Funding for societal challenges
The Research Council of Finland supports high-quality, responsible and high-impact research and its utilisation for the benefit of society. We ensure the security of supply of information and expertise over the long term by providing extensive support for all fields of science and research. High-quality research produces expertise that we use to tackle major societal challenges.
The Strategic Research Council (SRC), which operates in connection with the Research Council of Finland, focuses on supporting societally significant and impactful high-quality science. The SRC’s “Ratkaisuja tieteestä” service (“solutions from science”) offers research-based information and concrete solutions to major challenges in our society.
Read more about strategic research.
Evaluation report 2021: multidisciplinary strategic research supports society as a whole
Evaluation finds strategic research funding has brought added value to research and society (28 Jan 2021)
Sustainable development is globally, regionally and locally steered societal change that aims to secure the prerequisites of a good life for future generations.
Research-based information is essential for promoting sustainable development and ensuring wellbeing in the future.
Source: Research Council of Finland. Amounts determined from funding applications using key terms.
Read more: How the Research Council of Finland takes sustainable development into account in its activities.
The Research Council of Finland’s research councils and subcommittees and the Strategic Research Council have allocated funding to researchers and research teams for research directly or indirectly related to climate change and carbon neutrality, estimated at approximately 50–60 million euros per year.
This amounts to around 20% of all funding allocated by the Research Council to researchers and research teams. The Research Council also funds research in the field by providing funding for Flagships, Centres of Excellence and research infrastructures as well as funding that supports the profiling of university research.
Discover more about the Research Council’s current research programmes focusing on climate change and carbon neutrality: Academy Programme for Climate Change and Carbon Neutrality Research (Climate-Synergy, 2022–2023)
The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us how the international and national preparedness for action achieved through the long-term development of research infrastructures, combined with skilled personnel, also enables reacting to unexpected situations.
Research infrastructures funded by the Research Council of Finland have played an important role in the scientific community’s efforts to study the characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the effects of the pandemic. The topic is approached from different perspectives in the following articles by the Research Council of Finland:
- High-level research infrastructures support COVID-19 research
- Open access and storage of research data must be ensured even in exceptional times
- International infrastructure services for molecular biology and bioinformatics support coronavirus research
- Imaging technologies play key part in virus research: Finland has cutting-edge expertise
- Virus vector laboratory applies gene transfer technology to tackle corona pandemic
Read more about the impact of research infrastructures from the Roadmap for Finnish Research Infrastructures 2021–2024.
Read more about research infrastructures.
