Wallenberg Academy Fellows is a unique career programme that provides the most promising young researchers across all academic disciplines with resources to develop their research over the long term. The programme was initiated by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation in close collaboration with five royal academies and 16 Swedish universities. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is responsible for the evaluation process together with the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, and the Swedish Academy.
From 2028, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) will fund the programme together with the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation and the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation. The foundations have decided to issue new calls in 2028, 2030, 2032 and 2034.
The aim of the career programme and its long-term funding is to provide the most promising young researchers with working conditions that allow them to focus on research and address difficult, long-term research questions, while also contributing to the internationalisation of the Swedish research environment.
The universities nominate researchers for the programme, and the academies evaluate the candidates and present the most promising researchers to the foundations, which make the final selection. In addition to the written documentation submitted with the nominations, the evaluation process includes personal interviews and assessments by external international reviewers. The universities then take long-term responsibility for the selected researchers and their research activities.
Mentor programme
As part of the initiative, KAW created a mentor programme in cooperation with the five academies to support the researchers’ scientific development and innovation. The programme gives researchers the opportunity to develop the skills and establish the networks needed to lead successful research environments. Each cohort of Wallenberg Academy Fellows belongs to a separate mentoring group with a lead mentor and individual mentors for each researcher. The mentor programme includes regular meetings, courses and study trips and is administered by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Who nominates?
Swedish universities and higher education institutions are invited to nominate candidates for Wallenberg Academy Fellows. The nominations are evaluated by groups comprising members of the five academies involved in the programme. The evaluation groups present the most promising candidates to the foundations, which then make the final selection.
The programme started in 2012, and since 2017, calls have been issued every second year. Following a break in 2027, calls will be issued every second year from 2028 onwards.
Grants range from 9 to 17 million Swedish kronor per researcher over five years, depending on the field of research and whether the researcher is based abroad at the time of nomination. Researchers who have been selected as Wallenberg Academy Fellows and received funding for an initial period may apply for a further five years of funding. A maximum of 60 per cent of researchers awarded funding may receive an extension. If an extension is granted, the funding amounts to 11 million Swedish kronor over five years.
Who can be nominated?
The programme is open to researchers in all academic disciplines: medicine, engineering and technology, natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, as well as interdisciplinary fields. It targets early-career researchers with the potential to become leading researchers and research leaders of tomorrow.