Academy Programme: Health from Science, follow-up call for consortia

The aim of the programme is to encourage Finnish researchers to seek bold, new research initiatives that can solve health issues related to major public health diseases.

The first call for applications within the Health from Science Academy Programme was opened in 2017. The first call invited high-risk research designs where the risks were motivated in terms of potentially significant effects on the promotion of public health. In order to receive funding in the first call, the projects were required to involve open-minded approaches at the frontiers of knowledge – they could not continue from existing projects.

In 2017, the Academy of Finland, the Finnish Brain Foundation, the Foundation for Paediatric Research, the Finnish Medical Foundation and Cancer Foundation Finland agreed to cooperate in connection with the programme’s first phase. Together, the organisations granted funding to seven high-quality research consortia for the years 2018–2020. The total funding amounted to nearly 9 million euros. The aim of the organisations was to continue the cooperation with a view to launching a new call for the programme’s projects in 2020.

This follow-up call is targeted at researchers who received funding from the first call.

The aim of the call is to assess the progress made in the research projects, the practical implementation of the bold approaches and the scientific quality, novelty and impact of the research plan drawn up for the new period. We recommend that the researchers use the results achieved so far as a justification for the approach chosen for the extension period. The research projects that are the most successful in the review will be granted two years’ continued funding.

The follow-up call is co-funded by the Academy of Finland, the Finnish Brain Foundation, the Foundation for Paediatric Research, the Finnish Medical Foundation and Cancer Foundation Finland.

The programme memorandum contains more details on the programme’s objectives.

The funding can be applied for by research consortia that were funded in the first phase of the Health from Science Academy Programme. The principal investigator (PI) of the consortium must be the same person as in the first phase of the programme. Any changes in the composition of the consortium must be described and justified under item 2.4 of the research plan, ‘Added value of consortium’.

Special terms and restrictions

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.

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

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

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.

The Academy has set the follow-up call’s funding budget at a maximum of 3 million euros. The Finnish Brain Foundation will contribute to the funding with up to 100,000 euros, the Foundation for Paediatric Research with up to 150,000 euros, the Finnish Medical Foundation with up to 200,000 euros and Cancer Foundation Finland with up to 450,000 euros. The total funding by the Academy and the foundations amounts to a maximum of 1 million euros per consortium, A single consortium subproject may account for no more than 70 per cent of the total sum applied for by the consortium. The aim is to fund 4–5 consortia.

Projects may receive funding from both the Academy and the foundations, together or separately. The funding decisions, which will be coordinated by the programme’s steering group, will be made following the Academy’s and the foundations’ own funding principles. Information about the foundations’ funding principles is available on the foundations’ websites. Academy funding and foundation funding cannot be used to finance the same costs.

The funding is granted for two years: 1 January 2021–31 December 2022.

The funding is paid via a site of research (usually a university or research institute) based in Finland. Academy-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 (see funding terms and conditions), including the funding to be applied for from the Academy (up to 70% of the total project costs).

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 collaboration and mobility
• mobility allowance for periods abroad
• preparation of international projects
• publishing costs (e.g. costs of open-access publishing).

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.

The application must also include the overheads percentage, indirect employee costs and coefficient for effective working hours of the site of research.

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 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. The Academy funding must not exceed 70% of the total project costs. The cost estimate must be realistic.

All research costs must be justified in the free-text field in the online services under ‘Project funding’.

PI’s salary costs

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

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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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 under the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services.

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

Mobility allowance in research projects

The mobility allowance in research projects depends neither on the target country nor on the duration of the stay. It is a taxable benefit and indirect employee costs will be deducted from it:

• researchers without dependants: EUR 1,050/month
• researchers with dependants: EUR 1,500/month.

The mobility allowance is applied for as research costs for implementing the research plan and as part of the original project application. The recommended amount should be enough to cover the costs of higher living expenses from living abroad.

The mobility allowance is applied for on the tab ‘Funding for the project’ under ‘Other expenses’. Ticket costs for travel abroad are entered separately under ‘Travel costs’. If researchers and their families stay abroad for at least six months, funding can also be applied for to cover family travel costs. You must justify the need for a mobility allowance.

How to submit and supplement the application

The deadline is non-negotiable. The deadline for applications is 12 May 2020 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.

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 additions insofar as it is possible in view of the review and decision-making process.

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 provided by the applicant.

Publicity and data protection

Except for the research plan, plan of intent, abstract and progress report, which are primarily confidential, 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 application consists of forms completed in the online services and 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.

