Scientific Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering
The Scientific Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering supports cutting-edge and ethically sustainable scientific research that seeks breakthroughs, novel multidisciplinary research themes and new approaches.
The Scientific Council l encourages researchers to engage in scientifically ambitious research, seek new initiatives and take risks, especially where this would result in groundbreaking findings. It also works to promote the development of internationally competitive research environments and researchers, keeping in mind the characteristic strengths of Finnish research as well as the needs of the Finnish research and innovation system.
The Scientific Council also regularly monitors and analyses the impact of its funding decisions and its strategic activities as well as the satisfaction of the researchers it has funded. In addition, the Scientific Council regularly examines the effectiveness of its various funding instruments.
Through an analysis of the state of the field of natural sciences and engineering (sources: Clarivate Analytics Web of Science data, bibliometric calculation CSC 2021; the education administration’s statistics portal Vipunen; applications for Academy Project Funding, Academy Research Fellow Funding and Postdoctoral Researcher Funding submitted to the Scientific Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering, decision years 2012–2022), the Scientific Council has identified five stakeholder messages (in order of priority) for the coming years:
- Finland must ensure a sufficient number of researchers in natural sciences and engineering on career stages I and II (doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers).
- Efforts must be made to increase the proportion of women in natural sciences and engineering, especially on career stage IV (professors and research directors).
- The number of talented students applying to the natural sciences and engineering sector as a primary option must be increased.
- The mobility of PhDs between academia and industry must be promoted, and a sufficient number of doctoral candidates must be ensured in areas of national importance.
- Chemistry research that is of importance to Finland (incl. wood biomass processing) needs to be strengthened.
Research fields
The research fields of the Scientific Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering are as follows:
- energy technology
- physics
- geosciences and physical geography
- chemistry
- mechanical engineering and manufacturing technology
- medical engineering
- mathematics and statistics
- materials science and engineering
- process and chemical engineering
- construction and municipal engineering, architecture
- electrical engineering and electronics (incl. communications and automation engineering)
- computer sciences, information technology
- astronomy
- biotechnology, bioinformatics and environmental technology related to the above fields
- other research into the natural sciences and engineering, including multidisciplinary research
Funding criteria and policies
The Scientific Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering is unfortunately unable to fund all top-rated applications (overall ratings 6 and 5). Against this backdrop, the Scientific Council has outlined a set of policies and criteria that it will systematically apply in making funding decisions and prioritising between high-quality applications.
The policies and criteria applied in the autumn 2022 call are presented below. Please contact us if you want to access the criteria and policies used in other calls.
Policies and criteria for September 2022 call
General policies
- The Research Council supports responsible natural sciences and engineering research of a high international standard and a wide scope. The specific characteristics of different disciplines, such as research and publishing traditions, are taken into account in decision-making.
- As a rule, the Scientific Council’s funding decisions are based on review reports.
- The Scientific Council supports the renewal of science by funding new initiatives, such as high-risk, high-gain research, and the development of new methods and tools. The Scientific Council supports researchers who are on a rising career trajectory, grants Academy Project Funding to PIs at different career stages and considers equality and nondiscrimination issues in the case of applicants of equal merit.
- The Scientific Council supports the utilisation of research results. When making funding decisions, the Scientific Council considers the relevance of the research for business and industry or other societal sectors in Finland. It also considers applicants’ previous merits in the scientific, economic and other utilisation of research as well as their networks with end-users and beneficiaries of research.
- The Scientific Council supports high-quality national and international research cooperation and the researcher mobility therein. The supported collaboration may occur between universities, between universities and research institutes or with business and industry or other societal actors. The Scientific Council’s support for collaboration is researcher-driven and implemented through the funding of Academy Projects and Academy Research Fellows and through participation in strategically selected international funding calls. Consortium-based Academy Projects that include parties from different research organisations are an important tool for promoting national collaboration.
- The Research Council supports research that makes good use of both Finnish and international research infrastructures.
Criteria and policies for Academy Projects
Decision criteria (in order of priority):
- Quality of research, new initiatives, breakthrough potential, impact and feasibility
- Competence of researcher/research team, particularly recent achievements, and research cooperation
- Societal relevance of the research
Policies
- The goal is to grant an average of €450,000 per four-year project.
- The maximum funding per project is €600,000 (equivalent to €150,000 per year).
- The maximum total amount of funding per consortium-based Academy Project is €1,000,000 (equivalent to €250,000 per year), and the maximum funding per consortium subproject is €600,000 (equivalent to €150,000 per year).
