The Nordic Gender Fund was established in 2024 by the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research at the University of Gothenburg to strengthen the infrastructure for gender research in the Nordic region. A total of SEK 500,000 is allocated as grants for activities aimed at establishing or strengthening 1) scientific and/or scholarly networks, 2) the organisation of scientific and/or scholarly conferences, and 3) scientific and/or scholarly journals on power-critical research on norms, beliefs and structures that reproduce and maintain inequalities based on, for example, gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, class and age. In the 2025 call for proposals, 36 applications were received, of which six were awarded funding.
A new call for proposals from the Nordic Gender Fund will be issued in autumn 2026. Information will be published continuously here: Nordic Gender Fund | University of Gothenburg
The following projects received funding in the 2025 call for proposals:
NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies
The journal NORMA is published through a collaboration between masculinity researchers in Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway and is an interdisciplinary forum for critical research on men and masculinities: NORMA | Journal | Taylor & Francis Online
NORMA is committed to stimulating scholarly discussion on the roles of men and boys, and the place of masculinities, in achieving gender equality and broader social justice. The journal is awarded funding for administration and communication, as well as for an annual editorial meeting and the scientific workshop ‘The Current State of the Art in Critical Men and Masculinities Studies’. The workshop brings together established and new researchers from across the region. It aims to strengthen scholarly networks, develop theoretical innovation, and provide an academic infrastructure for future researchers.
Funding granted to NORMA: SEK 99,000
Water and Care Network
The Water and Care Network is based in Bergen, Norway, and explores water from feminist, decolonial and indigenous perspectives. The network's academic focus is on understanding water as both ecological and social infrastructure – an element of life, care and justice that connects bodies, environments and histories. The Nordic Gender Fund grants funding for three interdisciplinary workshops. These aim to build long-term collaboration between different disciplines and Bergen-based institutes already working with water, ecology and care. Each workshop combines international perspectives with local expertise.
Funding granted to Water and Care Network: SEK 100,000
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) in Asylum Decision-Making
The Nordic Gender Fund contributes to the conference ‘Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) in Asylum Decision-Making: Towards an Infrastructure for Evidence-Based Practice’: Upcoming event: Conference on SOGI and asylum decision-making, October 2026 - Psychology at the Frontiers: Asylum Interviewing and Decision-Making
The conference will be held at Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland, on 15–17 October and will bring together researchers in psychology, law and gender studies. The aim of the conference is to establish a sustainable research infrastructure that links academic knowledge with practical changes in asylum systems around the world. It will bring together existing networks and also result in a joint anthology.
Funding granted Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) in Asylum Decision-Making: SEK 100,000
Anti-Gender & Anti-Migration Connection
The Nordic Gender Fund contributes to the Anti-Gender & Anti-Migration Connection conference, organised by Mångkulturellt Centrum in Stockholm, Sweden on 15 April 2026: The Anti-gender & Anti-migration Connection - MK Centrum
The conference examines, within the field of migration research, how anti-gender movements and anti-migration policies, together with Nordic narratives of equality and exceptionalism, create moral and political boundaries for belonging in today's Nordic societies. In addition to being an academic event, the conference aims to lay the foundation for lasting Nordic research collaboration in the intersection between gender and migration studies.
Funding granted Anti-Gender & Anti-Migration Connection: 69,800 SEK
CUPRA - Nordic Manosphere Network
The CUPRA research group: ‘Cultures and Practices of Digital Technologies’ at Aarhus University will establish the Nordic Manosphere Network through a symposium, a conference publication and regular meetings, with a contribution from the Nordic Gender Fund. The network is coordinated by researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark and the University of Stavanger in Norway. The symposium will kick-start the network, which aims to build a common understanding of how the anti-feminist narratives and male-dominated digital cultures of the “manosphere” arise within the Nordic online ecosystem, as well as to discuss methodological and ethical challenges.
Funding granted to Nordic Manosphere Network: SEK 50,028
g27 – Swedish conference for gender research
The g27 conference is being organised by Lund University and Malmö in 2027. The Nordic Gender Fund is contributing to the conference preparations in 2026. This will be the seventh national conference for research in gender studies and gender research in other disciplines in Sweden. The g-conferences are organised by different host institutions every two or three years and are now a central arena for gender researchers in Sweden to meet, present their research and jointly develop the interdisciplinary field of gender research. This is supported by the Swedish Association for Gender Studies (ÄG), which has assumed responsibility for the conference's continuation.
Funding granted g27: SEK 96,796
