The call addresses prominent early-career researchers based at host institutions in Sweden, who in tough competition scored among the best (’A’) in the most recent European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant call yet narrowly missed out on a grant due to the limited available ERC funding.

Researchers who are awarded SFSG get a head start to their projects and are thus in an even better position when they apply to the ERC next year. By providing additional chances of funding for top scoring ERC application, the funders behind SFSG hope to motivate more researchers to invest the necessary time and effort of writing such an application, thereby increasing the overall number of researchers in Sweden who receive ERC Starting Grants.

SFSG relies on the ERC’s well-renowned peer review process as the basis for the quality assessment. This minimizes the administrative effort for both the researchers and the participating funders.

The decision to grant funds is made individually by the participating foundations in accordance with their statutes and procedures. The SFSG-researchers must continue to apply for funding from ERC to receive an additional year's funding. If funding from ERC is granted, the Swedish funding is terminated. The grants should not be a substitute for ERC funding. Instead, they should be seen as a step towards receiving ERC funding.

The SFSG-initiative was launched in 2015 and the participating funders welcome others to join.