Criteria and policies for Academy Research Fellows
The Scientific Council supports promising researchers with capacity for renewal and independent research. They are on a rising career trajectory and can make significant career progress during the funding period in carrying out scientifically high-quality, high-impact and regenerative research. The Scientific Council pays particular attention to the applicant’s competence and to their merits and collaborative networks in relation to the career stage. An Academy Research Fellow’s research team contributes to improving the researcher’s supervision skills and to increasing academic leadership competencies. The Scientific Council accepts reasonable research costs at its discretion.
Decision criteria (in order of priority):
- Applicant’s personal competence in relation to the career stage
- Quality, novelty and impact of the research
- Feasibility of the research as well as cooperation networks and their added value for the proposed research plan and research career
- Societal relevance of the research
Policies and criteria for September 2021 call
General policies
- The Scientific Council supports natural sciences and engineering research of a high international standard and a wide scope. The specific characteristics of different disciplines, such as research and publishing traditions, will be taken into account in decision-making.
- As a rule, the Scientific Council’s funding decisions are based on review reports.
- The Scientific Council supports the renewal of science by funding new initiatives, such as high-risk, high-gain research, and researchers who are in a buoyant career phase. The Scientific Council promotes the development of new methods and technical tools, grants funding to PIs at different career stages and to Academy Research Fellows and Postdoctoral Researchers who return to Finland from abroad, and – in the case of applicants of equal merit – prioritises applicants in the gender minority.
- The Scientific Council supports the utilisation of research results. When making funding decisions, the Scientific Council considers the relevance of the research for business and industry or other societal sectors in Finland. It also considers applicants’ previous merits in the scientific, economic and other utilisation of research as well as their networks with end-users and beneficiaries of research.
- The Scientific Council supports high-quality national and international research cooperation and the researcher mobility therein. The supported collaboration may occur between universities, between universities and research institutes or with business and industry or other societal actors. The Scientific Council’s support for collaboration is researcher-driven and implemented through the funding of Academy Projects, Academy Research Fellows and Postdoctoral Researchers and through participation in strategically selected international funding calls. Consortium-based Academy Projects that include parties from different research organisations are an important tool for promoting international collaboration.
- The Scientific Council supports research that makes good use of both Finnish and international research infrastructures.
Criteria and policies for Academy Projects
Decision criteria (in order of priority):
- Quality of research, new initiatives, breakthrough potential, impact and feasibility
- Competence of researcher/research team, particularly recent achievements
- Research cooperation and mobility
Policies
- The goal is to grant an average of EUR 450,000 per four-year project.
- The maximum funding per project is EUR 600,000 (equivalent to EUR 150,000 per year).
- The maximum total amount of funding per consortium-based Academy Project is EUR 1,000,000 (equivalent to EUR 250,000 per year), and the maximum funding per consortium subproject is EUR 600,000 (equivalent to EUR 150,000 per year).
Criteria and policies for Academy Research Fellows
Criteria (in order of priority)
- Applicant’s personal competence
- Quality of research, novelty value, impact and feasibility
- Applicant’s mobility and collaborative networks, for mobility especially quality of applicant’s previous and planned mobility as well as its added value for the proposed research plan and the applicant’s research career
Policies
- The Scientific Council supports the Academy Research Fellows it funds by granting them funding for research costs to the tune of EUR 400,000 per five years. The funding will be granted in two parts. The funding for the first three years is a maximum of EUR 240,000 and for the last two years a maximum of EUR 160,000.
Criteria and policies for Postdoctoral Researchers
By funding promising early-career researchers, the Scientific Council wants to ensure that the research community in the natural sciences and engineering sector is competitive and that its renewal rests on a sustainable basis. There should also be a sufficient number of high-quality researchers in engineering sectors of national and societal importance. The Scientific Council’s most important funding criteria are the competence of the applicant and the scientific quality of the research plan. In addition, attention will be paid to the applicant’s mobility and diverse collaboration networks that support the researcher’s independence during the funding period. The applicant’s mobility plan and collaborations should support the implementation of the research plan. The Scientific Council also supports the utilisation of research results and considers the relevance of the research for business and industry or other societal sectors in Finland.
Decision criteria (in order of priority):
- Applicant’s personal competence
- Quality of research, novelty value, impact and feasibility
- Applicant’s mobility and versatile collaboration networks that support the researcher’s independence and the implementation of the research plan
- relevance of the research for business and industry or other societal sectors in Finland.
