Deadline: 20-May-23

The Ekhaga foundation has launched a grant program to promote human health by working for the development of better food, natural medicines and healing methods, as well as supporting research for a healthier way of life, which in itself can have a disease-preventing effect.

A central idea is to focus more on preventive active healthcare than on reactive symptom-fighting healthcare. The same applies to the agricultural and food sector, where the focus should be on seeking methods that can prevent various problems from arising instead of focusing on their manifestations. The focus should not be on fighting problems but on finding methods to prevent their occurrence.

Research Areas

• Better and healthier food
  • For Gösta Videgårds, improving the quality of agricultural products through farming without artificial fertilizers and synthetic pesticides was an important goal. The foundation therefore supports research and development based on the principles of organic and biodynamic food production or other methods and directions that work towards this goal.
• Nutritional physiology and lifestyle
  • Gösta Videgård was very interested in the importance of diet for humans. The foundation therefore supports research into the role of diet in the treatment of diseases and the strengthening of the body’s resistance.
• Naturopathy and natural medicines
  • Gösta Videgårds had a great interest in the art of naturopathy and its goal of curing diseases by using the body’s own inherent healing ability and utilizing the health-giving forces of nature. He also appreciated and practiced the basic idea of ​​naturopathy to avoid artificial chemical preparations as much as possible.
  • The foundation sees that support for this area of ​​​​research today can be extended to also include other medical research where the mindset is to make use of natural methods and medicines, and which can for example go under the names complementary, biological or alternative medicine .

Eligible Funding

The Ekhaga foundation can grant funds for the following types of costs:

• Wages
  • Direct costs for salaries incl. reasonable wage cost charge for people active in the project. Payroll surcharges are the fees that an employer must pay for their employees (employer’s fees, insurance premiums, etc.) and are in Sweden in the range of 40-50%. Enter the people active in the project as well as the salary cost and how much of the working time the person works in the project, alternatively number of working hours and hourly cost. Account for wage cost surcharges separately and state both amount and percentage.
• Equipment, instruments, materials
  • The foundation can finance costs for equipment, instruments, consumables, etc. needed in the project. The budget must contain a statement of cost details, albeit at a comprehensive level. For example, there is no need to list all types of consumables that will be used.
• Travel
  • The foundation can finance costs for travel, conferences, etc. that are needed in the project. The purpose of the trips and general details must be stated in the budget.
• Premises costs
  • Direct premises costs for the persons mentioned under the item Salaries. Local costs must be included as a separate item in the budget, even if it must be entered in the Other column on the application form.
• Miscellaneous
  • Other direct project-related costs such as financial administration and IT systems. Other costs must be specified in the budget.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Ekhaga foundation has no restrictions regarding which country an application comes from. and accept applications from all over the world.
• For applications that do not come from Europe, Canada or the USA, The Foundation recommends that the application includes a collaboration with a Swedish partner who is practically involved in the implementation of the project.
• For applications from Europe, Foundation also has no formal requirements that only one institution (university, college, research institution, etc.) can apply for grants. For applications from other countries, an organization or institution must be the managing body for the project. Ekhaga foundation welcomes applications from everyone (including private individuals), but please observe the requirements for scientificity regarding the project’s construction, implementation and evaluation.
• It is possible to apply for scholarship funds from the foundation, but this is usually only granted for research-related projects. Ekhaga foundation do not finance basic education.

For more information, visit https://www.ekhagastiftelsen.se/instruktioner.shtml