RCF winter call results: funding decisions in biosciences, health and environmental research

The Research Council of Finland’s Scientific Council for Biosciences, Health and the Environment has granted funding for 38 Academy Research Fellowships, 12 Clinical Researchers and 76 Academy Projects. Ten of the Academy Projects are consortia consisting of several subprojects. The Scientific Council’s total funding comes to just over 78 million euros

The total number of applications submitted to the Scientific Council for Biosciences, Health and the Environment in the winter 2025 call increased slightly compared to the previous round. The applications were reviewed in 25 different panels.

The four-year funding is granted to the host research organisations, which manage the use of the funding. The Research Council of Finland monitors the impact of funded research.

Academy Research Fellowships

Academy Research Fellowship funding is intended for talented early-career researchers on a fast career track who have formed international networks and who are conducting scientifically high-quality and high-impact research that contributes to scientific renewal. The funding can be used flexibly according to the research needs, for example for the researcher’s own salary, to hire a research team and to cover other research costs.

The Scientific Council for Biosciences, Health and the Environment funded both early-stage and more advanced researchers.

The Academy Research Fellowship applications submitted to the Scientific Council were generally of a high standard. The most common shortcomings in the applications that were not funded were related to the description of the research design. The Chair of the Scientific Council, Research Professor Jarkko Niemi said: “The description of the data, methods and sample sizes is important from the perspective of the project’s feasibility and credibility.”

The Scientific Council encourages Academy Research Fellow applicants to be mobile and to seek new high-quality collaborators immediately after obtaining their doctorates. It is important to choose the mobility destination carefully: A well-planned collaboration not only allows for extensive networking, but also provides access to top international research on global challenges and highlights excellent Finnish research.

Clinical Researchers

The aim of the Clinical Researcher funding scheme is not only to fund high-quality scientific research, but also to enable medical doctors and other researchers working in clinical practice to carry out part-time research while working with patients. The research must be linked to working with patients, so that it also contributes to patient care and health.

The Scientific Council for Biosciences, Health and the Environment’s funding for the part-time salaries and research expenses of Clinical Researchers totalled 2.9 million euros. Although this scheme relatively small in monetary terms, it is extremely important particularly from the perspective of the career development of early-career clinical researchers. The quality of the applications was high, and the applicants were well networked. The Scientific Council also praised the applicants’ increased international cooperation.

Academy Project Funding

The aim of the RCF’s Academy Project Funding is to promote the renewal and diversity of Finnish science and to improve the quality and scientific and other impact of research. The aim is to attain internationally as high a scientific standard of work as possible and to support scientific breakthroughs and top-tier international research collaboration. The funding supports scientific renewal and strengthens future research skills, including through additional funding for doctoral education.

In the 2025 winter call, the Scientific Council for Biosciences, Health and the Environment received a large number of high-quality applications covering a wide range of research topics. Once again, the competition for funding was fierce. In the review, 43 per cent of all applications received an excellent rating of 5 or 6, and only about one-third of these could be funded.

The Scientific Council was pleased to see so many multidisciplinary and bold applications. In addition to excellent science, the applications showed great potential for results that have societal impact. The Scientific Council encourages researchers to consider and describe in their applications how their research connects to the scientific community outside their own field.