Academy of Finland Newsletter, April 2008
The Academy of Finland newsletter will keep you updated on basic research funded in Finland and on other news from the Finnish world of science and research. In case you wish us to send this to someone else in your organisation or if you do not want to receive these newsletters in the future, please let us know at viestinta@aka.fi.
Features:
New international strategy for the Academy
Academy of Finland 60 years
PhDs successful in finding employment
Targeted funding to comparative European migration research
CO-REACH to receive new impetus in May
Estonia and Finland held joint meeting on science and R&D policy
Marja Makarow to be on the European Research Area Board
NEW INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Finland has published its new international strategy. The strategy runs to 2015 and is based on the Academy’s successful practices in international cooperation. The objective is to steer the Academy’s international activities increasingly towards achieving greater focus and consistency. The international strategy was revised as part of a wide-ranging strategy work package underway at the Academy.
The Academy’s international strategy rests on the idea that high-quality scientific research and the application of research knowledge are essential for Finland’s international competitiveness and for the wealth and well-being of society. “According to the new strategy, the Academy is well-focused, consistent and selective in its international activities. We seek to form and maintain strategic partnerships with leading scientific countries both within and outside Europe, and collaborate actively with emerging and developing countries in the world of science,” says Vice President (Research) Riitta Mustonen.
What this means in practice is that the Academy is committed to opening opportunities for international research collaboration and to promoting the mobility of researchers. Also, the Academy is concerned to support Finnish researchers to successfully compete for international research funding. A further aim is to develop more attractive research environments and increase the chances of foreign researchers to work in Finland.
In accordance with the concept of strategic partnerships, the Academy has defined the primary countries, regions and partners for cooperation. The regions include the Nordic Countries, Europe, the United States and Japan, as well as Russia, China, India and Brazil of the emerging scientific countries. Relevant partners are universities, research institutes, ministries, research funding agencies and business and industry.
A pdf version of the Academy of Finland International Strategy 2007–2015 is available on the Academy’s website at www.aka.fi/publications > Brochures.
ACADEMY OF FINLAND 60 YEARS
2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the Academy of Finland: 60 years as the prime public research funding agency in Finland. The history of the 60-year old Academy goes back to the year 1939, when the Act on the Academy of Finland was issued. However, due to the Second World War, the act did not come into force. A new Act on the Academy of Finland and state grants for the promotion of the cultivation of the mind at the highest level was issued in 1947. The old-form Academy of Finland that started its operation in 1948 was assigned the task of promoting the advancement of science and the arts. This task was to be undertaken by 12 Academicians: eight scientists and scholars as well as four artists. The new Act also defined the grant system, according to which it was the universities’ task to award grants to researchers.
The old-form Academy of Finland was dismantled in 1969, and the Act on the arrangements of scientific research came into force. The name of the Academy was given to the new organisation that was based around research councils. The mission of the new Academy of Finland that was launched in 1970 was, besides to provide funding to high-level research, also to direct national research funding and to draw up science policy lines. At the time, the Academy consisted of the Central Commission for Science, six scientific research councils as well as an administrative and financial office. The title of Academician became an honorary title and instead the Academy established fixed-term Research Professorships, which have since then been changed to Academy Professorships.
In 1994, the Act and Decree on the Academy of Finland was amended, to replace the Central Commission for Science with the new Academy of Finland Board, headed by a Director General appointed by the President of the Republic of Finland. Since 1994, the Academy has four Research Councils that decide on the allocation of research funding within their scope of expertise. Today, the Academy consists of the Research Councils together with the Board and an Administration Office.
PhDs SUCCESSFUL IN FINDING EMPLOYMENT
Doctoral graduates in Finland have a high rate of success in finding employment. Young recent doctoral graduates are mostly employed in research tasks, whereas the range of duties expands as the graduates gain more experience and advance in their research careers. Work satisfaction among those with doctoral degrees is at a high level and the content of the work is seen as satisfactory, says a study made public at the end of April 2008.
According to the study, doctoral and master’s degree holders have fairly similar job descriptions, but a doctoral degree also means that the employee is assigned special tasks that pertain to the expertise the degree has offered. In some fields, for example in biosciences, it seems the doctoral degree is developing into a kind of basic or vocational degree in research. Apart from the research assignments, a doctoral degree does not seem to offer any clear advantages over lower degrees.
The study conducted by nine Finnish universities looks at the early careers of doctoral graduates and the significance of doctoral education in working life, and is focused on the employment record and job descriptions of doctoral graduates in 2004–2005. The report also takes up the benefits brought by obtaining a doctorate, from the perspective of both doctoral degree holders and employers.
The effects of having a doctoral degree are most clear at the workplace level, and not evident as a significantly better position on the labour market: in general, a recent doctoral graduate gets a pay rise or more challenging responsibilities. Young doctoral degree holders are able to reap more financial benefits than their more senior colleagues who have studied while working. Doctoral graduates in education and health sciences get their salary level raised more easily than, for example, those with doctorates in economic sciences, who have the same salaries as those at master’s level.
According to the report, the topic of your dissertation is a major factor in improving your position as an expert. This both the doctoral degree holders and their employers agree on. Business companies hire doctoral graduates in particular for R&D projects, since the companies value not only doctoral degree holders’ research competencies, but also their ability to establish contacts to the university sector. The majority of those interviewed for the report felt a doctoral degree has a positive impact on the corporate image. The image benefits of doctoral degrees are particularly appreciated in international collaboration and in cooperation with universities.
