Academy of Finland Newsletter, November 2010

The Academy of Finland newsletter will keep you updated on high-quality scientific 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:

Considerable growth in Finnish public-sector research spending

In 2009, Finnish public-sector expenditure on R&D was up nearly EUR 70 million on the previous year. This meant an increase of some 12%. According to Statistics Finland, public-sector R&D expenditure totalled EUR 657 million in 2009. Of the increase on the year before, 80% was targeted at central government administration. Statistics Finland estimates that public research spending will total EUR 644 million in 2010. The public sector’s proportion of all R&D expenditure stands at 10%.

External funding accounted for 46% of public-sector R&D expenditure, which was slightly more than in the previous year. Central government administration accounted for 41% of the external research funding for public-sector units. Finnish business enterprises’ funding of public institutions’ research expenditure amounted to EUR 85 million. Foreign funding totalled EUR 63 million, of which 64% came from the EU.

Finnish expenditure on R&D totalled nearly EUR 6.8 billion in 2009

Business enterprises in Finland decreased their expenditure on R&D activities by a good EUR 250 million from the previous year. According to Statistics Finland, never since 1971, when Statistics Finland started compiling statistics on R&D investment, has the expenditure gone down. R&D expenditure decreased in several industries, but the greatest decrease was in the electronics industry, at around EUR 90 million. In 2009, business enterprises’ R&D expenditure totalled EUR 4.85 billion. However, the total amount of R&D expenditure was only EUR 85 million smaller than in the previous year, because expenditure on R&D went up clearly in the public sector and in the higher education sector.

In 2009, expenditure on R&D totalled nearly EUR 6.8 billion, equalling 3.96% of GDP. Due to a decrease in GDP, the share was 0.24 percentage points higher than in the year before. According to estimates, R&D expenditure will go up by around EUR 140 million and amount to more than EUR 6.9 billion in 2010. The GDP share is also expected to remain high, at 3.90%. For a long time now, Finland’s GDP share of R&D expenditure has been the highest after Sweden among the EU and OECD countries, and even among other countries the only one ahead of Finland is Israel. Source: Research and development 2009, Statistics Finland

Finns have high level of confidence in science

Science enjoys strong trust among the Finns, both as an institution and as named organisations. Finnish science and research is considered to hold a high standard and Finns have strong confidence in science. These are among the key findings of the Finnish Science Barometer 2010, a study conducted by the Finnish Society for Scientific Information (Tieteen tiedotus ry) that examines Finns’ relationship with and attitudes toward science and scientific and technological developments.

The majority (57%) of respondents say they are interested in science, research and technology. Although the percentage is high, it is nevertheless lower than in the previous study (decline from 63% to 57%). More than three in four are interested in the environment and nature, followed by social issues.

Even though Finns still have an active interest in the environment, nature and social issues, their interest has somewhat declined compared with earlier studies. Men also take a greater interest in science, research and technology than women. Young people follow science more actively than older people. People with an academic background are those who are most interested in science: three in four (75%) say they follow science.

Seven in ten (71%) Finns say they follow medicine and particularly the development of new pharmaceuticals and treatments. Among the top spots on the list are also the progress of science in general and the research knowledge on the state of the environment (66%), followed by history research and cultural studies (49%), information technology (46%), and genetic research and biotechnology (43%). Research funding and education and science policy remain the least-known fields of science, even though Finns are interested in following the international success of Finnish science.

Finns receive the bulk of their information on science and research via the electronic media. As a source of information, the role of television and radio (89% of respondents consider at least fairly important) is considered more important than the role of newspapers (77%). The third most important information source is the internet.

The English version of the Finnish Science Barometer 2010 will be available in early 2011 and can be ordered from viestinta(at)aka.fi.

FUURT calls for more transparency in tenure track rules

Tenure track systems have long been a staple in international academia, and are now also being introduced at Finnish universities. The Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers (FUURT) feels it is important that Finland improve the predictability of research career paths, saying researcher careers in Finland have always been far too fragmented. Based on findings from its recent survey, FUURT calls for transparent and evaluable ground rules for the tenure track system.

Aalto University and the University of Helsinki were the first Finnish universities to introduce their tenure track systems. The University of Jyväskylä has also decided to start using a tenure track system in its recruiting of top-level staff. Most Finnish universities are expected to follow suit. The purpose of tenure track models is to offer the most talented researchers clear career paths leading to tenured professorships.

FUURT wants to bring more consistency to the principles of the tenure track system and base the recruitment and evaluation of researchers on pre-released criteria. Researchers should have the right to access information on their selection and evaluation criteria and the right to correct possible errors in this information.

Increased pressure for ethical review in human sciences

Earlier this year, the Finnish National Advisory Board on Research Ethics issued a proposal on the ethical principles of research in the humanities and social and behavioural sciences and proposals for ethical review in these disciplines. By autumn 2010, a majority of the Finnish scientific community, including universities, research institutes, polytechnics and funding agencies, have made a commitment to comply with these joint ethical guidelines. The Academy of Finland is one of these organisations.

