Academy Programme: Critical Materials in Circular Economy of Cities

Projects may apply natural science and engineering methods to study both the structures and processes of urban circular economy and critical materials. The programme especially encourages interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary teams that will be able to examine circular economy in cities both from the point of view of recyclable critical metals, entrepreneurship and organisation and from the point of view of societal institutions (legislation, culture, political decision-making, public governance). Applications to the programme are particularly encouraged from projects that combine natural sciences, engineering and social sciences research. Applicants are recommended to take special note of the systemic nature of circular economy in cities.

The programme aims for new scientific information on critical materials in the circular economy of cities. It also seeks to steer research towards areas of application that are relevant to circular economy in cities and to increase high-level research with a view to facilitating the development of circular economy in cities.

The programme’s societal and operational objectives are also to steer research towards solutions to research problems that are central to the theme, to create opportunities for the large-scale utilisation of these solutions and to steer research towards the goals of the UN’s Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

Other aims include to set up multidisciplinary research teams and national and international networks of research collaboration, promote the networking and mobility of doctoral candidates and researchers, and support open science and research. The programme also seeks to strengthen the cooperation and international competitiveness of academia and industry and to enhance urban vitality.

Cross-disciplinary cooperation is encouraged in all four thematic areas under the Academy Programme. The themes are:

1. Flows of critical materials in circular economy
2. High-technology products and services in circular economy
3. Cooperation and governance of circular economy actors
4. Circular economy and urbanisation.

The programme memorandum (PDF) contains more details on the programme’s background, aims and themes.

The Academy will select the projects to be funded based on the international review and programmatic considerations. Funding will be granted for a maximum period of four years.

The funding can be applied for by individual research teams or consortia composed of two or several research teams. The consortium parties may represent one or several research organisations.

A consortium application is an application built around a joint research plan, where each party to the consortium applies for funding. The Academy treats the consortium application as a single application, although the funding is granted to each subproject separately. Consortium compositions cannot be changed after the call deadline nor between the first and the second call stage. Read the consortium application guidelines.

In addition to a doctoral degree, the principal investigator (PI) of the proposed project must also have other significant scientific merits. Usually the PI is a researcher at the professor or docent (adjunct professor) level. In addition, the applicant must have a close connection with Finland to support the implementation of a multi-year project. This connection must be evident from the application.

Special terms and restrictions

The funding is primarily intended towards the salaries of researchers who work full-time on the project and for other project costs. However, the project PI’s salary costs may, under certain limitations, be incorporated into the total project costs. Read more in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.

In this call, the Academy will review only one application per applicant. If you do submit more than one application, we will only review the first application submitted. Applications that are not reviewed will not be eligible for funding.

If you are applying for funding and have ongoing Academy funding, you must submit an interim report in the online services on each ongoing project. Read the guidelines on drafting the interim report. If you have not submitted a final report on a completed, Academy-funded project, we may decide not to process your application.

Members of the Academy Board, research councils and the Strategic Research Council will not be granted Academy funding during their terms.

Funding cannot be granted to a person who has participated in the planning of the call to an extent likely to give them a comparative advantage over other applicants.

We will not process an application if the applicant has been found guilty of research misconduct in the three years preceding the year of the call.

Project PIs named in the letter of intent may be changed between the first and second call stage only for very compelling reasons.

The Academy of Finland’s funding budget for projects to be included in the programme is a maximum of 8 million euros. The funding for individual applications and consortium subprojects is up to 500,000 euros, the funding for consortia up to 1,200,000 euros. The funding period starts on 1 January 2022. As a rule, the funding is granted for four years.

Academy research funding is granted to Finnish sites of research (usually universities or research institutes), unless there are special reasons for not doing so. The PI of the funded project must have a close connection with Finland to support the implementation of a multi-year project. The funded researchers may, however, spend time working abroad during their funding period.

The application must contain a funding plan drafted in line with the full cost model, including the funding to be applied for from the Academy (up to 70% of the total project costs). Read more about the full cost model.

