VR: Exploratory grant in groundbreaking research
The purpose of the exploratory grant is to give researchers the opportunity, over a limited period, to test a potentially groundbreaking research idea, and subsequently to enable the most promising projects to be further developed. The initiative is open to innovative and transformative projects across all fields of research. Researchers awarded an exploratory grant will be eligible to apply, in competition, for a longer follow‑up grant.
About the call
- Funder
- Swedish Research Council
- Call deadline
- 29 September 2026
- This call is relevant for
- Humanities and Social Sciences, Medicine and Pharmacy, Science and Technology
More information
This is a call for proposals where you can submit an application continuously throughout the application period (June 16 to September 29).
If possible, do not wait until the end of the application period.
The grant has two stages. In the first, relatively many researchers – even those at the beginning of their careers – are given the opportunity to test a new, unconventional and risky hypothesis during a grant period of up to two years. In the next stage, only the researchers with the most promising ideas receive a larger follow-up grant.
Other
This is one of two calls that VR has created under the new "Groundbreaking Research" program. The second grant - Transformative Grant - will enable excellent researchers, who have previously demonstrated risk-taking and innovative thinking, to spend more time developing a project with high potential for groundbreaking breakthroughs.