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Minor Field Studies - MFS

MFS is a scholarship for field studies abroad that is financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The scholarship offers students the opportunity to travel to a low- or middle-income country to collect data for a thesis project.

What is Minor Field Studies? (MFS)

Minor Field Studies (MFS) is a scholarship programme that aims to help students carry out field studies abroad, with the purpose of learning more about a host country and about developmental issues. The program is financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and is open for students on bachelor- and master level.

The programme offers a chance to travel to a low- or middle-income country to collect data for your bachelor- or master thesis. The scholarship consists of a travel grant of 30 000 SEK for a field study of the duration of 8 weeks minimum (56 days on site). This sum will typically not cover the entire cost of the trip but the grant can be combined with CSN.

Am I eligible to apply?

The MFS-scholarship at GU is currently only available to students at the following departments:

Departement of Law
Department of Historical Studies
Department of Political Science

To be eligible you need to be a Swedish citizen or have a permanent residence permit. Students from other Nordic countries are eligible if they have been registered as living in Sweden for at least 12 months.

You need to be a registered and active student at GU. The field study needs to be a part of your thesis project on bachelor- or master level. You need to have been assigned a supervisor at your department at the time of the application, and you also need to have a contact person in the host country (read more about this under “Application”). Students who have started a postgraduate education are not eligible to apply.

The MFS-scholarship is personal and cannot be split between two or more students. Students who plan to collaborate on their thesis (regulated by the department) will have to apply for one scholarship each. If you have any questions on writing your thesis with a fellow student, please contact your study counsellor.

Host countries

You can carry out your field study in one of the countries that Sida collaborates with.

Please find a list of possible host countries here(openaid.se)

Travel advisory from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD)

Before choosing a host country for your field study you need to consult the issued travel advice from UD, as this may impact your choice. MFS cannot be granted to a country or region that UD advice against travel to. For this reason, planning your field study and preparing your application needs to include making sure you know what the security situation looks like in your intended host country.

Link to UD travel advice here (in Swedish): Länder som UD avråder från resa till

The following advisory information from UD will mean that an MFS field study cannot be granted to a certain country or region:

general advice to refrain from non-essential travel to a country or region
general advice to refrain from all travel to a country or region
call for all Swedish citizens to leave a country or region

In a situation where UD issues advice against travel to a certain region in a country but not to the country as a whole, it is possible to carry out an MFS field study in another part of that country. To get such an application approved you will need to describe how your planning and preparations will make sure you stay well clear from the unadvisable region throughout the duration of your stay.

Should UD issue advice to refrain from non-essential travel to your host country or region once you have arrived there, you will decide whether to stay or return to Sweden in discussion with your contacts at GU.

Should UD issue advice to refrain from all travel to your host country or region once you have arrived there, you will need to return to Sweden within 30 days.

Should UD issue a call for all Swedish citizens to leave your host country or region once you have arrived there, you will need to contact Falck Global Assistance for help to leave the country or region immediately.

If you need to cancel your MFS field study for any of the reasons above, your scholarship will not be affected. Should you cancel the field study for other reasons you may have to return some or all of the scholarship funds. Please consult the “Allmänna villkor för MFS”-document (in Swedish) to learn more about what rules apply: länk.

Agenda 2030 the Swedish government reform agenda for international development cooperation

In order for your MFS application to be approved, your field study must relate to one or more of the 17 global goals for sustainable development, Agenda 2030, and to at least one of the 7 governmental priorities for the Swedish international development cooperation.

The global goals for sustainable development and Agenda 2030 are an ambitions agenda signed by most of the countries of the world. There are four main goals to reach by 2030: eliminate extreme poverty, reduce inequalities and injustices in the world, promote peace and justice, and solving the climate crisis. You can find more information on Agenda 2030 here:

The Swedish government reform agenda for international development cooperation contains seven thematic priorities, and your field study must relate to at least one of them:

Combating poverty by way of creating work opportunities, business and education,
Improving the health of the least privileged,
Promote freedom and combat oppression,
An expanded and more efficient climate aid,
Strengthening the autonomy of women and girls,
Strengthening synergies between the developmental aid- and migration policies,
A stronger humanitarian support to save lives and mitigate suffering.

