Research projects supported by VREF

Centre of Excellence
A Centre of Excellence (CoE) is a larger project run by a well established, renowned research group or a set of co-ordinated groups who are addressing a central problem or problem area within the FUT programme. The annual funding of a CoE in full operation is normally in the range of SEK 4,000,000-6,000,000 (ca EUR 450,000-650,000 or USD 650,000-1,000,000) with an expected duration for a successful centre of 5 years. Since the start of the FUT programme in 2000, seven globally distributed CoEs have been established (see list of ongoing CoEs).

Smaller Projects
A Smaller Project (SP) is restricted to a single individual or a small research group (mainly at academic or public research organisations) with a duration of 1-2 years, addressing a central problem within the FUT programme. The annual project budget for a SP is normally SEK 300,000-800,000 (ca EUR 32,000-85,000 or USD 50,000-130,000). These projects could alternatively be a search/inventory of published and otherwise available knowledge about a specific problem, phenomenon or activity within the FUT area, which is compiled and analysed with suggestions for further work. Since the start of the FUT programme in 2000, ca 40 globally distributed SPs have been initiated (see list of ongoing SPs).