A guide for applicants for programme funding
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It takes a substantial collaborative effort and considerable commitment - on the part of the entire applicant group - to create a programme with a Mistra vision of its own.The application process for programme funding from Mistra consists of several stages. It takes roughly a year - and sometimes even longer - to plan a Mistra programme. It is important to be well prepared for the task the programme is to undertake. That is essential to its success.
Below is a graphic description of the steps in the process for programme funding. Please click on each step for comprehensive planning or download the pdf guide for complete guidance. Paper copies of the Guide can be ordered from Mistra's Secretariat.
1. Initiation of a programme idea
An idea for a programme can be initiated either by Mistra issuing a call for proposals, inviting applications for planning grants in a particular area of strategic environmental importance, or by researchers and/or users submitting a proposal on their own initiative. If Mistra has invited proposals, your programme idea must be formulated entirely in line with the invitation. If you submit a proposal on your own initiative, rather than in response to a call, then it must be in line with Mistra´s strategy, which identifies priority areas for funding. Current calls for proposals and our strategy document can be found on the Mistra web site. Please feel free to contact the Mistra Secretariat if you have any questions about a current call or regarding our strategy and priority areas of funding.FORMULATING YOUR IDEA
Your programme idea must have the potential to meet all the criteria for Mistra funding. Before applying for a planning grant, it is particularly important that you clearly put into words what contribution your programme will make in terms of solving important environmental problems and promoting Sweden´s competitiveness. To do that, you need to create a vision of your own for your proposal. See the sections above on the criteria for a Mistra programme and on creating a vision for your programme proposal.
It is important to establish a dialogue between researchers and intended users of the research results while you are still at the stage of formulating your idea. Intended users need to be involved alongside researchers from relevant disciplines in defining the problem to be addressed. This lays a foundation for an ongoing dialogue and increases the chances of the research being both of scientific value and of benefit to users.
If an important group of intended users or a relevant research discipline becomes involved in the process too late in the day, their contribution may feel like something tacked on as an afterthought, and your programme idea may end up lopsided or overly narrow. Particular care needs to be taken in this respect if your idea is one that requires you to cooperate across boundaries which you do not normally cross - perhaps the boundary between natural sciences/engineering and social sciences/humanities, or between a group of researchers and a group of practitioners who are not used to having dealings with each other. Invest time in this dialogue to develop your programme idea, and be receptive to one another´s different perspectives; this is essential if your programme is to succeed.
Researchers and users from countries other than Sweden can take part in a Mistra programme, alongside their Swedish counterparts. But remember that the centre of gravity of a programme must always be in Sweden. Mistra is happy to collaborate on research ventures with other funding bodies. However, the aim of such ventures must always be to help solve important environmental problems on the basis of a partnership between researchers and users.
