Research Council of Finland to support Finnish–South Korean 6G (NextG) and quantum technology research

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) will participate in funding a call in spring 2026 with a view to strengthening research cooperation between Finnish and Korean researchers in 6G (NextG) and quantum technology. The RCF will allocate up to 166,650 euros per year to cover the costs of Finnish parties in each joint project. Funding will be provided for four three-year projects.

This pre-announcement is intended to give Finnish researchers time to plan joint projects with South Korean researchers. The South Korean funder in the call is the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). The NRF will publish the official call text in March 2026 and will also be the main organiser of the call.

The call will proceed in three phases:

• Finnish researchers shall submit their letters of intent to the RCF in March–April. The exact dates and instructions will be announced on the RCF website.
• Finnish and South Korean researchers shall submit one joint full proposal to the NRF’s main call in March–April. The selection of projects for funding will be made in autumn 2026.
• The Finnish researchers of the selected projects must submit their proposals in the RCF’s online services in autumn. The projects start in October (Korean side)–November (Finnish side) 2026.

The research topics selected for the cooperation with South Korea are included in the Finnish Flagship Programme funded by the RCF.