Learn more about the reform agenda here (in Swedish):

Bistånd för en ny era – Frihet, egenmakt och hållbar tillväxt

Application

There are 9 scholarships available in the application round for the fall of 2024 at GU. The application period is 21 October – 3 November, and you send in your application digitally via a link found below.

The full application needs to be written in English. You apply in two steps, where the first one asks you to register an account with your personal data, and the second involves logging in to the application portal via a link sent to you by email. You will be asked to provide additional personal data and upload the required documents. The documents need to be in PDF or Word format.

Please note that all required documents need to be submitted before the deadline. You will not be able to send in additional documentation after the deadline has passed.

Your application should include the following mandatory documents:

Project plan

The project plan corresponds to a minor “PM”. The maximum length is 2000 words, not counting references. It should be written in English, and include the following sections:

A background to your chosen topic and field study, including a motivation for your choice of host country,
A theoretical section that recounts the previous- and most recent research on the topic,
Purpose of the field study,
Your chosen methods for data collection and analysis, including any plans for bridging language barriers with the help of translators, etc,
Main research question(s), including your reflections on how the project might be relevant for the local community, region, or country, and how it relates to the global sustainability goals, Agenda 2030, and to the Swedish government reform agenda for international development collaboration,
Your timetable, including preparations before travel. Describe how you intend to section and spend the period in the field, which should be at least 8 weeks (56 days, not counting travel days),
Visa regulations, required permits, vaccinations and restrictions: you need to show that you are sufficiently informed about the formal prerequisites for carrying our your field study in the intended host country in terms of visas, permits, vaccinations, and restrictions, and that you have allowed sufficient time and budget to allow for these,
Budget: including costs for travel to, from, and within the host country, cost of living for the intended period, visas and permits, vaccinations, housing, etc. Also include any planned costs for equipment or materials, technical assistance, translation, or other services,
Risk analysis for your field study: what risks can you foresee that might mean that you have to make changes to your original plan for the study, and how do you plan to adapt to these? Describe what circumstances on site that may have an impact on the study you wish to carry out regarding topic or methodology and show that you can anticipate obstacles and plan for how to overcome them,
Safety and security precautions, and ethical considerations: you need to show that you have reflected on the possible risks that this study might put you or those connected to you in, as well as how you plan to mitigate these and avoid putting yourself or anyone else in danger or discomfort (translators, respondents, anyone who will help you on site). Also: what other ethical considerations do you need to be aware of or navigate in relation to the setup or topic of your study?
References

Supervisors agreement

Transcript of records

CV

Copy of passport or other documentation

Assessment process, and final decision

When the deadline for the application has passed, all applications will be screened to make sure that the applicant is eligible, and that the application is complete. Should your application not be approved for further assessment, we will let you know via email.

Applications that pass screening will be assessed in accordance with standards for academic relevance, relation to the global sustainability goals and the reform agenda for international development collaboration, as well as for general feasibility in scope and planning. The assessment will be made by the MFS-coordinator at GU and by experienced academics and researchers from the departments that are part of the application round.

The assessment process takes place in the 4-6 weeks following the application deadline. Once the assessment is complete all students will receive information on the final decision for their application via email. The final decision cannot be overruled.

Preparatory course and payment of scholarship

In order receive the funds for your scholarship, you will need to attend a mandatory preparatory course for field studies which is planned to 10 December 2024 at 10:00-12:00 in the morning. Students will be asked to join the course on site at Rosenlundsgatan 4 in Gothenburg. Please mark this time and date in your calendar already now if you apply in this application round. The scholarship funds will be made available 1-2 weeks following this course.

Questions?

Contact the MFS-coordinator at GU by sending an email to mfs@gu.se

Please note that the MFS-scholarship program at University of Gothenburg (GU) is currently available only to students at the following departments:

Departement of Law
Department of Historical Studies
Department of Political Science

We are working on opening up the MFS-program for applications from all GU-students as of the fall term of 2025. Information on this will be updated here in the spring term of 2025.

General terms and conditions (only in Swedish)

MFS Allmänna villkor 2024 (pdf)

I dokumentet hittar du detaljerad information om MFS.

Last modified

14 October 2024