FIRI 2020 call – roadmap for national research infrastructures in Finland 2021–2024
- No funding is available through this call. Instead, applications are invited for roadmap status: a place on the roadmap of key research infrastructures in Finland.
- Applied by a research organisation. Management representatives of the research organisation issue the commitment of the site of research in the Academy’s online services.
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NB. The section How applications are submitted and become pending in the call text has been supplemented on 6 April 2020.
The Finnish Research Infrastructure Committee at the Academy of Finland has drafted a Strategy for National Research Infrastructures in Finland 2020–2030. The vision is that high-class research infrastructure services increase the impact and international attraction of the Finnish research, education and innovation system. The objective of the strategy is to promote the quality, competitiveness and renewal of research, to strengthen the broad-based impact of research environments and to increase national and international cooperation.
Based on the strategy, the Finnish Research Infrastructure Committee opens roadmap and funding calls and, together with other actors, develops national and international research infrastructure activities in the coming years. The Committee has outlined that in FIRI calls to be opened based on the roadmap, most of the funding will be earmarked for research infrastructures included on the roadmap. The next FIRI funding call opens in spring 2021.
Before you fill in your application in the online services (SARA), carefully read the call text on this page. Also see the ‘Read more’ section.
If the translated English or Swedish version of the call text is in conflict with the Finnish call text, the Finnish version should always be considered primary.
Read the full call text on this page. Click on the link below to print the text or save it in PDF format.
Backgroud and objectives
The Finnish Research Infrastructure Committee at the Academy of Finland has drafted a Strategy for National Research Infrastructures in Finland 2020–2030. The stated vision is that high-class research infrastructure services increase the impact and international attraction of the Finnish research, education and innovation system. The objective of the strategy is to promote the quality, competitiveness and renewal of research, to strengthen the broad-based impact of research environments and to increase national and international cooperation.
The roadmap for national research infrastructures in Finland is a plan covering key research infrastructures needed over the next 10–15 years. Infrastructures included in the roadmap may be at different stages of their life cycle: planning, construction, implementation, operation or termination.
Finland’s previous strategy and roadmap for research infrastructures was published in 2014. An interim evaluation was completed in 2018.
Research infrastructures refer to a reserve of research instruments, equipment, data, materials and services that enables research, promotes research collaboration and reinforces research and innovation capacity. Research infrastructures may be single-sited, distributed, virtual or a combination of these.
The FIRI roadmap call to be opened in April 2020 is based on the Strategy for National Research Infrastructures in Finland 2020–2030. Applicants are requested to take into account the requirements of the research infrastructure at the current stage of its life cycle.
Key concepts
A national research infrastructure is of national or international importance and provides broad support for Finnish research, development and innovation. It can be owned by one or several organisations.
The life cycle of a research infrastructure means the different stages a research infrastructure has during its existence. The research infrastructure’s stage is taken into account in the review. In this call, research infrastructures are divided into two categories based on their life cycle stage:
a) Construction and/or implementation: The research infrastructure is being planned and constructed; its operations are being implemented. The research infrastructure is not, however, providing services at full capacity.
b) Operation and/or termination: The research infrastructure is in operation and providing services at full capacity. Its services are available based on principles that are openly accessible. At the operation stage, the research infrastructure may also plan and prepare new services to update its operations. At the termination stage, the research infrastructure’s operations are winding down. The research infrastructure has an exit plan and a plan for the long-term storage of the data and material produced with it.
Who can apply?
The applicant is a research organisation. Management representatives of the research organisation issue the commitment of the site of research in the Academy’s online services.
The research organisation’s rector, vice rector, director general or research director begins filling in the application in the online services. They will also submit the application. Persons authorised by the rector, vice rector, director general or research director, such as the research infrastructure’s PI, may also participate in filling in the application. You can authorise a person on the tab ‘Authorisation’ in the online services. The person issuing the commitment of the site of research cannot be the same person as the person submitting the application. The duration of the authorisation may be determined in the online services. However, the authorisation will expire with the call’s deadline.
Consortium applications
If the research infrastructure is hosted by more than one organisation, the organisations may form a consortium. Read more in the guidelines for consortium applications. A consortium application includes the head organisation of the research infrastructure network, along with any other hosting parties. The application will be filled in and submitted by the head organisation. The management representatives of the other host organisations will commit to the application in the Academy’s online services. Additionally, the information on other parties in the research infrastructure must be entered in the online services. See illustration of the consortium structure in the FIRI roadmap call.
Finland’s current international infrastructure memberships will be listed in the roadmap automatically. The international memberships funded through the Academy of Finland will be reviewed in a separate follow-up that will be announced to the relevant parties.
