What kinds of personalised cancer treatments could we have? How can biobased materials be used in garments or ultra-light transportation solutions? Which light-based technologies are utilised in energy technology? These are some of the solutions the Academy of Finland’s Flagships produce with ground-breaking research.

High-quality research, ambitious aims and strong collaboration with businesses and other societal actors are combined in the Finnish Flagships. In addition to universities and research institutes, these competence clusters include leading Finnish businesses, organisations and foundations.

Impactful high-quality research and innovation is increasingly often carried out in competence clusters and innovation ecosystems where universities, research institutes, and businesses of different sizes collaborate in diverse constellations.

The new act on R&D funding, approved by the Finnish Parliament in December, and the plan for the use of R&D funding both emphasise collaboration between RDI actors and balanced long-term development of the RDI system.

The Academy of Finland promotes the utilisation of high-quality knowledge and skills and collaboration between researchers and the business sector. This is well exemplified by the Finnish Flagships.

The Flagships reshape research and increase multidisciplinary collaboration both in Finland and internationally. It is already evident that the Flagships have both economic and wider societal impact.

Flagships create networks and attract experts

There are currently ten competence clusters in the Flagship Programme, with research fields ranging from building future models for a welfare state to developing innovations in biologic medicines, biomarkers and diagnostics. Curbing climate change, forecasting forest use and designing an artificial intelligence for human needs are also some of the subjects that are studied to create new practices and solutions.

The mid-term evaluations of the first two years of the first six Flagships indicate that the new practices have been successful and impactful.

• They create new practices and solutions.
• They attract experts and RDI-intensive businesses, and take part in building the Finland of tomorrow: an internationally competitive welfare state.
• The researchers network with leading international experts, enabling the prompt utilisation of cutting-edge knowledge.

According to the evaluations, the Finnish research done within the Flagship themes has a more profound scientific impact than international research on average even before the beginning of the Flagship funding period. Publications within the Flagship themes have a higher top 10 index than the world average.

Call for new Flagships opening this spring

The Academy of Finland will open a call for new Flagships during this spring. The aim is to strengthen the successful programme with new Flagships that will further advance the knowledge, skills and development in their fields. The call will close in mid-May, which means that it is high time to get together with your core collaborators, draw up a common vision for your activities, and make sure you have a solid funding base for your plans.

Finland succeeds in global competition by creating world-class competence clusters, networks, development environments and new innovation-based business. Research, development and innovation produce knowledge for business and societal development that ensures sustainable development, economic growth and welfare. The scientific community creates unique knowledge and skills that businesses need to change and grow on the global market.