You can apply for Academy funding to cover, for example, the following direct research costs:

• research team salaries
• PI’s salary costs (under certain limitations)
• salaries of researchers returning to Finland
• essential implementation costs
• travel expenses
• collaboration and mobility in Finland
• international cooperation and mobility
• preparation of international projects.

Academy funding cannot be used for economic activity. Read more about the eligibility of economic operators.

Research team salaries

As a rule, staff hired with Academy research funding must have an employment relationship. We recommend that they be hired for a period of employment no shorter than the funding period, unless a shorter contract is necessary for special reasons dictated by the implementation of the research project. Short-term research, study or other assignments may also be carried out in the form of outsourced services, if it is determined to be necessary for the project.

What is required from the site of research?

We require that the site of research (e.g. university) provides the research project with all necessary basic facilities. These are determined based on the nature of the research and are the same as those available to other research staff at the site: office and laboratory premises, equipment (incl. computer equipment), and telecommunications, telephone, mailing, copying and library services. When accepting the funding, the site of research is responsible for ensuring that necessary statements and permits from ethics committees have been obtained before the start of the project.

The costs of ensuring immediate open access to peer-reviewed articles are included in the overheads of the site of research and are thus part of the basic facilities provided by the site. The costs associated with storing and sharing research data are regarded as overheads for the project’s site of research, but they may also be legitimately accepted as research costs to be covered with Academy research funding. The site of research also commits to ensuring that the data management plan can be implemented at the site of research, and that the measures to be taken comply with good data management practice. Read more in the guidelines on the commitment by site of research.

The application must also include the overheads percentage, indirect employee costs and coefficient for effective working hours of the site of research. The site of research will see to that this information is kept up to date in the online services.

When the site of research is a university or a research institute, as a rule, the funding must be applied for VAT included. Consult the financial administration at the site of research for more information. The Academy’s funding may also cover VAT costs, but only on certain conditions (see Value added tax and read more in the funding terms and conditions).

Funding plan

In the application, provide a cost estimate including an estimate of the annual amount of funding needed, itemised by type of expenditure. Also include a funding plan that shows all funding granted for the project as well as funding that will be provided by the site of research if the project is launched. Before submitting the application, applicants must agree with the administration at their own organisation on the contribution of the site of research to the funding of the project. Only costs that pass through the books of the site of the research must be included in the total costs. You must check with your own organisation whether the funding planned as the own funding contribution suits this purpose. The funding applied for from the Academy must not exceed 70% of the total project costs. The cost estimate must be realistic.

In the letter of intent, present a preliminary cost estimate for the whole application on the tab ‘Research costs’, and itemise it by type of expenditure. The preliminary cost estimate has no binding force.

In the full application, each subproject will draft its own cost estimate, itemised by type of expenditure. In the application, provide a cost estimate including an estimate of the annual amount of funding needed by the project. The cost estimate must be realistic. All research costs must be justified in the free-text field in the online services under ‘Funding for the project’.

Salary costs of principal investigator

Academy funding for research projects (Academy Projects, Targeted Academy Projects and Academy Programme Projects) is primarily intended for the salaries of full-time researchers working on the projects and for other research costs.

As a rule, funding is not granted for the PI’s salary. However, the PI’s salary costs may, under certain limitations, be incorporated into the total project costs. The PI’s salary is entered under ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services.

Including PI’s salary (for project management) in total project costs

The PI’s salary costs may be incorporated into the total project costs in accordance with what is stated under the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services. In order for the salary costs to be eligible, the PI’s tasks must be clearly specified.

The salary costs must not be significant in relation to the project’s total costs. For example, a four-year research project must not include more than six months of the PI’s effective working hours. This is equivalent to approximately 1.5 months a year.

Applying for funding for PI’s salary for research

The Academy may grant funding for the PI’s salary for no more than a year for well-justified reasons, such as working abroad, returning to Finland or transferring to another research organisation or a company in Finland. Possible business collaboration must fulfil the terms set out in the Academy’s funding terms and conditions.

