Attract, integrate and retain international excellence by 2024

The call for proposals is aimed at employers with an identified need for international cutting-edge expertise, where financial recruitment support can make a difference. Actors outside academia can apply such as large, small and medium-sized companies, research institutes and public organizations.

Proposal should apply to the recruitment of an identified MSCA Fellow who has recently defended his/her doctoral thesis or completed his/her postdoc in Sweden. Fellows who have or have had a Swedish host organization during their fellowship but defended their thesis abroad are also eligible. Proposal can also be submitted shortly before the doctoral degree has been obtained, however, a doctoral degree is required to begin the project.

In this call for proposals MSCA Fellows refers to researchers who, with a Swedish host institution, have been funded by the following parts of the EU research programme Horizon 2020 (Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions), Horisont Europa or Vinnova:

• Innovative Training Networks (ITN) or Doctoral Networks (DN).
• Individual Fellowships (IF) or Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF).
• Cofund Doctoral Programme or Cofund Fellowship Programme.
• Abbot Crown Princess of Excellence (Vinnova or the Swedish Research Council).

Proposal requires good anchoring between employer and identified MSCA Fellow. The purpose is to make it easier for foreign researchers who are in Sweden to establish themselves in the Swedish labor market and to demonstrate to the Swedish labor market the competence that the group of MSCA-funded researchers possesses. Vinnova offers recruitment support of a maximum of 500,000 SEK for the equivalent of 6 months of full-time employment.

Please note that this call for proposals focuses on how MSCA Fellows will be integrated into activities of the new organization and in Sweden. As a result, descriptions of support, commitment and activities for this to happen both during and after the project period for which funding is sought are expected.

Sweden attracts successful international researchers who, with funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 research program and Horisont Europa Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), choose to move here to pursue a doctorate or carry out their postdoctoral stay.

Read more about Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Inom MSCA trains researchers in strategically important areas for business, research institutes and public organizations. Instead of being available for the Swedish labor market after completing their education, statistics show that a large proportion of MSCA Fellows leave Sweden. This means that Swedish employers are missing out on internationally prominent researchers.

The reasons for MSCA Fellows leaving Sweden are several, such as difficulties integrating into the Swedish labor market, lack of knowledge about Swedish business and its actors, limited time in Sweden to build up their own national networks, etc. There is also ignorance among employers about MSCA Fellows and the skills resources that are actually available for recruitment.

The ongoing transformation of society with digitalisation, globalization and the work to contribute to Agenda 2030, creates an increased need for new skills. This results in both an increased and a changed need for both specific and general skills that MSCA Fellows should be able to satisfy in many cases.

Read more about Agenda 2030

Through this call for proposals Vinnova wants to lower the thresholds for recruiting international top talent and give Swedish employers the opportunity to offer employment to an MSCA Fellow. The project period with Vinnova funding is expected to be favorable for developing a long-term relationship between employers and MSCA Fellow aimed at integration in Sweden and increasing employers' interest in MSCA funding specifically within the new Horisont Europa research program.

Read more about Horisont Europa

The call for proposals is aimed at employers in Sweden outside academia who express a need for skills that can be met with financial recruitment support. For example, large, small and medium-sized companies, research institutes and public organizations.

Within this call for proposals proposal must apply to the recruitment of an identified MSCA Fellow who has recently defended his/her thesis or completed his/her postdoc in Sweden. Proposal requires good connections between the employer and the identified MSCA Fellow. Fellows who have or have had a Swedish host organization during their fellowship but defended their thesis abroad are also eligible. Proposal can also be submitted shortly before the doctoral degree has been obtained, however, a doctoral degree is required to begin the project.

MSCA Fellows is the name given in this call for proposals to researchers with a Swedish host institution who have been funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 research program or Horisont Europa (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) or Vinnova and the Swedish Research Council:

• Innovative Training Networks (ITN) or Doctoral Networks (DN).
• Individual Fellowships (IF) or Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF).
• Abbot Olofsson.
• Abbot Ingason.
• Abbot Crown Princess of Excellence (Vinnova or the Swedish Research Council).

Activities for which funding can be applied for

Funding for salary costs during an employment period equivalent to 6 months full-time.

Funding can be provided as de minimis support or as support for research and development projects in which the recruited researcher will participate. For the latter, the project must not have started before proposal for support is made.

Funding criteria and eligible costs

Our funding is through funding. Funding for organizations that conduct economic activities is covered by state aid rules. The rules govern, among other things, what types of costs and what proportion of them may be covered through funding.

