Call for Ragnar Söderberg post doc grants in law 2026

Objectives of the call

The main objectives for the call are:

• to provide prominent early-career researchers in law with substantial funding that will allow them to advance in their academic career,
• to support new research findings of high academic quality in law.

Furthermore, we want to promote international networking and collaboration by offering grant holders the opportunity to apply for additional funding for research stays at universities abroad.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible the applicant must meet the following two criteria:

• hold a PhD in law awarded after 1 January 2023 and before 31 December 2026. This period may be extended by a maximum of 2 years to allow for career breaks that took place after the doctoral degree was awarded. Eligible reasons for extension are continuous periods (of at least 1 month) of parental leave, long-term illness, or care for a close family member. Such breaks should be supported by documentation from Försäkringskassan or the equivalent.
• have full-time employment at a Swedish university* for the duration of the grant period with 80% of the time devoted to research (funded by the grant) and 20% to teaching (funded by the university).

We welcome applications from researchers that are not yet established in Sweden. In such cases, the researcher must be employed at a Swedish university by the start of the grant period. Since the application must be signed by the Head of Department the necessary arrangements with the host institution in Sweden needs to be made well in advance.

 

* We use the term university to describe all higher education institutes.

The grant

The grant may be used for salary of the applicant and direct project related cost. It must not be used to fund other employees.

 

Eligible costs are:

• 80 % of the salary for a full-time employment at a Swedish university for 2 years, the remaining 20% for teaching should be fully financed by the university,
• direct project-related costs, including (but limited to) costs for data collection and analysis, publication, and dissemination of results to peers and the public,
• funding for attending international conferences. Such costs will be paid directly to the applicant as a personal stipend. The stipend is individually adapted and may cover reasonable accommodation costs, travel, and visa costs.
• funding of some of the extra costs related to a research stay abroad. The research stay abroad can include either a longer stay (e.g. for 6 months) or several shorter visits. Such costs will be paid directly to the applicant as a personal stipend. The stipend is individually adapted and may cover reasonable accommodation costs, travel, and visa costs (one return ticket for researcher and close family members such as partner and/or children) etc.

Please note that indirect costs (overhead) including rental costs for office space are not fully funded by the Ragnar Söderbergs stiftelse. We provide a fixed amount for overhead and rental costs according to the policy of the Foundation (link to policy text, in Swedish).

 

The Host institution must meet the following requirements:

• employ the researcher and co-fund teaching (20% of a full-time employment) during the grant period,
• co-fund indirect costs including office space,
• assist in making contacts for a research stay abroad (if needed).

Grant period

The grant period is two years. The starting date is decided by the applicant, but it cannot be set earlier than 1 February 2027 or later than 1 October 2027.

The application

Applications are submitted through an online grant portal. For further information on how to use the portal and how to write the application please refer to the application guidelines. There you will find all necessary information on the required content of the application and practical details regarding the application platform (SBS). Please note that SBS opens on 19 August.

 

Note that both the applicant and the Head of Department are required to digitally sign the application (using Bank-ID) before it can be submitted. By signing the application, the Head of Department verifies that the host institution will comply with the requirement described above. If you do not have a Bank-ID you need to contact us at least two weeks ahead of the deadline.

 

We work with both national and international reviewers and thus all applications must be written in English.

Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated by a review panel consisting of five prominent law scholars from national and international universities. The review panel will assess the applications based on two criteria: scientific quality of the proposed research project and merits of the applicant.

 

The purpose of the review process is to identify applications where:

• the project has strong potential to provide new knowledge of high academic standard to the research field, and
• the applicant has a strong potential to develop into a leading researcher in their field.

 

General information on the review process and previous panel members may be found here (only available in Swedish).

 

Interview step

The highest ranked applicants will be invited for an interview with the review panel in the presence of representatives from the Ragnar Söderbergs Foundation. The purpose of the interview is for the review panel to ask additional questions regarding the application and the proposed project. The interviews will be held in Stockholm in November 2026 and attendance is mandatory for applicants that have advanced to the interview stage. Exact date will be provided before the call opens.

Decision

The board of the Ragnar Söderbergs Foundation will decide in December 2026 which applications to fund. All applicants will receive notification by e-mail and a list of all awarded grants will be published on our website.

Queries

Please contact us at kansli@soderbergs.org. Note that we have a small office and may not be able to answer questions at short notice.

Time table 2026

• April: the call for postdoc fellowships is announced.
• 19 August 2026: the call opens.
• 8 October 2026 at 3:00 pm: deadline for the call.
• November 2026: interview invitations and instructions are sent out to the highest ranked applicants.
• November 2026: invited applicants are interviewed in Stockholm. Exact date will be provided when the call opens.
• December 2026: announcement of awarded grants – Ragnar Söderberg Postdoctoral Fellows in Law.
• Spring 2027: networking event and dinner for all Ragnar Söderberg Postdoctoral Fellows in Law (alumni and present) to be held in Stockholm