A condition is that the research-related reasons and the PI’s tasks must be clearly presented on the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services. The funding cannot be used for this purpose unless it is mentioned in the conditions accompanying the funding decision.

Granting salary funding to PI with no employment relationship

If the PI does not have an employment relationship with, for example, a university or research institute, they must explain how their salary will be covered during the funding period on the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services.

Retired researchers can be granted funding on the same grounds as other researchers.

Mobility aid in research projects

Mobility aid is applied for as research costs related to the implementation of the research plan. The aid is applied for in accordance with the practices of the site of research.

In the online services, the aid is applied for on the tab ‘Funding for the project’ under ‘Travel expenses’. The mobility aid must be justified. Read more about the mobility aid in the funding terms and conditions.

How to submit and supplement the application

The non-negotiable call deadline also applies to consortia. The first call stage (letters of intent) closes on 28 April 2021 at 16.15 Finnish time. The second call stage (full applications) closes on 8 September 2021 at 16.15 Finnish time.

Make sure to submit the application in good time before the deadline. The system will only accept applications that contain all obligatory information. The joint consortium application is submitted by the consortium PI. The PI can submit the consortium application only after all subprojects have tagged their applications as complete.

You can edit and supplement the application until the deadline. You can make changes to a submitted application (e.g. change appendices), but you must make them before the deadline. If you notice that your application lacks important information after the deadline, immediately get in touch with the call’s contact person, so that they can reopen the application for you. Make sure to re-submit the application after you have supplemented it. We will consider the supplemented information insofar as it is possible in view of the review and decision-making process. We may ask you to supplement the application. If you do not supplement the application by the given deadline, we may decide not to process it. You must make sure that your contact details (email address) are up to date. If you have not submitted a final report on a completed, Academy-funded project, we may decide not to process your application.

An application will not be processed if the applicant or the application does not meet the competence requirements or other key requirements, or if the application otherwise does not qualify for processing. A research council or another decision-making body may decide not to process and not to fund an application based on science policy objectives or if it is apparent for some other reason that the applicant cannot receive funding with the submitted application. Read more about the circumstances that may cause the Academy not to process or review an application.

How the application becomes pending

According to section 17 of the Finnish Administrative Procedure Act and section 8 of the Act on Electronic Services and Communication in the Public Sector, the sender is responsible for the application arriving by the set deadline. An application becomes pending at the Academy when the online application and the obligatory appendices have been submitted in the online services. The system will confirm a successful submission by sending an email to the address you have provided.

Publicity and data protection

Except for the research plan, plan of intent, abstract and interim report, which are primarily subject to professional secrecy, the application and its appendices are public documents. For example, the CV is a public document and as such must not include any confidential information. This publicity is based on the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities. The Academy is committed to following regulations on data protection. The GDPR-compliant privacy statement concerning the research funding process is available on our website under Data protection.

The letter of intent submitted at the first call stage consists of forms completed in the Academy’s online services as well as PDF appendices. As an applicant, you have the right to submit your application in Finnish or Swedish, but we ask you to submit it in English.

The letter of intent is submitted in the Academy’s online services by the PI of the individual application or consortium.

Most of the links below take you to the A–Z index of application guidelines.

The letter of intent contains the following parts

Personal data

• Personal details
• Degrees (most recent one first); parental leaves etc. may be filled in under ‘Additional information’
• Titles of docent and professorships
• The CV filled in under the personal details will not form part of the application. The CV is filled in on the CV tab.

CV

• CV following the template, no more than two pages

General information

• Details on the site of research
• Title of research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• Research fields (at least one, no more than five). See the research field classification.
• Keywords in English and Finnish/Swedish

Abstract

• Maximum length 2,500 characters including spaces
• Brief overview of scientific and societal objectives, research methods and data as well as expected research results and impact
• Read more about the abstract

Plan of intent

• Maximum length 6 pages
• See guidelines on the structure of the plan of intent.
• Learn more about the programme in the programme memorandum (PDF).
• See the how-to guides for the online services.

