Sport science funding for research projects from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture

The Ministry is keen to fund research that is highly applicable. It supports research into themes defined in the sport sciences policy document drafted by the Ministry in cooperation with the National Sports Council’s Sub-Committee for Sport Science. The themes are related to topical issues concerning the promotion of physical activity, access to physical activities and the special characteristics of sports culture. Research is also needed on cross-cutting elements of sports policy, such as the impacts and cross-administrative nature of the promotion of physical activity.

You will find detailed descriptions of the valid themes and policies in the Ministry’s call text. The scientific review of applications follows the Academy of Finland’s review practices and criteria. The Ministry will make the final funding decisions.

The applicant is a research community. You should enter as the applicant the community where the research is mainly carried out or where it is coordinated (site of research). The project should name a PI who is responsible for carrying out the project and coordinating the funding.

Special conditions and restrictions

In accordance with the Finnish Act on Discretionary Government Transfers, a research project cannot receive simultaneous Ministry and Academy funding for the same purpose. Nevertheless, if applying for funding for different parts of a large-scale project simultaneously from both the Ministry and the Academy, the applicant must address the applications to both agencies and with different research plans.

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.

How to submit and supplement the application

The deadline is non-negotiable.

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 expires. You can make changes (e.g. change appendices) in an application you have submitted to the Academy, but you must make them before the deadline expires. If you notice that your application lacks important information after the deadline has expired, immediately get in touch with the Academy of Finland’s contact person, so that the application can be reopened for your supplementary additions. 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. An important addition is, for instance, an invitation by a foreign university.

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

Under the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities, an application and its appendices are public information; confidential documents such as research plans, plans of intent, abstracts and progress reports, however, are not. For example, the CV is a public document and as such must not include any confidential information. 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 consists of 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 appendix following the template structure, 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)
• 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 results and impact of the research
• Read more about the Abstract

Research plan

• Maximum length 12 pages, 15 pages for consortium projects
• See our guidelines on the structure of the research plan. The research plan for the Ministry’s sports science research projects follows the research plan for an Academy Project.
• See the how-to guides for the online services

Most relevant publications

• No more than ten of your most important publications for the project; no more than 20 publications in the case of consortium projects
• Search for publications in 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

Collaborators

• Specify the collaborators of the project (name, organisation, country, brief description of the collaboration)
• Describe the collaborators’ merits relevant to the project and the justifications for choosing them in research plan in section 3.2 of the research plan

Mobility

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

Ethical aspects

• Ethical permission for project (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.

Public project description

• Maximum length 1,000 characters
• reader-friendly and popular description of the research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• the topic of the research and the rationale
• the data and research methods to be used (interviews, statistical data, archive materials, etc.)
• the site of research
• the significance and objectives of the research from the perspective of society and science
• any other interesting aspects
• if relevant, a 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 public description helps the Academy to disseminate information on the research project.

• Read more about the Public description

Authorisation

• You can authorise another person to 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.
• Technical instructions on the authorisation process are available in the how-to guides for the online services.

Appendices

• Appendices must be pdf files

       Obligatory appendices

• CV of the PI is appended under Personal data/CV, no more than two pages
• Complete list of publications for the PI The most relevant publications are entered under Most relevant publications
• Finnish degree certificate or English-language degree certificate of a doctoral degree obtained abroad for the PI
• Sport science research funded by Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, appendix form 14 for the 2020 call
• Data management plan: write the plan with help from DMPTuuli or according to the guidelines found on the Academy’s website

       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; do not append any letters of recommendation
• Form accounting for the use of government transfer granted for sport science research
• Research plan following the template structure, no more than 12 pages; only if the research plan has not been written on the tab Research plan

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 expires. Resaving will replace the earlier version.
• If you want to supplement the application after the deadline has expired, please get in touch with the Academy’s contact persons listed in the call text.

The Academy of Finland takes care of the scientific review of the applications in peer-review panels. We mainly use foreign experts as reviewers. The applications are mainly reviewed in international panels. 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.

Read the review questions that will be used in the review of applications: review form for sport science research projects

After the peer-review, in accordance with section 6 of the Act on the Promotion of Sports and Physical Activity and section 2 of the Decree on the Promotion of Sports and Physical Activity, the National Sport Council gives the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture a statement on government transfers. The Ministry will then decide on the transfers based on the statement and inform the applicants of their decision.

In its decisions, the Ministry will take into account the application's scientific review by the Academy of Finland and the statement of the project’s relevance for sports policy by the National Sport Council.

The Ministry will evaluate the project’s scientific review, its relation to the chosen themes based on the Sport Council’s statement, the available appropriation, and the project’s necessity to filling in research gaps.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture is not bound by the reviews by the Academy of Finland and the National Sport Council.

You will find detailed descriptions of the valid themes and policies in the Ministry’s call text.

The aim is to make the funding decisions concerning new sport science research projects during March 2020.

When the funding decision is made, the Ministry will inform the applicants of their decision.You will also be sent an email about the decision.After receiving the email, you can log in to the online services with your user ID to view the expert review on your application.