Information for students

The program is open to all students enrolled at a Swedish higher education institution that has received MFS funding and who meet the following requirements:

• Planning to write a course project or a degree project at bachelor’s or master’s level;
• Actively enrolled at the university through which they are applying at the time of the application;
• Swedish citizen or been registered in Sweden for at least one year at the time of the application;
• Have never started a doctoral-level programme.

Students must apply through their own university. Check the participating universities and their MFS webpage under Contact.

Note: Students are only eligible to apply for one MFS scholarship per level of study.

A field study within the MFS program means collecting data for a course project or a degree project in a host country for a minimum of 8 consecutive weeks (56 days) and a maximum of 20 weeks. The field study period starts the day you arrive in the host country and ends the day you leave. Please note that you cannot split your field study between multiple countries.

To be eligible for the MFS program, your field study must meet the following requirements:

• Academic relevance: The study must align with your academic program or subject area and meet the necessary academic standards.
• Host country: The field study must take place in a country where Sweden has active development cooperation.
• Strategic alignment: The field study must align with one or more Sweden’s development cooperation strategies in the host country.
• Contact person: You must have a contact person in the host country who can provide support and assistance with the execution of your field study.
• Academic supervisor: Your field study must be supervised by an academic advisor at your Swedish university.
• Final output: The study must result in a course or degree project, which must be written in English.

After Completing the Field Study

Once your field study is completed, you are expected to:

• Submit a participant report.
• Present your project to your class and teacher.
• Take part in any knowledge-sharing activities planned by your university.
• Publish your thesis or degree project in the MFS database (launching in 2025) within one year of your return.

Additionally, you're encouraged to make your study available in the host country in the local language, when possible, for example, in the form of a summary or article.

For your MFS project to be relevant within the framework of Swedish development cooperation, you need to demonstrate how your topic relates to one or more government strategies. A good place to start is by using the website Openaid.

Please note that you should also carefully read the section The Swedish development cooperation as well as the information on Possible host countries under About MFS. These sections explain what strategies are, how they work, and how to find them.

1. Start with Openaid – begin from a country or a thematic area

You can choose to start either from a specific country or from a thematic area, depending on what you already know about your project.

Starting from a country or region

This option is suitable if you already know where you plan to carry out your field study.

Go to Countries and regions on Openaid. There, you can search for a country or region using the list or by clicking directly on the map. Once you have selected a country, you can see which sectors are prioritised, which organisations are involved in Swedish development cooperation (which may be helpful when looking for a host organisation), and which strategies apply to that specific country or region.

Starting from a thematic area

This option is suitable if you already know which subject area you want to focus on but have not yet chosen a country.

Go to Thematics on Openaid and select Government thematic priorities. There, you can filter by a specific area, such as improved health or climate-related assistance, and see which strategies address different thematic areas. By filtering on a specific theme, you can also see in which countries and regions this area is prioritised within Swedish development cooperation.

Please note that these are not the only ways to identify relevant strategies in Openaid, but they are the most common and accessible ones. You are free to start from a country, a thematic area, or directly from a specific strategy.

2. Identify relevant strategies

Once you have an overview from Openaid, you need to identify which strategy or strategies are most relevant to your project. The full texts of the strategies are not available directly on Openaid, but all strategies are published on the Swedish Government’s website. Links and further information can also be found under About MFS: Swedish development cooperation.

3. Read the strategy carefully

Read the strategy that is most relevant to your project and your chosen country or region carefully. Pay particular attention to the thematic priorities, objectives, and overall direction of the cooperation.

For example, if you are planning a project in Latin America, you may refer to Sweden’s regional strategy for development cooperation with Latin America, which highlights areas such as human rights, climate, and migration. Read the specific objectives under each thematic priority and consider where your project fits in.

5. Describe the link in your MFS application

In your application, you should clearly state:

• which strategy your project is linked to,
• how your project relates to the thematic area in the strategy,
• which objective or objectives within the strategy your project addresses.

This helps the assessors understand how your MFS project fits within the framework of Swedish development cooperation.

The contact person in the host country can represent or be employed by a local authority, university, organization, or company in the country, or by a development project (Sida, UN, NGOs, consultancy firms, or Swedish companies), or similar. The contact person does not need to be affiliated with an organization.

Your contact person should be someone working in your research area who can assist you in identifying and connecting with relevant individuals or organizations for interviews or data collection. They should also be able to support you with practical matters both before and during the fieldwork, such as providing tips on accommodation, transportation, and safety.