Most relevant publications and other key outputs

• Up to ten of your (or the consortium’s) most important project-relevant publications and up to ten of your (or the consortium’s) most important key outputs, with justifications
• You can retrieve publication details from the VIRTA publication information service. Also see the How-to guides for the online services.
• Details on publications may also be entered manually. Obligatory information: author(s), title, year of publication, name of series/journal, type of publication (the type will not be shown in the PDF version of the application).

Research ethics

• Ethical permit for project and/or animal testing permit (yes/no)
• Found guilty of research misconduct (yes/no). We will not process a funding application if the applicant has been found guilty of research misconduct in the three years preceding the year of the call.
• See the ethical guidelines.

Research costs

• In the letter of intent, present a preliminary cost estimate for the whole application on the tab ‘Research costs’, and itemise it by type of expenditure. The preliminary cost estimate has no binding force.

Public project description

• Maximum length 1,000 characters including spaces
• Popular and reader-friendly description of the research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• We will use the project description in our communications on the research project. The project description is also stored at fi, a service that makes available information on research conducted in Finland.
• Read the guidelines on the public project description.

Appendices

• Appendices must be PDF files.

Obligatory appendices

• Complete list of publications. Read the guidelines on the structure of the list of publications.

Authorisation

• You can authorise another person to supplement or view your application.
• Start by entering the person’s name in the field.
• The person must have set up an account in the Academy’s online services (SARA).
• You cannot authorise more than one person at a time to edit a field in your application, and you cannot edit that same field while the authorisation is active.
• Do not authorise yourself.
• See technical instructions on the authorisation process in the how-to guides for the online services.

Submit application

• You can submit the application when you have filled in or attached all the necessary information.
• A red warning triangle on the tab tells you that some information is missing.
• You can supplement the application until the deadline. Resaving will replace the earlier version.
• If you want to supplement the application after the deadline, please get in touch with the call’s contact person.

The full application submitted at the second call stage consists of forms completed in the Academy’s online services as well as PDF appendices. As an applicant, you have the right to submit your application in Finnish or Swedish, but we ask that you to submit it in English to facilitate the international review.

Projects going through to the second call stage will be selected in June 2021. Those selected to the second stage will be asked to submit full applications in the Academy’s online services by 8 September 2021 at 16.15 Finnish time. The deadline is non-negotiable.

If the full application is submitted as a consortium application, all subproject applications and appendices are combined under the consortium PI’s application. The joint consortium application is submitted by the consortium PI. The PI can submit the consortium application only after all subprojects have tagged their applications as complete. Consortium PIs must follow the completion of the consortium application in the online services to make sure that the application is submitted on time.

The application submitted by the project/consortium PI includes the details on the PI’s own subproject, the abstract and public description of the project as well as the (consortium’s joint) research plan.

The subproject PIs (in the case of a consortium application) will complete their own applications, filling in their own subproject’s cost estimate and funding plan as well as all other required fields.

Most of the links below take you to the A–Z index of application guidelines on our website.

The full application contains the following parts:

Personal data

• Personal details
• Degrees (most recent one first); parental leaves etc. may be filled in under ‘Additional information’
• Titles of docent and professorships
• The CV filled in under the personal details will not form part of the application. The CV is filled in on the CV tab.

CV

• CV following the template, no more than two pages

Consortium parties (if applicable)

• Details on each party (name, email address, organisation and country)
• Read the guidelines for consortium applications.

General information

• Details on the site of research
• Title of research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• Research fields (at least one, no more than five). See the research field classification.
• Keywords in English and Finnish/Swedish

Abstract

• Maximum length 2,500 characters including spaces
• Brief overview of scientific and societal objectives, research methods and data as well as expected research results and impact
• Read more about the abstract.

Research plan

• Maximum length 12 pages, 15 pages for consortium projects
• See the guidelines on the structure of the research plan
• See the how-to guides for the online services.

