applications with the highest overall grades will proceed to an interview. 

Assessment of research excellence

The research excellence of the Clusters of Excellence is assessed according to a number of predetermined criteria. This includes the application's relevance to the call, scientific quality from an international perspective, degree of innovation, applicants' merits that are of relevance to the application and feasibility. All clusters must contain high-quality research in the humanities and social sciences that is of relevance to the impact of technology on people and society.

For each criterion, there are guiding questions to support the assessment of the application. The questions are part of the call text and will be published when the call opens.

Assessment of innovation potential

The innovation potential of the Clusters of Excellence will be assessed  based on a set of pre-defined criteria. This includes the cluster of excellence's potential to develop into one of the five internationally leading cluster environments in its research and innovation area by 2035. The cluster's ability to contribute to Swedish growth and competitiveness through new successful companies and large-scale utilisation in established business and society will also be assessed.

The assessment also includes the inherent potential of the planned research to generate groundbreaking innovations with relevance to strong value-creating applications and future market positions. 

Other factors that will be considered are the cluster's leadership and governance, as well as the credibility and effectiveness of the innovation plan in achieving set goals. Other parameters that Vinnova will look at are the composition of the actors, competence and ability to cooperate in relation to the cluster's long-term implementation power.

Portfolio perspective in the decision-making process

A portfolio perspective may be applied in the decision-making process to ensure a strategically balanced portfolio of funded clusters of excellence. This may involve prioritising Swedish national capability and autonomy in fundamental artificial intelligence or one of the strategic technology areas that the government has identified in its government assignment to Vinnova. 

The portfolio perspective can also be used to achieve an effective spread between the cluster's technology areas, levels of technology maturity and to avoid overlapping or directly competing cluster initiatives.

Handling of sensitive data

The applications will be read by employees at the Swedish Research Council, Vinnova and by the reviewers participating in the call. Applications submitted to the Swedish Research Council become public documents. Information that may not be disclosed, or that the applicant consider not appropriate to be made public, shall not be included in the application. 

We recommend that all applicants consult their organisation's innovation office or a similar function to advise on the content of the application. For more details on what it means for a document to constitute a public document, visit the Swedish Research Council's website.

Read about the publicity and confidentiality of applications