Academy Projects (September 2011 call)

Funding to 32 applicants and 30 projects

The Academy of Finland’s Research Council for Biosciences and Environment has made the funding decisions on applications for Academy Project funding within the September 2011 call. Funding was awarded to 30 projects and 32 applicants. Four applicants were involved in two consortium projects.

The Research Council could fund 18.3 per cent of the applications; the total funding amounts to 18,885,440 euros. Projects will receive 590,000 euros on average. Nearly all funded projects will run for four years.

Academy contribution lowered in most decisions

The funding applied for in the applications corresponded to an Academy funding contribution of nearly 80 per cent of the projects’ overall costs. On average, the Research Council granted funding corresponding to a contribution of 73 per cent.

Keeping to the Research Council’s policy, the projects’ overall costs were included in the funding, except for those costs that were not motivated in the research plan. Such costs are, for instance, the researcher’s own salary and other research costs (18.8% of applicants who received funding). Applicants who applied for an Academy contribution not exceeding 600,000 euros (28.1% of applications) were granted the full sum applied for. For those who applied for a contribution exceeding 600,000 euros, the Academy’s contribution was scaled down as follows:

• to 75 per cent (applied sum 600,000–700,000 euros, 15.6% of applications)
• to 73 per cent (700,000–800,000 euros, 21.9%)
• to 65 per cent (more than 800,000 euros, 15.6%)

Decisions primarily based on international peer review

Finnish researchers submitted high-quality applications and research plans. The Academy’s funding decisions are primarily based on the results of the peer-review process. The Research Council for Biosciences and Environment decided to fund all applications that received the highest rating (6) and half of those that received the second-highest rating (5).

In preparing the decisions on applications with rating 5, the Research Council considered the Academy’s research-policy objectives, such as advancing international research, promoting gender equality in research, supporting young researchers and supporting Centres of Excellence in Research ending their term. In addition, the Research Council paid attention to the research fields of the submitted applications.

Nearly all applications reviewed by international panels

The applications for Academy Project funding were reviewed in January–February 2012 in nine international panels, two of which were organised in cooperation with the Research Council for Culture and Society. One project was reviewed in a panel convened by the Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering. The panels drafted one review report on each application. Where necessary, the panels consulted external experts for support reviews.

The Research Council decided not to review – and consequently not to fund – five applications. Four of these cases were due to the fact that the applicant had ongoing funding related to a research post as Academy Professor, ongoing funding in the form of general research grants, or ongoing funding for an Academy Project. The Research Council saw no reason to provide a research grant to an ongoing Academy Project. In addition, one of the applications did not fall within the scope of the call.

The Research Council processed the applications in its meetings on 13 and 29 March 2012, and made the funding decisions on 24 April 2012. Research Council members who applied for Academy Project funding were disqualified to process all applications submitted to the call. There were also individual cases when a member was disqualified, and this was taken into account in the processing of applications and in decision-making. Where necessary, panel members were also disqualified.

Application distribution by research field, site of research and gender

The submitted applications encompassed 15 research fields; the funded projects 13 research fields. Almost 60 per cent of the applications belonged to the following fields: ecology, evolutionary biology and ecophysiology (28%), biochemistry and biophysics (10%), microbiology (10%) and cellular and molecular biology (9%). Just over 50 per cent of the funding went to these fields.

Altogether 17 sites of research sent in applications. Almost 80 per cent of the applications came from the Universities of Helsinki, Turku, Eastern Finland, Oulu and Jyväskylä. Funding was awarded to eleven sites and the above-mentioned sites secured 75 per cent of it.

Men accounted for 66 per cent of all applicants and women for 34 per cent. The percentages were the same for funding recipients.

Decision notification by email

All applicants will receive an automatic email notification of the decision. After receiving the notification, applicants can log in to the Academy’s online services and read the decision on their application. The Research Council placed four applicants on a reserve list. If an applicant who has been granted funding decides not to accept it, the funding can be granted to an applicant on the reserve list. In the online services, applicants can also read the panel review on their application (if it has been reviewed).

The funding decisions are available on the Academy’s website at Funding decisions, using the search (funding source: Research Council for Biosciences and Environment (BY), call: Academy Project).

Confirming the funding

Applicants must confirm that they will accept the funding. The confirmation shall be done in the Academy’s online services by 24 May 2012.

By confirming that they will receive the funding, the principal investigator and the site of research accept the funding decision and commit to complying with the conditions set by the Academy for the use of funds. If the applicant and the site of research cannot accept the funding, they must contact the presenting official at the Academy.

More information 

On evaluated applications:

• Science Adviser Jaana Lehtimäki, tel. +358 9 7748 8373
• Science Adviser Kyösti Lempa, tel. +358 9 7748 8248
• Science Adviser Merja Särkioja, tel. +358 9 7748 8370

On applications not evaluated:

• Science Adviser Kata-Riina Valosaari, tel. +358 9 7748 8216

The email addresses are in the format firstname.lastname@aka.fi.