SRC programme call: Democracy for the Future (DEMOC)

This programme focuses on the future of democracy.

Democracy based on citizens’ freedoms and rights, equality, inclusion and pluralism is the foundation of a welfare society and the rule of law. A democratic system only works if it has the trust of its citizens. When making long-term decisions, policymakers must involve and take into account not only present but also future generations. Global crises that call for radical societal reforms – such as climate change, biodiversity loss and armed conflicts – are challenges to democracy. The resources and concentration of power of multinational actors have impact on national operating environments. Democracy is also susceptible to indirect forms of power, such as the power of information and data. The uneven distribution of participation and inclusion as well as social polarisation undermine democratic institutions and cohesion.

What should Finland do to foster and preserve democracy and democratic values within its borders and internationally? What is the response of democratic decision-making in situations that fundamentally challenge existing systems? How can democracy contribute to future prosperity? How can a democratic system best serve both human and natural wellbeing?

The present programme invites multidisciplinary research to build the knowledge base and expertise to address current and future challenges to democracy. International and Nordic comparisons provide invaluable perspectives on many of the issues involved in the programme’s theme.

Research projects may focus on the following issues, for example: the conditions for democracy to deal with crises and geopolitical conflicts; EU policy; the dynamics between democratic and authoritarian systems; the relationship of nation states to the power of multinational corporations; the tensions between economic and political power; or the implementation of democracy at regional or local level.

Interesting questions may arise related to the implementation and consolidation of democratic values, for example in public institutions, education, work, the use of natural resources or urban planning. Other relevant topics include the effects of new technologies and policies on social inclusion, participation and trust, the role of AI in future democracy, and communication, language and cultural issues.

Research under this programme shall improve the capacity to anticipate challenges and opportunities related to the future of democracy and the ability to make long-term decisions. An interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approach and cooperation with different stakeholders are key in addressing the issues in a systemic way. Where appropriate, the research may also include experimentation and evaluation. A key objective is to strengthen democracy, inclusion and trust in society.

Programme questions

A. On what challenges defined in the programme will the project be focused, and what kind of combination will they form?

B. How will the proposed research and interaction contribute to a cross-disciplinary understanding of the challenges, function and future of democracy and the efforts needed to develop democracy in Finland?

C. How will the proposed research and interaction create concrete conditions for countering threats to democracy and strengthening the capacity of the democratic system to respond to current and future crises?

D. How does the proposed combination of research fields and the network of interaction partners support the achievement of the solutions pursued by the programme?

E. What concrete societal impact is the project aiming for, and which societal actors are seen as the main beneficiaries or target audience of the research?

Strategic research funding may only be applied for by consortia. The consortia funded by the Strategic Research Council – SRC consortia – are structurally different from consortia funded by the Research Council of Finland under the Academy Project and Academy Programme funding schemes. The consortium’s research and interaction activities are distributed appropriately between work packages (WPs).

Each consortium must have a PI, WP leaders and an interaction coordinator. In the full application, each subproject must have a named subproject PI at the site of research, who is responsible for the subproject’s use of funding and for submitting the application.

PIs and WP leaders of SRC consortia must have a doctoral degree and a title of docent, or research experience at the docent level. The interaction coordinator must be qualified in their own field, but they are not required to have a doctoral degree.

Read the guidelines for SRC consortium applications.

An example of a possible structure for an SRC consortium:

SRC consortia must be based on multidisciplinary collaboration. The research work must not rely too heavily on a single site of research, research team or scientific discipline. This will require sufficient resources for managing and coordinating the consortium and for carrying out the consortium's interaction activities. The consortia should work towards a balanced gender composition.

A subproject PI must be competent to lead the subproject. As a rule, they also should hold a doctoral degree. The application must describe how the salary of the subproject PI will be arranged during the funding period.

The SRC’s funding for strategic research benefits the scientific community in Finland as well as Finnish society at large. The site of research of the subproject is a Finnish organisation (usually a university or research institute) via which the funding is paid. Typically, strategic research themes are topical and important also outside Finland.

The SRC encourages applicants to plan international cooperation to promote understanding and societal solutions based on the best scientific knowledge in Finland. Under new SRC programmes, funding will no longer be granted for projects to be carried at foreign sites of research. However, Finnish sites can apply for funding for international cooperation and mobility in SRC projects in accordance with the funding conditions of the Research Council of Finland.

According to the Research Council of Finland’s funding terms and conditions, the funding cannot be used for economic activity. Economic activity is defined as all activity where goods or services are offered on an open market regardless of whether profits are pursued or generated.

If the funding is applied for by an organisation other than a university, a university of applied sciences or a research institute, the applicant must confirm their eligibility and the funding conditions from the programme’s contact person in good time before submitting the application. Failure to do so will jeopardise the processing of the entire consortium application.

The consortium PI is responsible for ensuring that the consortium parties are eligible to apply for and receive funding.

