Academy of Finland Newsletter, March 2012
The Academy of Finland newsletter keeps you updated on leading-edge scientific research funded in Finland and on other news from the Finnish world of science and research. If you want 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:
Finnish Government to draft report on sustainable growth and wellbeing in Finland
The Finnish Prime Minister’s Office has launched a project to prepare a report on Finland’s long-term future. The theme of the foresight report is sustainable growth and wellbeing in Finland. The report will examine future developments from the viewpoint of the economy, people’s wellbeing and the environment in their global contexts. The examination will cover the next 10–20 years. The aim of the report is to identify likely development trends and set objectives and strategic outlines for the Government’s work. The output will serve as an operational strategy supporting the policy-making of various actors in the Finnish society at all levels during the present Government’s term of office and later.
The Prime Minister’s Office is responsible for the preparation of the foresight report and the promotion of its implementation. Other parties involved include the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, the Academy of Finland and Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. The drafting of the report and the promotion of its implementation will be based on cooperation between experts and stakeholders. Citizens will be widely consulted, too. In parallel with the foresight report, a research project carried out by an international research group will analyse changes in the world economy and ways to promote sustainable growth.
The report is to be submitted to Parliament in autumn 2013. The aim is also to encourage broad debate in society.
Researchers draw up scientific resilience test for Finland’s economy
An international team of researchers has devised a set of seven different instruments for collecting insights about the Finnish economy’s resilience against various shock scenarios. Their project, entitled “7 Shocks and Finland”, examined resilience requirements from the perspective of policy-makers, and aimed to define concrete actions for improving national resilience. The project was undertaken by researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). The Academy of Finland is the Finnish member organisation of IIASA.
“The global economy is increasingly volatile, but a small national economy such as Finland stands a good chance of coping amid growing uncertainty. Though it’s not just about surviving – a country that is agile and quick to react can also make the most of the possibilities created by uncertainties,” says Professor John Casti, one of the researchers on the team.
The project openly questions traditional thoughts on efficiency. As uncertainties grow, the researchers say, a small, open national economy should incorporate resilience agility as one of its decision-making criteria. It is also important to ensure that trade policies focus on diversifying both the export countries and the structure of exported products. When changes in the global system cause exports to fall in one sector, another may benefit from the changes. The project showed that sectors relying on a few large companies or units are vulnerable, because they are too rigid in a changing global system. A more resilient structure is an ecosystem of small and medium-sized units that are agile and quick to adapt. One of the proposed shock scenarios presented in the project involves Nokia leaving Finland.
Besides the Academy of Finland, the project involved a number of Finnish ministries, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, the National Emergency Supply Agency, Teollisuuden Voima, Fortum and Tieto. Read more on the Academy’s website at http://www.aka.fi/Tiedostot/Tapahtumat/IIASA2012/IIASA_2012_report.pdf
Academy invested EUR 341 million in research in 2011
In 2011, the total value of Academy funding decisions came to EUR 341 million, up EUR 17 million from the year before. The Academy received 3,409 applications compared to 4,017 in 2010. The difference was due to changes in the Academy’s funding schemes. The number of applications funded was 1,374, which meant that the competition for funding was extremely intense. For example, 19 per cent of all applications received for Academy Project funding were approved, and funds awarded amounted to 17 per cent of the total value of applications. Similarly, the success rate for Academy Research Fellow applicants was 15 per cent.
Academy Projects accounted for 33 per cent of the funding granted. Centres of Excellence in research accounted for 13 per cent, research programmes for 6 per cent and Academy Professors and Academy Research Fellows for 9 per cent of total funding. Academy fulfilled international cooperation activities with EUR 27 million in 2011. Researchers working at universities received 82 per cent of all Academy funding; the largest share went to researchers at the University of Helsinki. All applications submitted to the Academy undergo rigorous international peer review. For instance, in Academy Project applications, foreign experts made up 97 per cent of the review panels.
Out of the four research councils of the Academy, the largest number of applications was received by the Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering, which also accounted for the largest proportion of Academy funding. Read more in the Academy’s Annual Report at www.aka.fi/publications.
