Besides high quality, the RCF requires responsible science – do not leave your application incomplete

The Research Council of Finland’s winter call is currently open. This means that, next June, we will award approximately 240 million euros in research funding to high-quality scientific research.

Our goal is to find bold research ideas, support scientific breakthroughs and strengthen the highest level of expertise in Finnish universities, research institutes, universities of applied sciences and other research organisations in a variety of ways.

Through the winter call, the RCF funds the long-term work on which Finland’s future success will be built.

Consider the conditions for granting funding when applying

In addition to high scientific quality, the RCF requires that applications take into account the requirements of responsible science.

The RCF Board has decided on the conditions for granting research funding, which must be met in all projects we fund. If the application does not address these requirements, we will not be able to fund it.

It is particularly important to ensure that the application contains sufficient information on matters relating to research security, compliance with good scientific practice, the promotion of gender equality and nondiscrimination, and open access to research results. Without this information, the application cannot be funded.

To ensure the security of the research, we have introduced a self-assessment procedure. As part of their application, applicants must complete a self-assessment form and, if necessary, draw up a risk management plan. Based on the information provided in the self-assessment and risk management plan, the RCF will assess whether the security aspects have been appropriately taken into account in the application. This new procedure applies to all RCF calls.

The applicant addresses the other conditions in their research plan. This procedure, too, applies to all RCF calls. To help you write your plan, it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with the principles for RCF funding decisions. They largely follow Finnish and international guidelines jointly implemented by the scientific and research community, but they also implement the obligations of the RCF as a government authority.

It is not particularly difficult to prepare a good application in this respect. The call texts contain detailed instructions and a template for the research plan, which, if followed carefully, will ensure that all the necessary information is included.

Prepare the research plan carefully

It is extremely important that the various dimensions of responsible science are carefully considered when preparing the application. Since the required descriptions, with the exception of research security, are part of the research plan to be reviewed, applicants cannot supplement the application after the call has closed. Compliance with the application deadline is also part of the equal treatment of applicants. We cannot grant any applicants additional time to finalise their applications.

However, with regard to the information provided in the research security self-assessment form, we may request further details from the applicant during the application process if additional information is needed to support the decision-making process.