FBA Research Grants 2026

FBA's Research Grants is one of the tools that the agency uses to ensure that its work for peace and security is evidence-based. Eligible to apply for the grants are members of FBA’s research working groups. In the fall of 2025, FBA expanded its research working groups with 23 new members, which has led to a significant increase in competition in this year’s call.

– We have seen an unusually high level of interest in this year’s call, with applications of high quality covering many relevant themes. This is very encouraging, says Johanna Malm, Head of Research at FBA.

The funded projects address a range of timely issues. Among other topics, they examine how and why populations in Georgia, Serbia, Estonia, and North Macedonia perceive democracy assistance differently. This research will also shed light on where in the world – and among which vulnerable groups – the largest gaps exist between the integrity of electoral processes and voters’ trust in elections, as well as which hybrid threats pose the greatest risks within these trust gaps.

Another funded project will generate new knowledge on the intersection between DDR processes (Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration) and the Youth, Peace and Security agenda through a comparison between the cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Southern Philippines. Yet another project contributes with an expanded global dataset that maps women's participation in peace negotiations.

Beyond the large number of strong applications, this year’s applicants have also conducted a record number of consultations with FBA practitioners prior to application submission. This strengthens the link between research and practice.

– This type of preparatory consultation contributes not only to research proposals of high scientific quality, but also to the development of more operationally relevant project ideas. It enables practice-oriented research for the benefit of evidence-based conflict prevention and security promotion, says Johanna Malm.

Funded projects 2026

Public Preferences for Democracy Aid in Post-Conflict States

Researcher: Magnus Lundgren

This project examines public attitudes toward democracy aid in the post-conflict states of Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and North Macedonia. Using interviews and survey experiments, it explores how citizens in these states evaluate democracy aid compared to other types of aid and their different forms, as well as how factors such as conflict exposure and country context shape these preferences. Through the identification of which aid types, delivery channels, and donors enjoy the public legitimacy, the project aims to provide guidance on how to design democracy assistance that resonates locally and how to prevent or counteract hybrid threats in post-conflict states.

Threats to Electoral Trust: Mapping Vulnerabilities for Targeted Democracy Assistance

Researchers: Hannah Chapman & Holly-Ann Garnett

The project studies the electoral integrity perception gap, i.e. the disconnect between objective election quality and public trust, and the exploitation of this perception gap by hybrid threats. Through the development of an Electoral Integrity Perception Gap Index, the study identifies where perception gaps are most severe globally, which populations are vulnerable, and which hybrid threats most undermine trust. By analyzing existing data and new surveys in Estonia, Serbia, Moldova, and Georgia, the research provides actionable intelligence for democracy assistance organizations to strategically allocate resources.

From Conflict to Peace: Reintegration Trajectories of Former Young Combatants in Post-Conflict Southern Philippines and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Researchers: Primitivo III Cabanes Ragandang & Vanja Petricevic

The project investigates how former young combatants rebuild their lives in the post-conflict contexts of the Bangsamoro region in the Southern Philippines and Bosnia and Herzegovina, exploring the DDR-YPS nexus while treating reintegration as an intergenerational, social, and emotional process rather than a technical endpoint. The study examines how gender, memory politics, community engagement and digital information environments shape reintegration experiences over time.

Polarization and Emerging Autocracy Along the Euro-Eurasian Faultline: Adapting Track Two Dialogue to Develop Depolarization Interventions in Georgia

Researchers: Julia Palmiano Federer

This project studies the polarization in Georgia and the potential of Track Two dialogue being applied not only in armed conflict contexts but also in contexts of social conflict and polarization. It will develop a new conceptual framework adapting Track Two practices for use in responding to polarization. It seeks to inform possible depolarization initiatives in the Georgian and other contexts of rising authoritarianism and democratic erosion at the edges of Europe.

Globalizing Ukraine's Foreign Policy: Practices, Institutionalization, and Alignment with the EU

Researcher: Maryna Rabinovych

This proposal investigates the development of Ukraine’s wartime foreign policy by focusing on Ukraine’s everyday engagements with partners, institutionalization processes and alignment with the EU’s common foreign and security policy. Together, the insights will shed light on some of the underexplored aspects of Ukraine’s foreign-policy evolution and provide recommendations for strengthening EU–Ukraine foreign-policy alignment.

Expanding and Publishing the Women’s Participation in Peace Negotiations Dataset, 1990–2026

Researcher: Miriam Anderson

In this proposal the researchers aim to expand their new and global dataset on women’s participation in peace negotiations (1975-2020) by adding information for the years of 2021-2026 as well as a new variable on civil society participation. This constitutes an important contribution to the understudied aspects of mapping gender dimensions in peace processes. Some of the key outputs of the project will include an open access website hosting the database with narratives of each negotiating event.

NATO Adaptation after Global Crises: From Afghanistan to Ukraine

Researcher: Heidi Hardt

The project studies how NATO adapts to crises and seeks to explain why, after crises, NATO sometimes stagnates, accommodates versus adapts across issue-areas. It tests a new “adaptation on the margins”-argument, challenging conventional expectations that the most proximate, high salience crises drive the most change. By comparing NATO's responses to the crises related to Crimea 2014, Afghanistan 2021 and Ukraine 2022, the project provides guidance on how to facilitate more effective political and military adaptation among NATO allies in times of crises.

Read more about FBA:s research grants.