Policies
The Scientific Council’s funding for a Postdoctoral Researcher comes to 252,000 euros on average, including salary costs, justified research costs and reasonable mobility costs. The salary of is determined according to a maximum monthly salary of 3,900 euros. The maximum funding for research costs is 20,000 euros, but the amount may be higher in the case of experimental research, for justified reasons.
Members
The Scientific Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering 1 Jan 2022–31 Dec 2024
Chair
- Professor Leena Ukkonen, University of Tampere
Members
- Professor Ari Friberg, University if Eastern Finland
- Professor Mirja Illikainen, University of Oulu
- Professor Ari Jokinen, University of Jyväskylä
- Senior Advisor Susanna Näreaho, Metropolia
- Academy Research Fellow Satu Ojala, University of Oulu
- Porfessor Pekka Pankka, Helsingfors universitet
- Professor Timo Repo, University of Helsinki
- Professor Esa Vakkilainen, LUT University
- Professor Marjo Yliperttula, University of Helsinki
- Professor Patric Östergård, Aalto University
Feedback from review panels
Both the Research Council and the Scientific Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering actively develop their activities. Feedback from review panels is an important part of this development work, and feedback is collected and analysed annually. The panels also provide valuable feedback to applicants on how applications could be improved from the reviewer’s viewpoint.
International cooperation
The Scientific Council supports high-quality, researcher-initiated international cooperation and researcher mobility through the Academy Project and Academy Research Fellow funding schemes and through participation in strategically selected international joint calls. International cooperation forms a natural part of research in the fields of natural sciences and engineering. The Scientific Council’s international policy follows the Academy of Finland international policy for 2017–2021 (pdf) (particularly sections 1 and 3).
In promoting cooperation, the Scientific Council pays particular attention to the quality and added value of the cooperation. The Scientific Council also promotes international cooperation in the European Research Area, between the Nordic countries and with other international actors.
The Scientific Council monitors the effects and impact of its international activity annually by means of information obtained from research reports, separate studies and meetings with researchers. Read more about the meeting held on 15 November 2022 between the Scientific Council and the principal investigators funded under international joint calls, and see the presentations given at the meeting.
Information on upcoming calls is posted on the Research Council’s’s website and Twitter account.
Calls in which the Scientific Council participated in 2013−2022:
- Academy of Finland-NSF joint call: artificial intelligence and/or wireless communication technologies 2022
- M-ERA-NET 3 2022
- ERA-NET CoFund CHIST-ERA 2022
- ERA-NET CoFund CHIST-ERA 2021
- Tandem Forest Values 3 2021
- Solar-driven chemistry 2021/2022 (SDC2)
- ERA PerMed – Personalised Medicine 2021
- List of funded projects
- ERA-NET CoFund QuantERA 2021
List of funded projects - Academy of Finland – NSF joint call pilot: artificial intelligence and wireless communication techno
List of funded projects - Targeted Academy Project 2020: International Co-Investigator Scheme for Finnish-Norwegian research cooperation in engineering
List of funded projects - ERA-NET CoFund CHIST-ERA 2020
List of funded projects - ERA PerMed – Personalised Medicine 2020
List of funded projects - TandemForestValues II 2019
List of funded projects - Solar-driven chemistry 2019
List of funded projects - ERA-NET CoFund CHIST-ERA 2019
List of funded projects - ERA-NET CoFund CHIST-ERA 2018
List of funded projects - ERA-NET CoFund QuantERA 2017
List of funded projects - ICT2023/WiFiUS, Wireless Communications 2016
List of funded projects - ICT2023/WiFiUS, Wireless Communications 2014
List of funded projects - Joint Project Call: Materials Research 2014 (Academy of Finland and FAPESP)
List of funded projects - WoodWisdom-Net+ 2014
List of funded projects
ICT 2023 programme
The research, development and innovation programme ICT 2023 is jointly coordinated and funded by the Research Council of Finland and Business Finland with a view to further improving Finland’s scientific expertise in computer science and promoting the extensive application of ICT. The programme is based on the report 21 Paths to a Frictionless Finland (pdf) by the ICT 2015 Working Group At least 10 million euros of the Research Council’s budget authority for 2020 will be used to implement the ICT 2023 programme. Business Finland will not open a parallel call for business-related projects, but funding is available under this topic through BF’s normal application process (see BF’s website). Read more about the ICT 2023 programme.
Inquiries
- Susan Linko, Director, Division of Natural Science and Engineering Research, tel. +358 295 335 066
- Science Adviser Minna Räisänen, tel. +358 295 335 072 (responsible for the Division’s communications)
- Division staff
Our email addresses are in the format firstname.lastname(at)aka.fi.