You should have an idea yourself about how you want to conduct your field study. In consultation with supervisors or other contact persons, you develop a feasible project. Various organisations can also offer project proposal outlines.

Concretise and state the following:

• What you are going to do
• Where you are going to do it
• How it will be implemented (method, theory)
• Who is going to help you (academic contact at home / contacts in the host country?)

• Demarcate your study. Remember that two months pass quickly, especially in a new environment.
• Choose a subject that relates to development issues.
• Remember that it is a field study. For that reason, choose a subject that requires you to be on site and not a desk-based study.
• Consider your choice of method. Remember that your study must be feasible.
• If you are going to use an interpreter, consider what this might mean for your results. Consider what bearing it may have if the interpreter is male or female, someone known to you or a stranger, familiar with your subject or not, official or unofficial, local or not local. If you are not going to use an interpreter and the interview is conducted in a language other than the respondents’ native tongue, consider how this might affect responses and interpretation of answers.

Familiarise yourself with MFS students’ travel reports in Lund University’s travel reports portal

The project description is the most important appendix. It is to communicate that your project plan is well-prepared and that your field study is feasible. It must comprise a maximum of five pages and be written in English. The project description is to include the following:

• Project title, purpose, research question and theory, including
  • Method reflection on choice of subject and its connection to development issues, and how the study may benefit the host nation   
  • Method discussion about selection and how you will gain access to the objects of the study  
• Connection to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Swedish government’s aid reform agenda “Development assistance for a new era”
  • Description of how your field study relates to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (which the UN’s member countries have adopted through Agenda 2030). State which goals your study will cover with numbers and names in your project description.
  • Connect your chosen sustainable development goals to one or several of the Swedish government’s seven priorities for Swedish development cooperation.
• Plans and backup plans
  •  A timescale including preparatory work, a preliminary travel schedule and work after your return home.   
  • A plan for practical implementation on location.   
  • A description of your “Plan B” – i.e. what your backup plans and alternative arrangements for the study are, should the original plan need to be altered for any reason. Describe alternative plans for if unexpected obstacles would appear, e.g. if your interviewees are not available or if the Ministry for Foreign Affairs issues a travel advisory restricting you from traveling.
• Reflections
  • Reflection around risk and security issues. Describe how the field study needs to be adapted to ensure health and safety for you and those you meet.   
  • Reflection on ethical issues
• Source references (this does not need to count towards the maximum five pages that the project description is permitted to be)

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – sdgs.un.org

New strategic direction for Swedish development assistance: Development assistance for a new era

Bistånd för en ny era – Frihet, egenmakt och hållbar tillväxt – Regeringen.se (in Swedish)

The budget including travel costs, possible costs for printing of the essay/thesis, vaccines, daily expenses based on the cost of living in the destination country, potential extra expenses for equipment or technical services, a standardised sum of SEK 1 000 for various other costs (e.g. literature, maps).

If you are applying for other grants for the same field study period, this is to be stated in your application.

A certificate is needed from a supervisor at Lund University with responsibility for endorsing the planned study’s suitability and ensuring that it is of an equivalent level to other degree projects.

The supervisor is to be well-versed in the method you intend to use, and to have knowledge of field work in general.

If, at the time of your application, you have not been assigned a supervisor, contact your department/program to find out when you are to be assigned one. Upload the written information you receive.

Documents – such as a printed email exchange or a formal invitation – proving that there is a contact person in the country in which the study is to be conducted who will aid with practical arrangements and additional useful contacts throughout your time in the field.

The contact is to be connected to a specific organisation, company or university.

Your contact also needs to briefly describe the organisation/company/university and where in the host country they are located.

Your contact person needs to be in the host country throughout your period in the field.

Approved grant recipients’ contacts will need, at a later stage, to sign a contract and a security declaration.

If you do not yet have a confirmed contact person in the field, you will have to upload some kind of proof that you have started the process of trying to find a contact (e.g. a copy of a sent e-mail). To accept a grant offer (in June) you will need to show proof (e-mail or other documentation) that you have been able to secure a contact person in the field.

How to find a contact person

• Ask your supervisor or teacher responsible for your thesis course at your department. They often have contacts abroad and have worked with MFS earlier.
• Lund University is involved in many different research areas and have established research cooperations with universities and organisations all over the world. Search in the Lund University Research Portal to find researchers who are experts in the area you are interested in. Ask for advice.
  Search in the Lund University Research Portal − portal.reseach.lu.se
• Google organisations in your area of interest.
• Read more about the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency’s (SIDA) work in different regions and partnerships with local organisations.
  Read more at Sida.se
• The country’s embassy can give you tips and advice about organisations or refer you to other contacts.
• Contact earlier students who have done MFS in your country of interest – they often have good contacts and can help you along − Familiarise yourself with MFS students’ travel reports in Lund University’s travel reports portal
   

Result and registration certificates from Lund University can easily be downloaded via Ladok for students. Upload these two documents as one PDF.

Ladok for students – log in

Your CV is to be no longer than two A4 pages. List your qualifications, highlighting any international experience.

Attach a copy of your passport. A population registration certificate containing information about your citizenship is also acceptable.

If you are not a Swedish citizen, you should also attach your PUT document (certificate of permanent residency).

If you are a citizen of another Nordic country, you should attach a certificate from the Swedish Tax Agency that shows you have been registered as living in Sweden for at least twelve months.