SRC shortlists consortia for second call stage: topics include security and trust, children and young people

The Strategic Research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland decided on 14 March 2022 to invite 28 consortia to the second stage of the SRC programme call. Approximately 40 per cent of submitted letters of intent were invited to the second stage of the two-stage call. The selections were made based on the proposed projects’ match with the programme themes and objectives and the projects’ scientific quality, societal relevance and impact.

The SRC call included two new programmes that attracted a total of 74 letters of intent. The applicants included researchers from 50 organisations and 75 research fields.

The Children and Young People – Healthy, Thriving and Capable Makers of the Future (YOUNG) programme attracted 50 letters of intent, of which 15 were selected to the second stage. The Security and Trust in the Age of Algorithms (SHIELD) programme attracted 24 letters of intent, of which 13 were shortlisted.

Panels composed of Finnish and international expert reviewers assessed the projects’ match with the programme, their scientific quality and societal impact. There were separate review panels for the two programmes. The panels prepared a written review report on each application. The reports have been made available to all applicants.

Research topics in SRC call very topical right now

The themes of the six-year programmes to be launched at the end of 2022 are now more important than ever. The SHIELD programme focuses on security and trust in the age of information technology and hybrid influencing. The programme seeks to build a wide-ranging knowledge base and expertise to identify and block security threats that undermine trust and to strengthen crisis management and resilience.

The YOUNG programme focuses on children and young people as members of society and as makers of the future. The programme seeks ways to support the development of children and young people into diverse and forward-looking actors from their own starting points.

Anu Kaukovirta, SRC Chair, said that the rapidly changing situation on the world stage was present in the SRC’s discussions. “Security and trust have undergone an unprecedented test in recent weeks. The projects proposed for the SHIELD Programme brought up security themes in a wide variety of ways and also from surprising perspectives.”

According to Kaukovirta, it is extremely important to strengthen children and young people’s confidence in the future and their active participation in a changing world and in crises: “We received a lot of very good project proposals in the theme. The selection was difficult, and we also needed to take into account the amount of funding available at the second stage. A number of high-quality and high-impact topics were chosen, among which we will be able to select the final projects to be funded.”

The full applications will be reviewed in two different panels in each programme. One panel will focus on scientific quality, the other on societal impact. The SRC will decide in September (TBC) on the projects to be included in the funding programmes.

The applications that were invited to the second call stage are appended to this press release.