MFS is a Sida-funded scholarship program for field studies abroad in an underdeveloped country where the Swedish government has active strategies for development cooperation. 

The overarching goal of Swedish development cooperation is to ensure that people living in poverty and oppression have the opportunity to improve their living conditions. Swedish development cooperation and humanitarian aid are governed by government strategies that specify goals and priorities. Sida, which functions as both an administrative authority and an expert authority, is responsible for implementing the strategies together with other authorities and determining how the work is to be carried out.

Through the scholarship, you get the opportunity to travel to an underdeveloped country to gather material for your essay or your degree project. Your field study must last for at least eight consecutive weeks (56 days) and during your field study you need to have a supervisor at your institution and a contact person in the host country.

• You need to be a Swedish citizen, have a permanent residence permit (PUT), or be a citizen of another Nordic country but registered in Sweden for at least one year. 
• You need to be a registered and active student at the University of Borås. The field study must be part of your degree project at undergraduate or advanced level. You need to have a supervisor for your thesis at HB and a contact person in the host country at the time of application. Students who have started postgraduate studies cannot apply for the scholarship.
• The MFS scholarship is a personal scholarship that you apply for and is awarded to an individual student. If you are going to complete your thesis or your degree project with another student, both students apply for their own MFS scholarship. 

Important:  You cannot apply for an MFS scholarship if you have been granted another Sida-financed scholarship for the current field study period. If you apply for another scholarship for the same field study period, this must be stated in your application.

The MFS scholarship is SEK 35,000 and must cover accommodation, travel and other costs such as vaccinations and visas.  The scholarship does not cover the entire cost of the trip but can be supplemented with CSN.

In order for the field study/essay to be approved, it is required that:

• the field study is carried out in an underdeveloped country, for a continuous period of 8 weeks
• the essay is of academic quality and is relevant to your course/program
• the field study relates to one or more of the UN's global goals for sustainable development, from Agenda 2030
• the field study is linked to the government's reform agenda for Swedish aid
• is in line with one or more of Sweden's strategies for development work in the host country
• the field study is linked to an ongoing research project at your institution at the University of Borås
• is supported by a contact person in the host country who is connected to the study
• is supervised by an academic supervisor at the University of Borås
• the essay is written in English

Find more information here about: 

• UN's global goals for Sustainable Development
• Sida's bilateral, regional and thematic strategies
• Explore the active strategies of the Swedish government
• Research groups - University of Borås

The MFS scholarship allows students to carry out their field studies in countries where the Swedish government has active strategies for development cooperation. There are two types of strategies that you can choose as a starting point for your field study:

• Geographic strategies: These focus on specific countries or regions.
• Thematic strategies: These address specific issues, such as human rights, democracy or the development of the legal sector.

Important:
MFS cannot be granted to a country or region to which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against travel. When preparing your MFS application, you therefore need to inform yourself about the security situation in the area and country you plan to visit. You must compare the list of possible host countries with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' advice when preparing your application.

Links:

• List of countries and regions where Sweden conducts Development Cooperation
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' list of countries where there is an advisory (in Swedish)

A new call for 8 MFS scholarships will take place in the autumn of 2025. The field work should be carried out in the spring of 2026. 

Information about the application process, will be updated here shortly.

For general question about the MFS scholarship, please contact: exchange@hb.se 
Please mark the email with the subject "MFS"

For specific questions, please contact:

Contact person at the Academy of Textiles, Technology and Economics: jenny.balkow@hb.se 

Contact person at the Academy of Library, Information, Education and IT: veronica.trepagny@hb.se