Aim and Scope
WASP and WASP-HS are committed to forming meaningful collaborations to bridge the gaps between the scientific disciplines represented in respective programs. The Wallenberg Foundations have earmarked funding for such joint efforts in their donation. The call is thus part of a commitment to stimulate collaborative research between computing sciences, humanities, and social sciences on autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and software. This call is the first joint call of the two programs and aims to give researchers within WASP and WASP-HS the opportunity to initiate and pursue joint interdisciplinary research projects.
The main aim of the project is to increase the research collaboration between the WASP and WASP-HS programs. This could for instance be done by:
- embedding social science or humanities researchers in a WASP research group, such as a WASP NEST, or in a team of researchers within the WASP research arenas to investigate the social and human consequences of AI/AS, or
- embedding WASP researchers that can help develop novel AI/AS methods for the social sciences and humanities in a WASP-HS group.
The projects should be of a visionary nature and have a clear impact on the research fields to which they connect. The call is meant to fund joint research projects between researchers in the WASP-HS program (max 1 MSEK/project for funding WASP-HS researchers) and postdoctoral researchers (max 3 MSEK/project for funding WASP postdocs) in the WASP program (max 4 MSEK/project in total).
Background Description of WASP and WASP-HS
Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP) is Sweden’s largest individual research program and provides a platform for academic research and education, fostering interaction with Sweden’s leading companies and other actors. The program addresses research in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and software as enabling technologies for developing systems acting in collaboration with humans, adapting to their environment through sensors, information, and knowledge, and forming intelligent systems of systems. WASP strengthens, expands, and renews the national competence through strategic recruitments, a challenging research program, a national graduate school, and collaboration with industry and society. The program is conducted in close cooperation between leading Swedish universities to promote the competence of Sweden as a nation within the area of AI, autonomous systems and software.
The Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program – Humanity and Society (WASP-HS) is a research program in which researchers tackle the challenges and impacts of upcoming technology shifts and contribute to the development of theories and practices of human and societal aspects of AI and autonomous systems. The particular focus is on the ethical, economic, labor market, social, cultural, and legal aspects of the impacts that AI and autonomous systems bring.
The vision of WASP-HS is to realize excellent research and develop competence in the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems with a strong investment in research in social science and humanities. This multidisciplinary approach is expected to advance our understanding of the challenges and impact of intelligent and autonomous technology, as well as contribute to the development of theory and practice of human and societal aspects of AI and autonomous systems.
Eligibility criteria
WASP requirement: All WASP recruited faculty or WASP PIs/co-PIs with ongoing WASP projects.
WASP-HS requirement: All researchers with an established affiliation to WASP-HS with a social science or humanities background. Having an affiliation with WASP-HS may entail being a PI or researcher on a WASP-HS project, an advisor to a WASP-HS doctoral student, instructor of a WASP-HS course, or speaker at a WASP-HS event.
Project participation of researchers from both WASP and WASP-HS is a strict requirement. All applicants are expected to actively participate in the project. An applicant can be involved in a maximum of one application.
All funded project participants are expected to, where possible, be active contributors and participants in community events, such as seminars and conferences organized by the programs.
Budget, Project Duration and Use of funding
The total funding for this call is 8 MSEK, maximum 6 MSEK from WASP and 2 MSEK from WASP-HS.
- The project budget is in the range of 2-4 MSEK.
- The maximum budget for one project is 4 MSEK. Maximum 3 MSEK from WASP and 1 MSEK from WASP-HS.
- 2-4 projects are expected to be funded.
- The project duration is expected to be 1-2 years.
The funding can be used for:
- The funding from WASP is restricted to the funding of postdoc positions hired within existing WASP research groups.
- The funding from WASP-HS can be used for salary costs for PI and co-PIs.
- Operating costs, e.g. materials and travel
Financial Information
- Any necessary co-funding will be covered by each university/department.
- The Wallenberg funding conditions allow a maximum of 20% of the approved grant to be used for overhead and premises costs. Additionally, there is a maximum coverage of 52,5% for LKP (payroll taxes and social security contributions including holiday allowance %) on gross salary and allowance costs.
- All estimated project costs for the project period are to be specified in the provided budget template.
- The grant will be transferred retroactively for reported costs according to the approved funding.
Proposal Structure/Format
The proposal must be composed in Times New Roman font, 11 pt, single-spaced text, margin 2,5 cm and include the following sections:
- Name of project
- Name, affiliations of PIs
- Project plan (max 3 pages, including references)
- A description of the WASP team/environment (max 1 page)
- The scientific and societal impact and relevance for WASP and WASP-HS fields (max 1 page)
- Short CV and selected most relevant publications (max 10 publications) for main and co-applicants (2 pages/PI)
- Commitment letter from receiving departments (template for commitment letter)
- Budget (template for overall budget)
The proposal, including the above sections, shall be submitted jointly by two PIs—one from WASP and one from WASP-HS, as a single PDF file to the submission portal.
Evaluation Criteria
Projects will be evaluated according to the assessment of the combination of the following criteria:
- Scientific quality and novelty
- Feasibility
- Merits of the research environment and applicants in relation to their career stage
- Future impact on and relevance for WASP/WASP-HS community
We will also consider:
- Interdisciplinary potential
- Open science and data sharing aspects
- Industrial or societal relevance
- Complementarity of the applications (for example, gender balance, career stage, geographical distribution and project topic)
Submission
The proposal shall be submitted to the submission portal no later than 2026-06-17, 14:00.
Timeline
2026-04-01 Call opens
2026-06-17 Call closes 14:00
Sept 2026 Decision of accepted projects communicated
2026-11-01 Desired project start
For Questions Regarding the Call
Contact contact@wasp-hs.org or calls@wasp-sweden.org