Most relevant publications and other key outputs

• Up to ten of your (or the consortium’s) most important project-relevant publications and up to ten of your (or the consortium’s) most important key outputs, with justifications.
• You can retrieve publication details from the VIRTA publication information service. Also see the How-to guides for the online services.
• Details on publications may also be entered manually. Obligatory information: author(s), title, year of publication, name of series/journal, type of publication (the type will not be shown in the PDF version of the application).

Mobility

• Enter information on planned national and international mobility within the project, itemised by person.
• See more information on mobility.

Collaborators

• Project collaborators, itemised by collaborator (name, organisation, country)
• Describe the collaborators’ project-relevant key merits and provide justifications for choosing them in section 3.2 of the research plan.
• If necessary, append a letter of commitment. See the guidelines on the letter of commitment.

Affiliations

• Research infrastructures: Indicate what kinds of equipment, resources or data reserves provided by national or international research infrastructures the project plans to use. The menu includes infrastructures included in Finland’s national roadmap and/or ESFRI’s roadmap. Other possible infrastructures are entered in a free-text field. Read more about research infrastructures.
• Centres of Excellence in Research: Read more about Centres of Excellence.
• Finnish Flagships: Read more about the Finnish Flagship Programme.

Research ethics

• Ethical permit for project and/or animal testing permit (yes/no)
• Found guilty of research misconduct (yes/no). We will not process a funding application if the applicant has been found guilty of research misconduct in the three years preceding the year of the call.
• The research ethics description is entered under section 4.1 of the research plan.
• See the ethical guidelines.

Funding for the project

• The project’s funding follows the full cost model. The Academy’s funding contribution to the research costs comes to no more than 70%.
• Before you can fill in the cost estimate, you must first select the site of research on the tab ‘General information’.
• The site of research maintains the following percentages: effective working hours, indirect employee costs, overheads percentage and VAT.
• Enter the funding period.
• Enter salaries and other costs.
• Enter other funding sources and their funding contributions. You must immediately notify us if you receive funding from other sources for the same purpose after your application to the Academy has been submitted.
• Justify the funding to be applied for. The cost estimate must be realistic.
• The PI’s salary costs may, under certain limitations, be incorporated into the total project costs: for project management and/or research. The justifications are entered on the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services.
• Consult the administration at your site of research when filling in budget details. Read more about the funding in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.
• Commitment by site of research. Make sure you have a commitment from your site of research (usually a university or research institute) to supporting the project. Read more in the guidelines on the commitment by site of research.

Salary of principal investigator

• Justifications, if salary costs for the PI are included in the funding plan
• The PI’s salary costs may, under certain limitations, be incorporated into the total project costs: for project management and/or research.
• If the PI does not have a permanent employment relationship, include a salary plan for the PI for the entire funding period.
• Read more about the PI’s salary in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.

Public project description

• Maximum length 1,000 characters including spaces
• Popular and reader-friendly description of the research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• We will use the project description in our communications on the research project. The project description is also stored at fi, a service that makes available information on research conducted in Finland.
• Read the guidelines on the public project description.

Appendices

A. Individual application (not consortium application)

• Appendices must be PDF files.

Obligatory appendices:

• Complete list of publications. Read the guidelines on the structure of the list of publications.

Case-specific appendices:

• Invitation letter for research visit. Invitation by host organisation (e.g. university or research institute), if the work or part of it will be conducted at a place other than the site of research mentioned in the application; please do not append any letters of recommendation. Read the guidelines on the invitation letter.
• Letter of commitment: See the guidelines on the letter of commitment.

B. Consortium application

• Appendices must be PDF files.

Appendices of consortium PI:

Obligatory appendices:

• Complete list of publications. Read the guidelines on the structure of the list of publications.