Additionally, the national nodes (BBMRI-FI, Biocenter Finland, CESSDA-FI, CLARIN-FI, EATRIS-FI, ELIXIR-FI, ESS-FI, EU-OPENSCREEN-FI, Euro-BioImaging-FI, INAR RI, INFRAFRONTIER-FI, INSTRUCT-FI, PRACE-FI) or their consortia must submit an application to the roadmap call.
We will not process an application if the responsible person has been found guilty of research misconduct in the three years preceding the year of the call.
How applications are submitted and become pending, publicity of applications
The rector, vice rector, director general or research director submits the application in the Academy of Finland’s online services. The deadline is non-negotiable. The call opens on 1 April 2020 and closes on 16 June 2020 at 16.15 Finnish time.
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Alternative course of action (updated 6 Apr 2020).
If the organisation’s management cannot be named responsible for the application because of the current exceptional circumstances, the management may authorise a person of their choosing instead. They will then begin filling in the application in the Academy’s online services. They will also submit the application. The person responsible for the application may also be the PI of the research infrastructure or another person approved by the host organisation. The people authorised by the person responsible, such as the research infrastructure’s deputy PI, may also participate in filling in the application. You can authorise a person on the tab ‘Authorisation’ in the online services. The person responsible must also authorise a representative of the host organisation to view or edit the application while the call is open. The person who gives the commitment must also in this alternative course of action be a representative of the research organisation’s management.
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How to submit and supplement the application
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. 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
After the funding decisions have been made, the application and its appendices become public documents. 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.
Application parts and guidelines
The application consists of a form completed in the online services and its 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 consists of the following parts
Personal data/CV
- Personal information of the applicant/the organisation’s responsible person
Consortium parties (if applicable)
- Name and abbreviation of consortium
- Details on each party (name, email address, organisation and country)
- Read the guidelines for consortium applications.
- See illustration of consortium model.
Basic information
- Information on the research infrastructure (select from the list or enter under ‘Other’)
- Research fields (at least one, no more than five)
- Keywords in English and Finnish/Swedish
Site of research
- Each party to the consortium fills in this information.
- Details on the site of research
- Commitment by site of research. Make sure you have a commitment from your site of research (usually a university or research institute) in accordance with the instruction of the infrastructure’s site of research.
Abstract
- Maximum length 2,500 characters
- Brief description of the research infrastructure, what it is like and how it serves research
Publications
- Up to 20 of the most important publications produced by using the research infrastructure
- 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)
Collaborators
- Specify the collaborators of the research infrastructure (name, organisation, country, brief description of the collaboration).
- Added value generated by the collaborators
Affiliations
- Indicate what affiliations the research infrastructure has with other national or international research infrastructures. 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
Public project description
- Maximum length 1,000 characters
- Reader-friendly and popular description of the research infrastructure in English and Finnish/Swedish
- We may use the public description to disseminate information on the research infrastructure.
- You may add a link to the research infrastructure’s website.
Authorisation
- The rector, vice rector, director general or research director may authorise another person to view or edit the application. The authorisation is granted on the tab ‘Authorisation’ in the online services.
- The person must have an account in the Academy’s online services (SARA).
- Start by entering the person’s name in the field.
- You cannot authorise more than one person at a time to edit a field in the application. 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.
Obligatory appendices
- Action plan: The action plan should follow the structure and order given in the guidelines for the action plan. This ensures that the reviewers find everything they need in the plan. Be as concise as you can. The recommended length for an action plan is 20 pages. If the specific nature of the research infrastructure requires a longer description, the action plan may be longer, but no more than 30 pages.
- CV of the director of the research infrastructure (no more than two pages) and CVs for any other personnel at the research infrastructure; the CVs may be combined into a single file
- Data management policy: write the plan by using the DMPTuuli tool or following the Academy’s DMP guidelines.
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 has expired, please get in touch with the call’s contact person.
How the application is reviewed
Applications submitted to the FIRI roadmap call will be reviewed by an international panel of experts in autumn 2020.
Read the review questions that will be used in the review: review form for FIRI roadmap call.
Additionally, the review takes into account any affiliations with research infrastructures included in the ESFRI Strategy Report on Research Infrastructures 2018.
How the decisions are made
The Finnish Research Infrastructure Committee will decide on inclusions in the roadmap at the end of 2020. In addition to the panel review report, the Committee will take into account the prioritisations of the research organisations as well as any national perspectives concerning, for instance, the strategic development areas mentioned in the Strategy for National Research Infrastructures in Finland 2020–2030.
