Sustainable Governance of Aquatic Resources (AKVA), Letter of Intent

Water research is a broad concept involving a number of scientific disciplines and sectors. Consequently, water and water-related issues cannot solely be viewed as a separate field. Water, in a broad sense, has been defined as one of the grand challenges facing society. We need more water research to be able to maintain a sufficient supply of water in the future and to meet the global need for clean water. What is more, northern regions and societies face their own particular challenges in securing the position of water as a natural resource for the future.

This Academy of Finland research programme is based on recommendations from an assessment of the scientific quality of Finnish water research as well as on a recognised need for funding in the water sector. The research programme will help improve the national coordination of water research in Finland. The scientific quality of Finnish water research is considered to be of a high standard. However, there is also a need for increased interdisciplinarity. This research programme is expected to respond to this need and to bridge the gap between researchers and end-users.

The key aims of the research programme:

• to fund scientific research that contributes to securing the supply of water and maintaining water security
• to upgrade the scientific standard of Finnish water research and simultaneously to aim to achieve societal impact. The programme will establish and strengthen national and international networks with a view to supporting the scientific quality of research.
• to bring together top-level knowledge and know-how from different disciplines. The interdisciplinary approach requires that the selected projects approach their topics systemically or at least multidisciplinarily.
• to study, analyse and synthesise the water sector as a whole. The focus is on the sustainable management of aquatic resources in order to meet the future need for water and water protection.

Thematic areas

The thematic areas of the research programme will form a set of research projects that will contribute to implementing the programme’s objectives. The funded projects will be expected to reflect the highly inter- and multidisciplinary nature of the research programme. At its best, the programme will involve active collaboration between traditional water sciences, cultural research, the social sciences, traditional natural sciences, public health science and engineering sciences.

The projects selected to the programme are encouraged to identify potential and contacts that could support decision-making and innovations. The three key thematic   areas of the programme combine several different research approaches that involve key competence areas of researchers from a variety of fields.

The funded projects may be linked to one or more of the following themes:

• Pressures of change on aquatic environments and their management
• Ecosystem services in aquatic environments and safeguarding those services
• Sustainable use of aquatic resources in the future.

Applicant

Funding can be applied for by individual research projects and by consortia composed of two or several research teams.

Funding period                

The research projects within the AKVA research programme will be funded for four years. The Board of the Academy will decide on the funding for the programme in autumn 2011. The funding period will start 1 June 2012 at the earliest.

Programme memorandum

The programme memorandum contains more detailed information on the programme’s background, aims, themes, detailed application guidelines and the application appendices. The programme memorandum is available on the Academy’s website at www.aka.fi/akva, or upon request from the Registrar’s Office of the Academy. It is essential to carefully read the programme memorandum in order to submit a competitive application.

Appendices

See Appendix 1 B, Appendices to letter of intent.

How to apply

The research programme has a two-stage call. The deadline for letters of intent is 30 September 2011 at 16.15. The deadline is non-negotiable. Applications are drafted in the Academy’s online services, select Open calls > Sustainable Governance of Aquatic Resources (AKVA), letters of intent.

Projects invited to submit full applications will be selected on the basis of the plans of intent in early December 2011. Applicants requested to submit full applications shall submit their applications in the Academy’s online services no later than 15 February 2012 at 16.15. The deadline is non-negotiable.

In this call, the costs of a research project are calculated according to the full cost model. Applications 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

More detailed application guidelines are available in the programme memorandum at www.aka.fi/akva.

More information

• Programme Manager Paavo-Petri Ahonen (Programme Unit), tel. +358 9 7748 8285, +358 40 189 6233
• Project Officer Melisa Huhtakangas (Programme Unit), tel. +358 9 7748 8333, +358 40 154 5423
• www.aka.fi/akva

Updated according to September call 2011