April call now open
The Academy of Finland’s April 2012 call is now open. The call for applications has been published on the Academy’s website (in Finnish, Swedish and English). This time, applications are invited, for instance, for the Finnish Programme for Centres of Excellence in Research 2014–2019 and for research within two thematic areas of the Strategic Centres for Science, Technology and Innovation: Novel control methods and user interfaces; and new bioeconomy chemicals, materials and production technologies based on innovative forest biomass use. In addition, letters of intent are invited for the Academy’s new Research Programme on the Human Mind (MIND). The aim of the programme is to promote multidisciplinary research on the human mind and increase our knowledge of how a healthy mind will develop and how to support and cure an unsound mind. Research on the human mind can also generate significant public benefit and increase people’s wellbeing and quality of life.
Academy President Mannila calls for more collaboration with universities
Professor Heikki Mannila’s term as President of the Academy of Finland began in March 2012. Previously, Mannila worked as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Aalto University. Mannila has national and international experience both as an expert and in positions of trust in projects related to education and science policy. Besides his long career as a researcher, he has industry experience and a diverse and significant track record of publication. One of the first items on Mannila’s agenda is to sit down with the universities to discuss increased collaboration. Read more on the Academy’s website at http://www.aka.fi/en-GB/A/Academy-of-Finland/Media-services/Whats-new/Academy-of-Finland-keen-to-increase-support-for-science-and-research/.
Nordic sport sciences research gets excellent review
The overall quality of Nordic sport and exercise sciences research is excellent, but there are major differences between individual research units, countries and domains. This is the conclusion of a panel of experts that has evaluated sport sciences in the Nordic countries. Each country, the panel says, has its own strong fields, medical and health sciences being the strongest at the Nordic level when estimated by publication volume.
The panel’s report presents the results of an international evaluation of altogether 97 units, departments or research groups performing sport sciences research at universities, hospitals or research institutes in the Nordic countries Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. For evaluation purposes, the sport sciences field was divided into three main domains: basic and applied sciences; medical and health sciences; and social and behavioural sciences.
According to the panel, the innovativeness and groundbreaking nature of Nordic sport sciences research has decreased from its traditionally high level. Although the impact of research was not evaluated as such, it can be recognised especially in the support systems for elite athletes.
The focus of Finnish sport sciences research has been driven towards health-related aspects rather than towards elite sport performance, the panel says. One of the key strengths of Finnish research in the field is the close link between the basic and applied sciences. In particular, Finland has conducted excellent research on the role of physical activity or inactivity in chronic disease prevention and has invested in researcher training in this area. In addition, Finland has a long and successful history in sports pedagogy and sociology.
The evaluation panel was chaired by Professor William Haskell from Stanford University. The project group was chaired by Professor Mikael Fogelholm from Finland.
Finnish researchers successful in latest ERC grant round
The latest round of ERC Advanced Grants from the European Research Council saw three Finnish grant winners: Academy Professor Olli Ikkala from Aalto University, Professor Heli Jantunen from the University of Oulu and Professor Ilpo Vattulainen from Tampere University of Technology. In addition, Researcher Svetlana Berdyugine received funding for a research project to be carried out in Germany. Ikkala received funding for his research on biomimetic nanomaterials, Jantunen for her research on the development of novel electronics materials and Vattulainen for his research on utilising computational biophysics to explore protein-lipid interactions.
ERC Advanced Grant funding targets researchers who have already established themselves as independent research leaders. The funding amounts to some EUR 2.5 million per grant and is awarded for up to five years. The success rate in the fourth Europe-wide competition for ERC Advanced Grants remained stable at 13 per cent. In total, the ERC granted funding to 294 top senior researchers. Finnish universities and research institutes submitted 71 proposals in response to the call.
Before this latest grant round, in 2007–2011, ERC funding has been awarded to 43 projects originating in Finland. In addition, Finland has received one Proof of Concept grant. All Finnish ERC grant recipients have previously received competitive research funding from the Academy of Finland.
Academy of Finland at a glance
The Academy’s objective is to promote scientific research of a high standard through long-term quality-based research funding, research and science-policy expertise, and efforts to strengthen the position of science and scientific research. In 2012, the Academy will make decisions on research funding worth about EUR 320 million. For more information, go to www.aka.fi/eng or send a message to maj-lis.tanner@aka.fi.