Case-specific appendices:

• Invitation letter for research visit. Invitation by host organisation (e.g. university or research institute), if the work or part of it will be conducted at a place other than the site of research mentioned in the application; please do not append any letters of recommendation. Read the guidelines on the invitation letter.
• Letter of commitment: See the guidelines on the letter of commitment.

Appendices by PI of consortium subproject:

Obligatory appendices:

• Complete list of publications. Read the guidelines on the structure of the list of publications.

Case-specific appendices:

• Invitation letter for research visit. Invitation by host organisation (e.g. university or research institute), if the work or part of it will be conducted at a place other than the site of research mentioned in the application; please do not append any letters of recommendation. Read the guidelines on the invitation letter.
• Letter of commitment: See the guidelines on the letter of commitment.

Authorisation

• You can authorise another person to supplement or view your application.
• Start by entering the person’s name in the field.
• The person must have an account in the Academy’s online services (SARA).
• You cannot authorise more than one person at a time to edit a field in your application, and you cannot edit that same field while the authorisation is active.
• Do not authorise yourself.
• See technical instructions on the authorisation process in the how-to guides for the online services.

Submit application

• You can submit the application when you have filled in or attached all the necessary information.
• A red warning triangle on the tab tells you that some information is missing.
• You can supplement the application until the deadline. Resaving will replace the earlier version.
• If you want to supplement the application after the deadline, please get in touch with the call’s contact person.

Interim report

• If you are applying for funding and have ongoing Academy funding, you must submit an interim report in the online services on each ongoing project before the call closes. Read the guidelines on drafting the interim report.
• Also see the How-to guides for the online services.

The review of applications follows a two-stage process. The steering group will make a proposal to the programme subcommittee appointed by the Academy Board on projects that would best match the programme objectives based on the letters of intent. The programme subcommittee decides which projects will be invited to the second stage.

Academy of Finland funding is granted based on peer review. We mainly use foreign experts as reviewers.

The full applications are peer-reviewed by a panel of international experts. The panel drafts one review report on each application.

Review criteria:

• how the project supports the objectives of the programme
• scientific quality, innovativeness and novelty value of the research as well as its impact within the scientific community
• competence of applicant/research team in terms of project implementation
• feasibility of research plan (incl. research ethics)
• quality of research environment and collaborative networks
• researcher mobility and researcher training
• added value of collaboration between consortium parties.

Read the review questions that will be used in the review: review form and review guidelines for Academy Programmes. The review guidelines and forms are only available in English.

The panel will rank the applications that have received a rating of 5 or 6.

Projects going through to the second call stage will be selected in June 2021. Those selected to the second stage will be asked to submit full applications in the Academy’s online services by 8 September 2021 at 16.15. The programme subcommittee will make the funding decisions by December 2021.

A consortium application is treated as one single application. When a consortium is granted funding, each subproject of that consortium receives a separate funding decision and the funding is allocated to each subproject’s site of research.

You will receive an email notification after the funding decision has been made. After receiving the notification, you can log in to the online services with your user ID to view the decision and its justifications. A positive funding decision will be accompanied by the funding terms and conditions. In the online services, you will also have access to the review report, which may include the panel ranking (panels rank the best applications).

How to receive the funding

A positive funding decision is accompanied by the funding terms and conditions. Make sure to check the decision and accept the funding in the online services without delay. This must be done via the Academy’s online services within eight weeks of the decision date, unless otherwise stated in the special conditions of the decision notification.

Before you accept the funding, also update the project description (if necessary), make changes to the annual instalments (if necessary) and attach the full data management plan (only the consortium PI). Once you have accepted the funding, the system will send a notification to the commitment issuer at the site of research. That person must also accept the granted funding.

The funds can be paid only after the applicant and the representative of the site of research have accepted them. The system will then notify the funding to the finance administration of the site of research, whereupon the funds will be ready to use.

• Saila Seppo, Programme Manager, tel. +358 295 335 109
• Risto Vilkko, Programme Manager, tel. +358 295 335 136
• www.aka.fi/romulus_en

Our email addresses are in the format firstname.lastname(at)aka.fi.