Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research Industrial Doctoral Student Program 2024

In its yearly request for applications, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) is offering financing for industrial doctoral students totaling SEK 39 million. An industrial doctorate student can use the scholarship to support research and postgraduate study in a partnership between academia and industry. The grant will culminate in a doctoral degree (PhD) and last for four to five years. Twelve projects totaling SEK 3.25 million (including indirect expenses) will be funded by SSF.

Funding:

The grant amounts to SEK 3.25 million, which is expected to cover about half of what a doctoral student project normally costs.

Eligibility:

1. The grant provides funding for research and postgraduate studies within natural science, engineering, or medicine for an industrial doctoral student, in collaboration between industry and academia.
2. At least two qualified persons shall serve as main supervisors for the doctoral student during the entire grant period – one at a higher education institution (HEI) and one at a company.
3. The supervisors shall be well established within their respective organizations. The two supervisors in unity constitute the steering group for the project.
4. The main applicant is the main supervisor of the doctoral student at the HEI and is responsible for reporting to SSF. The HEI where the main applicant is employed administers the grant. The HEI must be Swedish. The main applicant must be employed and active to at least 80 percent at the HEI.
5. The co-applicant is the supervisor at the company. The co-applicant must be employed and active to at least 80 percent at the company. The company must be commercially sound with respect to the responsibility for the doctoral student’s work over several years and possess enough competence to both contribute to and benefit from the knowledge gained in the project over short and long term. The company shall normally be registered in Sweden or close enough to Sweden that the exchange is feasible and can be justified strategically for Sweden.

Application:

The application shall be written in English and is submitted by the main applicant via the SSF application portal: http://apply.strategiska.se. The application must include (in addition to other information specified in the portal):

• Research plan, including scientific state of the art (5 pages). It must be formulated jointly by the company and the HEI and include planned activities between the company and the HEI.
• CV and list of publications for both applicants.
• Letters of intent from both the academic and the industrial party, describing the commitment for the project, written by the department head (or equivalent) at the HEI and the research director (or equivalent) at the company. Both parties shall ensure that the necessary practical arrangements are in place. In addition, it should be certified that the supervisors have the support and time allocated for this purpose.
• Brief description and required qualifications of the prospective doctoral student.
• Strategic relevance and expected societal impact in a 10-15-year timeframe.
• Description of how intellectual property rights contractually will be handled.
• Budget.
• Description of the company with details such as corporate ID number, number of employees, net/gross turnover, business activities and a link to webpage.
• Description of any dependencies (current or former) between the company, the doctoral student, the HEI and the supervisors.

Click here to apply