Academy projects

Aim

Academy Project funding is the key funding opportunity provided by the Academy of Finland for research projects, designed to promote the quality of research, the diver-sity of research and its capacity for renewal. Academy Project funding provides re-searchers with an opportunity to carry out scientifically ambitious research, to achieve new breakthroughs and to engage in high-risk research. The aim is attain internation-ally as high a scientific standard of work as possible and to strengthen the creativity, capacity and impact of research. The funding is granted primarily to teams composed of researchers who have completed their doctorate.

Applicant

The leader of an Academy Project (the principal investigator of a research project) must have the qualifications of a professor or an adjunct professor (docent).

If the principal investigator of a research project does not have an employment rela-tionship with, for example, a university or research institute, he or she shall explain in the application how his or her salary will be covered during the project‟s funding period. It is the applicant‟s responsibility to give an account of these details at the ap-plication stage.

Funding

Academy funding can be used to cover both the direct and indirect costs of a re-search project. Academy Project funding is granted towards all direct project costs to cover expenses arising from, for example, the research team‟s working hours, re-search costs, travel, national and international cooperation and mobility, work and re-searcher training abroad, and the preparation of international projects.

In accordance with its strategic objectives, the Academy encourages researchers to engage in international mobility that will support their research, for example, so that a researcher hired to a project works abroad for a fixed period. A project may also hire a foreign researcher who already works in Finland or who will come to work within the Finnish scientific community. The Academy encourages researchers to draft ambi-tious research plans that cross discipline boundaries and aim at scientific break-throughs.

Appendix 2 shows the average amount of funding (in euros) granted in recent years for projects and the Research Councils‟ plans for the funding of projects within the September 2011 call.

Funding period

The funding period starts 1 September 2012. As a rule, the funding is granted for four years.

Special conditions and restrictions

Academy Project funding is primarily intended for the salaries of researchers who work full-time on the project and for other project costs. Guidelines regarding the salary of the principal investigator are available on pages 5‒6.
In the September 2011 call, from one and the same researcher, the Academy will consider only one application for an Academy Project (incl. a consortium sub-project) or a research post as Academy Research Fellow or Postdoctoral Researcher. If a re-searcher does submit more than one application for any of these funding opportuni-ties or applies for more than one type of such funding, only the first application re-ceived from that applicant will be reviewed. Applications that are not reviewed for this reason will not be eligible for funding.

Applicants who have an ongoing Academy Project (an independent project or a con-sortium sub-project), a project funded through a general research grant or funding al-located to an Academy Research Fellow or an Academy Professor for hiring a re-search team, will not be eligible to receive funding for a simultaneous Academy Pro-ject expect for very compelling reasons. In the September 2011 call, the principal in-vestigator who has an ongoing project funded through a general research grant until 31 December 2012 can, however, be granted Academy Project funding as of 1 Sep-tember 2012.
The principal investigator of a Centre of Excellence (CoE), or any other researcher closely affiliated with a CoE, is eligible to apply for Academy Project funding only dur-ing the second three-year term of the CoE funding. Researchers involved in the Cen-tre of Excellence Programme 2008‒2013 are eligible to apply for Academy Project funding within the September 2011 call.
Appendices See Appendix 1 A, Application appendices.

How to apply

The costs of an Academy Project are calculated according to the full cost model. Ap-plications shall be written so as to ensure that the Academy‟s contribution to funding comes to no more than 80% of the estimated total costs of the project. See guidelines on how to enter the costs in the application on the Academy‟s website under Full cost model.

If the applicant is a consortium, see detailed guidelines on the Academy‟s website under Consortium application. The applications of all sub-projects of a consortium shall be submitted before the deadline. If the application of any sub-project of the consortium is submitted late, the application of the whole consortium is considered to have been submitted late. The composition of the consortium cannot be changed af-ter the deadline.

The deadline is 30 September 2011 at 16.15. The deadline is non-negotiable and also applies to consortium sub-projects. Applications are drafted in the Academy‟s online services, select Open calls > Academy Project.

More information

Biosciences and Environment Research Unit

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

Culture and Society Research Unit

• Science Adviser Jyrki Hakapää, tel. +358 9 7748 8277
• Science Adviser Tiina Forsman, tel. +358 9 7748 8443
• Science Adviser Kustaa Multamäki, tel. +358 9 7748 8349

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Unit

• Science Adviser Kati Sulonen, tel. +358 9 7748 8480
• Science Adviser Samuli Hemming, tel. +358 9 7748 8485
• Science Adviser Antti Väihkönen, tel. +358 9 7748 8410

Health Research Unit

• Science Adviser Antti Hautaniemi, tel. +358 9 7748 8287, +358 40 759 9943
• Project Officer Tiina Ahtiainen, tel. +358 9 7748 8340, +358 40 167 7644
• Science Adviser Sara Illman, tel. +358 9 7748 8294, +358 40 012 5236

updated according to September call for applications 2011