Academy of Finland Newsletter, January 2009
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:
Finnish researchers do well in first ERC call
New Report: The impact of science, technology and innovation to be examined in four key areas
The first Nordic Centre of Excellence Programme comes to an end
Beat the recession by boosting research funding
Agreement on Finnish university reform
Amendments proposed to the Act Regarding the Academy of Finland
TERTTU research programme sought solutions to major challenges in the healthcare sector
Scroll down for more on these stories
FINNISH RESEARCHERS SUCCESSFUL IN FIRST ERC CALLS
Finnish researchers have been very successful in the European Research Council’s (ERC) first grant calls. Finnish researchers were given seven research grants in the call for ERC Starting Grants, with an additional two Starting Grants going to Finnish researchers working in the UK, and nine grants in the call for Advanced Grants. The biggest individual grant received was 3.5 million euros. In proportion to the country’s population, number of researchers and R&D investments, Finland was the most successful of the Nordic countries in the ERC calls.
The Finnish researchers who received ERC funding have strong connections with the Academy of Finland. Five of the researchers who received ERC Starting Grants hold Academy Research Fellowships, one is a Postdoctoral Researcher with Academy funding and one researcher has an Academy-funded research project in progress. Five of the recipients of ERC Advanced Grants are Academy Professors and five are heads of Centres of Excellence in research. One is Principal Investigator of a research team within a Centre of Excellence. One of the researchers who received ERC funding is a FiDiPro Professor, funded by the Academy, and one has previously held an Academy Research Fellowship.
There are two types of ERC grants: the ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant for young researchers about to become independent researchers in their own right and the ERC Advanced Investigators Grant for researchers who have already established themselves as independent research leaders in their own right. Last year, there were more than 9,000 applications for the ERC Starting Grants call, including some 230 applications from Finnish researchers. Funding was granted to about 300 projects, the equivalent of about three per cent of applicants. The ERC received 2,167 applications for Advanced Grants, and funded about 300 of them.
REPORT: THE IMPACT OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION TO BE EXAMINED IN FOUR KEY AREAS
The impact of science, technology and innovations is to be examined in relation to four key areas of society and the economy, called impact areas. They are: the economy and renewal, learning and skills, the Finns' well-being, and the environment. This is the conclusion of the report on the project titled Impact Framework and Indicators for Science, Technology and Innovation (VINDI), launched by the Academy of Finland and Tekes. The report is available only in Finnish, but for more information, please contact Paavo Löppönen, Director, Evaluation and Development at the Academy (paavo.lopponen(at)aka.fi). The writers of the report are Tarmo Lemola, Janne Lehenkari, Erkki Kaukonen and Juhani Timonen.
The report presents an overall view of the impact of science, technology and innovation, also referred to as an impact framework, and defines the most important indicators of impact. Indicators are values or measurements that describe the state or development of something.
The VINDI project progresses from impacts and outputs to input, unlike conventional international indicator reports on science, technology and innovation, which focus on the indicators concerning input and output factors. The key question from the point of view of the VINDI project impact framework is what overall impacts are expected of science, technology and innovation, and what impacts can be expected.
Within each of the four impact areas, indicators are examined that are based on data on the inputs, outputs, activities and process, as well as on social and economic impacts. There is a great deal of indicators available addressing inputs, outputs and activities of science, technology and innovation. There is, however, a lack of satisfactory indicative data about the social and economic impacts of science, technology and innovation. In particular, there is a shortage of indicators that would enable tracing of successive chains of impacts.
The impact area entitled ‘The economy and renewal’ addresses the economic impacts of science, technology and innovation. The impact area ‘Learning and skills’ includes the impacts of R&D and innovation activities on the accumulation of knowledge, skilled labour force and networks of experts. The impact area ‘Finns' well-being’ consists of impacts of science, technology and innovation on the objective and subjective factors of well-being, such as health and social relations. The impact area ‘Environment’ addresses the impacts that can be expected from science, technology and innovative activities in the face of environmental challenges such as the climate change.
THE FIRST NORDIC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE PROGRAMME COMES TO AN END
The first Nordic Centre of Excellence Programme, the NCoE Programme on Global Change, has been officially completed. The programme focused on natural science research into global change in the following areas: the atmosphere and the processes of ecosystems in climate change. The final evaluation report on the programme will be published following the programme’s final seminar, and will be available on the website: http://www.nordforsk.org/news.cfm?path=3&id=840
The evaluation report finds that the programme has been successful in a number of areas, and that most of the objectives set for it were attained. The successes reported include an increase in researcher mobility, a raised profile for Nordic research, and increased cooperation among the Nordic countries and on an international level. Furthermore, the programme’s operating methods were found to be successful. The programme secretariat was based at the Academy of Finland.
BEAT THE RECESSION BY BOOSTING RESEARCH FUNDING
The Finnish Government is in the process of putting together a stimulus package. The Finnish scientific community has pointed out that one of the means available would be to boost research funding, which would help provide a way out of recession. When Finland was last struck by a recession, in the 1990s, weighty decisions were made about stepping up R&D funding. As a result, Finland was brought out of the trough of the previous recession, and in the present situation, forceful investments into knowledge and know-how would be likely to produce equally good results.