Besides securing the fundamental rights of research subjects, the internationalisation of science has also increased pressures to introduce ethical reviewing in human sciences. An ethical review of a Finnish research project may be required by, for example, science publications, funding agencies or international research partners. On its own initiative, the Finnish scientific community is responding to the challenge by making a commitment to the Advisory Board’s guidelines. In the human sciences, ethical reviewing of research plans has not been mandated by Finnish legislation, not even when the research concerned has intervened in the physical integrity of subjects (e.g. in clinical nursing science, sport and health sciences, and psychology). Recent legislative amendments have changed this situation.

Ethical review, as defined by the Advisory Board, should ensure that studies do not contain unnecessary risks that could be avoided without reducing the scientific value of the studies. For persons who participate in a study, the ethical review serves as a guarantee of the study’s reliability. The confidential information that a subject discloses during an interview are processed, recorded and published in due manner so that no personal data are disclosed to third parties. Ethical issues must be given special consideration in studies concerning sensitive groups such as children or older people.

The National Advisory Board on Research Ethics is an expert body appointed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Its task is to promote discussion and disseminate information on research ethics in Finland and monitor international developments in the field.

 
Antarctic research important to weather observations and climate research

During the past quarter-century, dozens of Finnish scientists and research teams from different Finnish universities and research institutes have been engaged in research carried out in Antarctica and its surrounding land and water areas. A significant part of the funding for this research has been provided by the Academy of Finland. The majority of Finnish Antarctic research has been focused on regions surrounding the Finnish research station Aboa (established in 1988) and Queen Maud Land. Finnish scientists have cooperated with a number of countries and international research teams in fields such as atmospheric sciences, space physics, geodesy, geology, and snow, ice and ocean research.

Finland joined the international Antarctic Treaty in 1984. This membership requires significant research input from Finland. Since 1998, the Academy of Finland has been responsible for providing funding to Finnish Antarctic research projects. Academy-funded Antarctic research is expected to generate top-level research knowledge on Antarctica or to be research for which findings from Antarctica are invaluable. Part of this research is either global or concerns both polar areas.

For instance the aim of research projects investigating Antarctic meteorology is to gain a deeper understanding of meteorological phenomena with a view to improving weather forecast and climate models. Geoscientific studies try to find data on the development phases of the Earth and the climate, from the present day to the past more than two billion years ago.

Together with 30 other countries, Finland is a full member of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), which coordinates Antarctic research. The Committee is in turn a member of the International Council for Science (ICSU) operating under the United Nations, and also serves as a scientific adviser on Antarctic Treaty issues. Finland is represented in SCAR by the Finnish National Committee for Polar Research, which is composed of representatives of Finnish universities and research institutes involved in Antarctic research.

Heli Skottman and Sampsa Hyysalo receive 2010 Academy of Finland Awards

The Academy of Finland has awarded the 2010 Academy of Finland Awards to Academy Research Fellow Heli Skottman from the University of Tampere and to Academy Postdoctoral Researcher Sampsa Hyysalo from the University of Helsinki. Skottman is recipient of the Academy of Finland Award for scientific courage, Hyysalo of the Academy of Finland Award for social impact. The Academy of Finland announced its awards to promising researchers for the eighth time.

Heli Skottman is currently head of the Ophthalmology Group at the Regea Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere. Skottman and her team are working on human pluripotent stem cells and other biomaterials to develop new tissue-engineering tools for the examination and treatment of retinal diseases of the eye. Serious retinal diseases such as age-related degeneration are a source of great difficulty for the people affected, for their families and for an ageing society. No effective methods are currently available for the repair of damaged retinal structures and for restoring the patient’s eyesight

Based at the University of Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, Sampsa Hyysalo is interested in the development, reception and adoption of social and technological innovations. He has tackled issues that are of great current importance and interest, such as the renewal of health care technologies. The development of new technologies and genuinely usable systems is often hampered by ossified practices, attitudes, working methods and roles. Hyysalo is particularly interested to study the learning and activities of various communities of practice. Throughout his research career, Sampsa Hyysalo has been interested to explore technology and innovations from different angles.

The Academy of Finland Award for scientific courage is granted to researchers who have shown exceptional scientific audacity, creativity or innovation in their work. The award can be granted for a novel or original research idea, for forward-looking work that crosses scientific boundaries or for a willingness to take risks in research. The Academy of Finland Award for social impact is granted to researchers who have significantly contributed to increasing public awareness of scientific research or the researcher’s job, who have inspired interest in science, and who have actively contributed to public debate in society or otherwise strengthened the role, application and impact of science and research in society.

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 2010, the Academy makes decisions on research funding worth EUR 340 million. Each year about 5,000 people benefit from Academy research funding. For more information, go to www.aka.fi/eng or send a message to maj-lis.tanner@aka.fi.