Finnish Government decides strategic research themes for 2027

The Government has decided on two themes for the strategic research programmes to be launched in 2027: 

• Common security in a diverging world 
• Strategic resources for the future. 

The cross-cutting priority for the programmes is Data as power. 

According to Mikael Fogelholm, Chair of the Strategic Research Council (SRC), the SRC is preparing to open a six-year research programme on both themes. 

“The new themes deal with two challenges that are important for Finland’s future, and they effectively supplement the SRC programmes that are currently running. The first theme examines psychological security, crisis resilience and functional capacity in the population as part of comprehensive security. The second theme focuses on securing strategically significant material and digital resources and their responsible use. With the cross-cutting priority, we encourage projects to develop practices for data collection and use in such a way that they benefit the entire Finnish scientific community as widely as possible.” 

The SRC is an independent body established with the Research Council of Finland (RCF). It funds long-term and scientifically high-quality research that provides solutions to significant current and future challenges facing Finnish society. 

Strategic research strengthens societal problem-solving capabilities and improves the knowledge base for decision-making. In addition, strategic research strengthens the regeneration and competitiveness of business and industry and supports the development of work and the public sector. 

SRC funding is intended for consortia, that is, large-scale research projects whose activities are of an interdisciplinary nature. When selecting projects to be funded, the SRC emphasises scientific quality and societal relevance. 

The projects funded within the strategic research programmes are expected to focus on addressing key issues under specific themes. The SRC also expects projects selected for the programmes to foster active interaction between knowledge producers and knowledge users throughout the project lifecycle, so that high-quality research results reach those who use them. 

The call texts and the application guidelines will be published on the RCF’s website in October. The call’s first stage is open until mid-December 2026. We will also arrange a webinar on the funding calls. The date of the webinar will be announced later on the strategic research website.