The last two governments set a goal of raising national investment in research funding to four per cent of GDP by 2011. The latest forecasts for GDP and R&D funding suggest that this goal will not be reached. Public R&D funding as a percentage of GDP came to 0.94 per cent in 2008, which puts it below the one per cent target set by the EU. About 25 per cent of government research funding goes to the universities, whose percentage has fallen compared with 2000.
AGREEMENT ON FINNISH UNIVERSITY REFORM
The aim of the reform of the Finnish Universities Act is to further extend the autonomy of the universities by making them into independent legal persons. According to the proposal for the new Act, the universities, which are State accounting offices at present, would be turned into public corporations or foundations under private law. The new Universities Act would cover the administration of the universities, the way their operations are funded and managed, and on various aspects of the universities’ research and teaching, students and staff. The ministerial working group on educational policy has agreed on this and the other content of the universities reform to be included in the Government’s proposal for a new Universities Act.
The proposal is to be submitted to Parliament after mid-February. The aim is that the new Universities Act will come into force on 1 August 2009 and that the universities would start to operate according to the new system as of 1 January 2010.
According to the proposal, the State would guarantee core funding for all universities. As independent legal persons, the universities would receive funding from university business operations, donations and any capital income they may have, in addition to the State. The universities’ state funding will be tied to the rise in cost levels.
The universities’ main function will continue to be research and teaching based upon it. The universities are to promote lifelong learning through their operations. The universities would retain the autonomy that is enshrined in the constitution. University and science policy steering by the state would also be ensured. The universities would continue to discharge a public function. The function of the universities and their responsibility for education and rights to give degrees will continue to be regulated through acts and decrees.
The new Universities Act comprises an element of mergers between universities. The administration and management of universities will be reformed and reinforced so that the universities will be able to respond better and more independently to the challenges and opportunities that their new financial status brings.
The selection of students will remain the responsibility of the universities. In order to streamline the selection process, the joint application system will be extended to include the universities. According to the proposal, degree education will still be provided free of charge. The legislative reforms will, however, make it possible to charge tuition fees on a trial basis from students from outside the EU/EEA; the right to charge tuition fees is to be applied for separately for specific Master’s programmes and the trial is to include a university scholarship scheme.
AMENDMENTS PROPOSED TO THE ACT REGARDING THE ACADEMY OF FINLAND
A working group at the Finnish Ministry of Education proposes that a new Act regarding the Academy of Finland be issued, covering the fundamental provisions on the Academy’s mandate, administration and organisation, decision-making bodies, application of authorisation to make decisions, and the honorary title of Academician. The Academy operates within the administrative sector of the Ministry of Education.
According to Henna Virkkunen, Minister of Education, the Academy of Finland holds a key position and significance for the Finnish research and innovation system. The proposed amendments to the Act are concerned with developing the Academy’s operations further, particularly in terms of its administration. One of the aims of the proposed development process is to encourage closer cooperation between the various actors in the sphere of research and education, particularly in this case between the Ministry of Education and the Academy of Finland.
The proposals of the working group focus on aspects such as the composition of the Academy’s Board, and on the Academy research posts, specifically Academy Professors and Academy Research Fellows. It is proposed that the present system of Academy research posts be discontinued. In future, Academy Professors and Academy Research Fellows would be in an employment relationship with their respective sites of research. According to the proposal, the posts of Academy Professor and Academy Research Fellow would remain unchanged in other respects. This means that the Academy’s peer review and recruitment procedures for these posts, based on quality and competition, as well as the titles of the posts and the duties involved would all remain essentially unchanged.
According to the Finnish Union of University Professors and the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers, it is important to preserve the independence that these research posts have at present. The unions point out that Academy research posts have permitted the researchers who hold them to concentrate on their own research. The posts have provided an important incentive for top Finnish researchers to stay in Finland and to encourage those who had been working abroad to return. Academy research posts have been highly sought-after. At present, there are 40 Academy Professors and 267 Academy Research Fellows. In addition to other attractions, Academy research posts have also had a good salary level.
TERTTU RESEARCH PROGRAMME SOUGHT SOLUTIONS TO MAJOR CHALLENGES IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR
The Academy’s Research Programme on Health Services Research (TERTTU) supported involvement of a wide spectrum of disciplines in studying health services. According to a recently published evaluation report, the programme strengthened the contribution of scientific research to the search for solutions to major development problems and challenges in the healthcare system. It also promoted closer collaboration between different actors within the healthcare sector. A number of new researchers were recruited to the field, and the programme successfully contributed to researcher and expert training.
Considering the aims set for it, the programme was successful on the whole, although the international panel that evaluated the programme found some variation in the scientific quality and practical significance of individual projects.
The TERTTU research programme was implemented during 2004–2007, and it was evaluated in 2008. Evaluation focused particularly on the programmatic approach, added value and programme impacts, the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary aspects of the programme, applicability of research, networking and dissemination of research results. The evaluation report (7/08 Health Services Research Programme (TERTTU) 2004–2007) is available at www.aka.fi/publications/, or it can be ordered from viestinta@aka.fi
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