Eligibility

An application is ineligible and will not be considered (processed) or will be rejected in the following cases:

• The application is late.
• The application is substantially incomplete, or the application has not been supplemented as requested by the deadline. The RCF will request supplementation if the incompleteness can be corrected so that the application can be considered. However, the possibility of supplementation does not apply to research or action plans. An application may be dismissed without a request for supplementation if the incompleteness cannot be corrected by providing additional information.
• The site of research does not commit to the application by the deadline.
• The applicant is not eligible. Eligibility is defined in the call text.
• The applicant has submitted more applications than is allowed in the call text. In such cases, only the number of applications submitted first specified in the call text will be considered.
• The applicant has been found guilty of a serious violation of research integrity within the past three years.
• The applicant has not submitted a report on a completed or ongoing RCF- or SRC-funded project according to the guidelines and by the deadline.
• The applicant is a member of the Board of the RCF, one of its scientific councils or the Strategic Research Council (SRC) during the period in which the call or funding decision process is being conducted.
• The applicant has participated in the planning of the call to an extent likely to give them a comparative advantage over other applicants.
• In the application, the applicant has not identified and assessed the risks related to research security and, where necessary, presented an adequate risk management plan.
• The applicant has not described in the application, in accordance with the guidelines, how good scientific practice will be followed in the implementation of the project.
• The applicant has not described in the application, in accordance with the guidelines, how gender equality and nondiscrimination will be promoted in the implementation of the project.
• The applicant has not described in the application, in accordance with the guidelines, how the project complies with RCF guidelines on the implementation of open access to research outputs and, in the case of research data, on responsible data management.
• The funding has been applied for to a site of research that is not located in Finland, or the applicant does not have a close connection to Finland to implement a multi-year project. The connection must be indicated in the application.
• The funding has been applied for in such a way that the final beneficiary is an organisation located in Russia or Belarus, or that cooperation with Russian or Belarusian researchers or research teams violates the instructions or regulations of the site of research or the authorities. RCF funding shall be granted and used in a way that respects the equal treatment of researchers regardless of nationality.
• The applicant or the application does not meet the competence or other key requirements set for the call, the application does not belong to the call in question, there are in some other respects no conditions for processing the case, or it is apparent that the applicant for some other reason cannot receive funding with the submitted application.

The call text always states the eligibility conditions for the call and the other provisions concerning the call. The call text may contain provisions supplementing and specifying the information given on this page.

The RCF Board decides the principles for RCF funding decisions, that is, the guidelines that outline the special conditions and other criteria for the RCF's funding decisions.