The online application contains the following parts

Personal data/CV

• Personal details
• Degrees (most recent one first); parental leaves etc. may be filled in under ‘Additional information’
• Titles of docent and professorships
• CV following the template, no more than two pages

Consortium parties

• The principal investigator (PI) of the consortium must be the same person as in the first phase of the programme. Any changes in the composition of the consortium must be described and justified under item 2.4 of the research plan, ‘Added value of consortium’.
• 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)
• Keywords in English and Finnish/Swedish

Abstract

• Maximum length 2,500 characters
• Brief overview of scientific and societal objectives, research methods and data as well as expected research results and impact
• Read the guidelines for abstracts

Research plan

• Maximum length 15 pages
• See our guidelines on the structure of the research plan. Please note that there are separate research plan guidelines for this call. The research plan should also contain a description of the progress made in the project.

Most relevant publications

• No more than 20 of the most important consortium publications for the project
• You can retrieve publication details from the VIRTA publication information service. 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 (will not show in the PDF version of the application)
• Append a complete list of publications to the application under ‘Appendices’.

Mobility

• Enter information on planned national and international mobility within the project, itemised by person
• Guidelines on the mobility allowance are available in the call text under Funding to be applied for and funding period.
• Read more about mobility (Academy Projects, Targeted Academy Projects and Academy Programmes)

Affiliations

• Research infrastructures: Indicate what kinds of equipment, resources or data reserves provided by national or international research infrastructures the project will 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.
• Finnish Flagships
• Centres of Excellence

Ethical aspects

• Ethical permission for project (yes/no)
  • The ethical permit is appended on the tab ‘Appendices’
• 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.

Funding for the project – Following the full cost model

• Funding period, effective working hours, indirect employee costs, overheads percentage and VAT
• Salaries and other costs
• 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.
• Justifications for 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.

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 covering 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
  • popular and reader-friendly description of the research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
  • topic and rationale
  • data and research methods to be used (interviews, statistical data, archive resources, etc.)
  • site of research
  • significance and objectives of the research from the perspective of society and science
  • any other interesting aspects
  • if relevant, link to the researcher’s website, if it contains more information on the topic
• If relevant, references to previous publications that are readily available at public libraries or on the internet
• The project description helps us to disseminate information on the research project.
• Read more about the public project description.

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.

Appendices

• Appendices must be PDF files.

   Appendices of consortium PI:

   Obligatory appendices

• The CV is appended under ‘Personal data/CV’; no more than two pages
• Complete list of publications The most relevant publications are entered under ‘Most relevant publications’.
• Data management plan (DMP): Write the plan by using the DMPTuuli tool or following the Academy’s DMP guidelines.

   Case-specific appendices

• Statement by ethics committee or animal care committee
• Invitation by foreign university or research institute, if the research or part of it will be conducted abroad; please do not append any letters of recommendation
• Progress report on all Academy-funded projects headed by the applicant that have not submitted final reports (applies to other projects than those funded under the Health from Science Academy Programme)

   Appendices for PI of consortium subproject:

   Obligatory appendices

• The CV is appended under ‘Personal data/CV’; no more than two pages
• Complete list of publications: The most relevant publications are entered under ‘Most relevant publications’.

   Case-specific appendices

• Statement by ethics committee or animal care committee
• Invitation by foreign university or research institute, if the research or part of it will be conducted abroad; please do not append any letters of recommendation
• Progress report on all Academy-funded projects headed by the applicant that have not submitted final reports (applies to other projects than those funded under the Health from Science Academy Programme)

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 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 contact persons listed in the call text.

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

The applications are reviewed in international panels. The panel drafts one review report on each application.

Review criteria

Most important review criteria:

• progress made so far in the research project
• scientific quality, innovativeness, novelty value and impact of the research described in the follow-up research plan
• how the project supports the objectives of the programme.

Other review criteria:

• 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 form the basis of the review: review form for Academy Programme TERVA.

By submitting an application, the applicant authorises the Academy of Finland to deliver the original research plan and review report to the reviewers.

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

The steering group will submit a proposal to the programme subcommittee appointed by the Academy Board on the highest quality projects that would best match the call’s objectives.

The subcommittee will make the funding decisions in October 2020. The foundations will make their own funding decisions independently.

You will receive an email notification after the Academy funding decision has been made. After receiving the email, 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 terms and conditions of funding. 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 terms and conditions of funding. Make sure to check the decision and accept the funding and its terms in the online services without delay. If necessary, update the popular project description before you accept the funding. 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.