First stage completed in RCF call for Academy Professors

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) received 244 Academy Professorship applications in the winter 2025 call. The RCF has now selected 56 applicants to the second call stage. The new Academy Professors will be announced in late October.

On 19 May, the RCF General Subcommittee decided which applications will not advance to the second call stage. The rejected 188 applications were identified based on reviews by external experts and the Subcommittee’s view of how well the applications met the objectives of the call. A large number of applications with high overall ratings were rejected. The applicants have been notified of the decisions.

The shortlisted applications will now proceed to the panel review. These applications will be reviewed by three multidisciplinary panels (biosciences, health and environmental research; social sciences and humanities research; and natural sciences and engineering research).

The General Subcommittee will decide on the Academy Professors to be funded during the term 1 January 2026–31 December 2031 on 29 October 2025.

Women accounted for 34 per cent of all applicants and 41 per cent of those who advanced to the second stage.