Funding in this call for proposals will primarily be granted as so-called de minimis support, de minimis support. Funding according to EU Regulation No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis support.

Please note that this type of support from various grant funders may amount to a maximum of 200,000 euros over the last three tax years. For this option, the applicant is required to attach a special certificate.

Funding can also be provided as support for research and development projects that are to be started in connection with the recruitment. In such cases, Funding is provided as support according to Article 25 of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 (GBER). The project's activities must then be covered in their entirety by one of the categories Basic Research, Industriell Forskning or Experimentell Utveckling. Even in these cases, Vinnova's funding shall relate to salary costs during an employment period corresponding to 6 months full-time. Other project costs require other funding.

Read more about state aid on our website.
See also general terms and conditions for funding and Instructions for eligible costs

Maximum SEK 500,000 per project.

Within the framework of this call for proposals 10–20 project are expected to be funded per year.

Vinnova will only assess applications that concern the employment of researchers who meet the following formal eligibility requirements:

• Researchers must be located in Sweden and not be employed outside academia.
• Researchers who have completed their doctorate with MSCA funding in Sweden must have received a Swedish doctoral degree in order to be able to begin employment outside academia.
• PhD researchers who are doing or have done their postdoc with MSCA funding or Seal of Excellence funding in Sweden must have completed their Fellowship in order to begin employment outside academia.
• Funding can only be applied for employment outside academia.
• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.

Vinnova will only assess applications from organizations that:

• does not belong to the academic sector.
• looking for a Swedish workplace.

What do we assess?

Vinnova assesses based on the following criteria how well proposal meets our expectations of the effects of the call for proposals. Please note that the parts of the application that concern scientific questions or challenges must be described in popular science terms.

Potential

• Assessment of how the recruiting organization has clearly identified a skill need and future development opportunities after the end of the project.
• Assessment of MSCA Fellows's future development opportunities after the end of the project and how well MSCA Fellows's expertise is expected to strengthen the organization.
• Assessment of the possibilities for long-term establishment of MSCA Fellow in Sweden and the relevance of the project from a Swedish perspective through the employment of MSCA Fellow.

Actors

• Assessment of how well MSCA Fellows's skills and experience correspond to and match the needs of the recruiting organization.
• Assessment of how well MSCA Fellows together with the organization can contribute to solving the need.

Feasibility

• Assessment of the recruiting organization's support in the form of concrete activities and plans for MSCA Fellow.
• Assessment of synergies between MSCA Fellow and the recruiting organization as well as the support the recruiting organization offers in the form of concrete activities.

How do we assess?

Assessment of applications takes place in competition with the help of external evaluator, appointed by Vinnova.

How to apply

To apply funding you fill out a web-based application form in Vinnova's e-service for applications, which can be accessed via www.vinnova.se.

You can also upload attachments there:

1. Project description, which should be a maximum of three A4 pages with 12-point text. It should include the purpose of the project linked to the call for proposals and contain a description showing how MSCA Fellow's expertise will be utilized within applicant organization's activities, which also includes work efforts for the organization's ongoing sustainability work.
2. Letter from MSCA Fellow describing what employment within a non-academic organization entails and the expected career development as a result.
3. Resume for MSCA Fellow
4. CV for mentor at the recruiting organization
5. Letter of support from the prospective employer describing the expected added value of recruiting an MSCA Fellow. The letter should state the prospective agreed salary level. The letter of support should also include a brief description of the organization so that it is clear what physical environment MSCA Fellow will work in, such as physical workplace, financial capacity or resources, date of formation, number of employees, etc.
6. Form for de minimis support. Only in relevant cases where you have previously received de minimis support or are seeking funding with this basis for support.

The attachments must be in PDF format. The structure of the project description must be in accordance with the assessment criteria.

Please note that the evaluation panel consists of experts with expertise in many different fields. To be judged fairly, we recommend that you formulate proposal in a way that can be understood by experts who do not have detailed expertise in the field. Be clear about potential of your proposal based on the evaluation criteria.

Keep in mind that it takes time to make a proposal.
You can start filling in the details, save and continue at a later time. When proposal is complete, mark it as done. You can unlock proposal and make changes at any time, right up until the last applyday.

Please mark proposal well in advance before the call for proposals closes.

When the call for proposals has closed and proposal has been registered with Vinnova, a confirmation will be sent by email to the person responsible for the user account, project manager and signatory or head of department. It may take a few hours before you receive the email.

If you have not received a confirmation email within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing, please contact us.

Once the application period has expired, proposal can only be supplemented upon request from us.