RCF calls for national and local research infrastructures to be published in March 2026

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) is preparing to open calls targeted at local and national research infrastructures in March 2026. The calls are based on additional R&D funding and the multiannual plan for the use of government research and development funding, and its policy outlines on increasing investment in shared research infrastructures.

Call for thematic research infrastructures

The aim of this call is also to promote regional vitality and ambitious R&D activity. The research infrastructure funding will be directed to research organisations that carry out high-quality applied research, such as universities of applied sciences. The funding will focus on building and upgrading local research infrastructures of regional importance. Each research organisation may participate in the call with a maximum of three applications. A single research organisation may participate in a consortium application with only one subproject.

The call will contribute to enhancing research infrastructures through cross-sectoral cooperation. The cooperation will strengthen the use of services and expertise and accumulate R&D expertise among collaborators. Applications submitted to the call must include at least one regional collaborator.

Funded research infrastructures must contribute to regional R&D objectives. These have been mapped in, for example, smart specialisation strategies and other strategies at region level.

A maximum of 2 million euros will be granted to an individual research infrastructure project. A consortium-based research infrastructure project will be granted up to 3 million euros, and subprojects up to 2 million euros. The call has a total funding budget of 30 million euros.

Call for shared-use research infrastructures

The funding is intended to cover the development costs of national research infrastructures, both roadmap and non-roadmap research infrastructures.

The aim of the call is to promote innovation creation and ambitious R&D by directing infrastructure funding to increase versatile research infrastructure use. The funding will be directed at increasing the shared use of internationally high-quality research infrastructures and testing platforms used by various user groups of the research, development and innovation (RDI) system.

The funding will be used to develop services for new user groups of RDI actors beyond academia. The funded research infrastructures must also be relevant to Finland’s national or international competence clusters and RDI ecosystems, such as Finnish Flagships or leading companies and ecosystems. In addition, research infrastructures with lighthouse status can apply for funding to hire an innovation and stakeholder cooperation expert, as well as for the goal-oriented competence development of the permanent staff of the research infrastructure as part of a development project.

The recommended minimum amount of the Research Council of Finland’s contribution to an individual application is 200,000 euros. The recommended minimum amount for the contribution to a consortium subproject is 100,000 euros, and 600,000 euros for the whole consortium. The call has a total funding budget of 70 million euros. Roadmap research infrastructures can apply for funding for five years, and research infrastructures outside the roadmap for three years.