The Academy has a positive corporate image

One of the strengths of the Academy of Finland is its positive corporate image among its stakeholders and applicants for research funding. This is among the findings of a survey investigating the Academy’s corporate image and customer satisfaction. The survey was commissioned by the Academy and carried out by the market research service Taloustutkimus.

The Academy’s stakeholders and key clients have a positive image of the Academy in many respects. The respondents mention a number of positive aspects such as expertise, reliability, internationality, equality, competence, quality and the promotion of cutting-edge basic research.

The answers show that the Academy’s major strengths are expertise, reliability, internationality, competence and the promotion of equality. The Academy is considered to be an esteemed and attractive partner that is highly influential in the Finnish scientific community.

The survey was carried out with a view to studying how the Academy’s key partners see the Academy and how satisfied they are with Academy operations. The focus of the questions was on the Academy’s corporate image, call timetables and online services, as well as on how well the reform of the Academy’s funding instruments had succeeded. The survey also involved questions about the full cost model and the renewed status of Academy Professors and Academy Research Fellows.

The Academy of Finland would like to thank all those who participated in the questionnaire. The results will provide a good basis for us to further improve our services.

Top marks for Academy operations

The Academy received good marks particularly for its online services and guidelines and for its assistance for research funding applicants. The overall rating was also high.

The answers further reveal that in all its various tasks, the Academy has succeeded quite evenly.

According to the survey, the Academy has a sufficient number of different funding opportunities for each stage of the research career. The Academy recently changed the timetables for its main calls and carried out a reform of its funding instruments. These changes have received quite a positive response from researchers. The answers reveal that the Academy’s funding opportunities are now much more clearly structured, for instance.

Areas that need further improvement

Some respondents felt that there are still issues that the Academy should further improve, such as application processing times, new breakthroughs and risk-taking, the development of research environments, the funding of research infrastructures and the promotion of research careers.

The answers reveal that the Academy is also expected to be more flexible and open, have a better renewal capability and take a firmer interactional approach. More active communication would also be needed to disseminate information on the Academy’s review and decision-making process.

Some of the respondents had encountered problems with the online services in filling in applications, saving entered data or entering their username or password. As a rule, the respondents found that the application guidelines for the October 2010 call were sufficient. They also found the Academy’s new online services were relatively or very easy to use.

Maj-Lis Tanner
Communications Director