TARGETED FUNDING TO COMPARATIVE EUROPEAN MIGRATION RESEARCH
At the beginning of May 2008, the ERA-NET project NORFACE (New Opportunities for Research Funding Co-operation in Europe) will launch the call for proposals for its new research programme Migration in Europe – Social, Economic, Cultural and Policy Dynamics. The pan-European research programme will provide funding to the tune of 23 million euros for comparative research into migration in Europe. NORFACE aims to fund selected research projects with between 500,000 and four million euros each. The funded projects should as a minimum include research teams in three different NORFACE countries: Austria, Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK. Other countries, for example Canada, may also participate in the programme. The deadline for outline proposals is 10 September 2008.
The research programme is aimed at providing funding for a wide range of scientific disciplines. It is hoped that the programme will attract researchers who want to research migration-related topics in the full spectrum of disciplines.
CO-REACH TO RECEIVE NEW IMPETUS IN MAY
The European cooperation network CO-REACH (Coordination of Research between Europe and China) is expected to decide in Beijing in May 2008 on the possible thematic areas for the first Chinese-European ERA-NET research projects to be launched.
“CO-REACH has been a tricky ERA-NET project; we haven’t had a ready theme; instead, the research funding agencies have worked together and tried to find suitable themes,” says Programme Manager Mika Tirronen from the Academy of Finland.
What has been agreed is that the first CO-REACH research programmes could focus on sustainable development and, additionally, on research in some as yet undefined field of social sciences. “I’m optimistic that the upcoming meeting between European and Chinese science funding agencies in Beijing will go well,” says Tirronen. The ERA-NET scheme is a funding instrument within the EU Framework Programme for Research contributing to the promotion of cooperation between national research programmes and research funding agencies. The Academy has the coordination of two ERA-NETs and contributes as a partner to 14 further ERA-NETs.
The Academy of Finland has traditionally had good contacts to the Chinese scientific community. “In autumn 2004, we revised our agreements on cooperation with three major Chinese science funding agencies. Our key partner in China is the National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC.” During 2002–2005, for instance, research collaboration has taken place between the Academy’s Centres of Excellence in research and China’s leading laboratories. “We also took a new step in our research collaboration with the Research Programme on Neuroscience (NEURO) that was launched in 2006; besides Finland and China, the programme involves Canada. The programme is scheduled to run for four years and coordinated by the Academy,” adds Tirronen, who is responsible for the programme coordination at the Academy.
The NEURO programme also became a model for European-Chinese research and for the whole CO-REACH project. “NEURO provides an example of something that CO-REACH would like to achieve,” says Tirronen. If a decision is reached in May regarding the CO-REACH programmes, the first programme call could be opened during 2008.
The first call could have a budget of around one million euros. That would be enough to fund a maximum of four research projects. Even if the other European funding agencies would not be able to keep in sync with the set pace, the Academy can also by itself once a year open a joint call for project proposals with the Chinese funding agencies. This spring, the theme of the call is ubiquitous computing and diversity of communication.
ESTONIA AND FINLAND HELD JOINT MEETING ON SCIENCE AND R&D POLICY
The Estonian Research and Development Council and the Science and Technology Policy Council of Finland held a joint meeting in Tallinn on 15 April 2008. The focus of the meeting was on a report commissioned by Estonian Prime Minister Ansip and Finnish Prime Minister Vanhanen on the cooperation possibilities and joint initiatives between Estonia and Finland. The overriding objective is to maintain and increase the international competitiveness of the two countries. At the meeting, Academy of Finland President, Professor Markku Mattila underscored the opportunities offered by scientific cooperation: collaboration by means of research projects, research programmes, Centres of Excellence and research infrastructures. Members of the two Councils also devoted particular attention to joint doctoral and postdoctoral training.
Both countries agreed that their cooperation can be increased even further. In future, the relevant actors in both countries will develop and draft specific proposals for joint activities to be submitted to the government level for decisions on necessary funding. In order to improve cooperation, both premiers expressed an ambition to continue shaping policies together, for example through joint meetings.
Professor Mattila pointed out the need to further strengthen Finnish-Estonian research cooperation: “Multinational collaboration between EU and Baltic Sea countries is a highly topical issue at the moment. One of the challenges is to have an influence on the EU Baltic Sea Strategy. Both Estonia and Finland are aware of that urgent actions are needed to support the protection of the Baltic Sea,” Mattila stated, referring to the Joint Baltic Sea Research Programme BONUS+ to be launched in summer 2008.
Mattila also brought up researcher training and researcher mobility as two sectors where improving cooperation would be of importance. “Cooperation in these areas could be further improved, for example, within the graduate school system and by establishing post-doc posts in Finland and Estonia. Researcher mobility could also be increased by providing longer research funding periods for visits abroad.”
MARJA MAKAROW TO BE ON THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA BOARD
The European Commission has announced the names of 22 persons who will make up the European Research Area Board (ERAB), a European high-level advisory group on research and science. The nominated persons come from the fields of science, academia and business and will provide independent and authoritative advice to the Commission on European science and research policy. From Finland, the advisory group will be joined by European Science Foundation (ESF) Chief Executive, Professor Marja Makarow. ERAB succeeds and builds on the European Research Advisory Board (EURAB), whose mandate ran from 2001 to 2007.
Academy of Finland in brief: The Academy’s objective is to promote high-level scientific research by means of long-term quality-based research funding, research and science policy expertise and efforts to strengthen the position of science and scientific research. The Academy makes decisions on research funding worth about 280 million euros. Each year about 5,000 people benefit from Academy research funding. For more information, go to www.aka.fi/eng or send a message to maj-lis.tanner@aka.fi.