RCF launches reform of Academy Project call

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has initiated a reform of the call for Academy Project applications. The reform targets perhaps the RCF’s best-known funding scheme, which has been running for 15 years without any major changes. During this time, however, there have been major changes in our operating environment. The reform has been launched with a view to ensuring that the call's objectives are up-to-date, and that we are able to identify and fund the applications that best match the objectives.

In line with the impact objectives of the RCF's strategy, we are working to improve our ability to support innovative initiatives that involve scientific risk-taking. With the reform, the Academy Project call will be revised to better meet these objectives also through, for example, the volume of funding and the length of the funding period.

Aiming for clearer objectives

With the reform, we want to hone down the funding scheme’s support for research that is bolder, more capable of renewal and scientifically more high-risk. It is also important to strengthen high-quality expertise and research cooperation with international partners.

The Academy Project call will also be examined as part of the RCF's overall funding portfolio and especially in relation to other calls where long-term research, scientific renewal and excellence are at the core. Such calls include the Academy Research Fellowships, the Academy Professorships and the Finnish Centre of Excellence Programmes. Our longer-term goal is to eliminate unnecessary overlaps between the objectives of different calls and to clarify at which types of applicants or applicant groups they are targeted.

Focus on high quality review of applications

The revision of the objectives of the call will also affect the review of applications: The review criteria must correspond to the call objectives, and the review methods will also be examined. We want to ensure that our international peer review provides the highest quality basis for RCF funding decisions and helps identify the projects that best implement the objectives of the call.

However, in recent years, the increase in the number of applications and the burden of peer review have put pressure on the system. Researchers spend an increasing amount of time both on preparing applications and to review applications from other researchers, and recruiting new peer reviewers has become much more difficult. In view of these challenges, balancing the number of applications and modernising the procedures are necessary measures to ensure that we can continue to ensure the high quality of the review. Many other European research funders face similar challenges, and we are engaged in an active dialogue with them.

Follow the reform via RCF channels and participate in our survey

The best solutions for achieving the objectives of the reform can be found by working together with the research community. We have opened a survey to hear the views of researchers, organisation representatives and other stakeholders on the objectives of the RCF’s Academy Project call.

Take the survey: Survey on Research Council of Finland’s Academy Project call

Based on the results of the survey, we will continue work to define the call's objectives together with the RCF scientific councils.

The reforms are expected to enter into force in several stages in connection with the 2027 and 2028 winter calls. We will announce more detailed schedules and the contents of the changes later this spring.