Special terms and restrictions

PIs of SRC consortia can act as PIs only in one consortium funded by the SRC. An exception is made for consortium PIs in the SRC Programme Pandemics as a Challenge for Society (PANDEMICS), which will end in 2024, because of the limited overlap in funding periods between the programmes.

The same person may be a consortium PI and/or subproject PI and/or WP leader in only one application per each SRC programme. Consortium PIs must check the eligibility of these persons.

If a person holds one of the roles mentioned above in more than one application, that person will be removed from all applications before the review. In such cases, the applications concerned will proceed to the review without the person’s details, CV and list of publications.

As the SRC consortia are expansive, leading one requires a considerable amount of work. The SRC requires that consortium PIs commit themselves with a sufficient level of input to heading the consortium. Directors of the Research Council of Finland’s Centres of Excellence cannot therefore act as PIs for SRC consortia.

An application will not be processed if the applicant has participated in the planning of the concerned programme or followed the planning to an extent likely to give them a comparative advantage over other applicants.

Applications by members of the Research Council of Finland’s Board and scientific councils and members of the Strategic Research Council will not be processed during their terms. An application will also not be processed if a member of the above-mentioned body is a work package leader in an SRC consortium.

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.

If the application includes cooperation with Russia or Belarus, you must take into account our policies on the matter.

SRC consortium PIs or WP leaders named in the letter of intent may be changed only for very compelling reasons. The contents of the research and interaction plan must remain essentially unchanged. Consortium parties cannot be removed.

Any changes to consortium compositions made for the above reasons must be justified in the research and interaction plan of the full application. In addition, in such cases, applicants must get in touch with the programme’s contact person before they submit their full application.

An application will not be processed if the applicant or the application does not meet the competence requirements or other key requirements of the call, or if the application otherwise does not qualify for processing.

The SRC may decide 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 us not to process or review an application.

The project duration in the programme is six years. The research and interaction plan included in the application must be drafted to cover the entire six-year period. However, the funding will be granted in two parts (3 + 3 years). The consortium PI must have a close connection with Finland to support the implementation of a multi-year project.

In the two programmes open for application, the SRC is prepared to fund a total of 9–10 projects with 2.75–3 million euros each during the first funding period. The total funding budget for the first three years has been set at a total of 28 million euros. The cost estimates of the projects must be realistic.

The funding to be distributed through this call depends on the Finnish Parliament’s decision to allocate the necessary funds in the 2024 state budget.

The funding is granted to a Finnish site of research (usually a university or research institute) through which the funding is paid.

The first funding decision will cover the period 1 December 2024–30 November 2027. The progress of the projects will be reviewed at the end of the first funding period, and a possible second period will be granted for 1 December 2027–30 November 2030. It is not possible to transfer funding from one funding period to another.

The cost estimate for an SRC consortium’s six-year term must be drafted so that the funding for the second funding period comes to no more than 100% of the funding for the first period.

The application must contain a funding plan drafted in line with the full cost model (learn more in the funding terms and conditions). In SRC projects, the Research Council of Finland’s funding contribution to the research costs is 100%. Read more about the full cost model.

Salaries

The SRC requires that consortium PIs commit themselves with a sufficient level of input to heading the consortium. Funding awarded for strategic research can also be used to cover the salaries of consortium PIs and possible coordinators for the entire duration of the funding period. However, the salary funding must not overlap with salary paid from other funding by the Research Council of Finland.

Staff to be hired with SRC funding must have an employment relationship with their site of research. With regard to research personnel, the funding is primarily intended for the salaries of researchers with doctoral degrees.

As a rule, staff hired with SRC 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, studies or other assignments (max. duration six months) may also be carried out in the form of outsourced services.

Other eligible costs

SRC funding is granted for research and related interaction activities. In SRC calls, funding can be applied for to cover the salary and other costs arising from the implementation of the research and interaction plans.

Other eligible costs include the following:

• costs of implementing the interaction plan
• research costs
• travel expenses
• costs of collaboration and mobility in Finland and abroad (of key significance to the goals of the project)
• costs of preparing international projects
• auditing costs.

SRC funding cannot be used to pay for acquisition of significant infrastructures.

All acquisitions must be made in accordance with the Finnish Act on Public Contracts. Where necessary, the acquisitions must be put out to tender in compliance with the practices stipulated in the Act.

Funding granted by SRC cannot be used for economic activity. Read more about the eligibility of economic operators.

Only for compelling reasons can government grants be awarded to cover salary costs in cases where the applicant has obstacles related to illegal employment, as referred to in section 7(2) of the Finnish Act on Discretionary Government Transfers.

Funding plan

In the letter of intent, the consortium PI shall present the cost estimate for the first funding period as estimated total costs (all subprojects combined) per year. The estimate is entered in the online services on the tab ‘Funding for the project’ under ‘Other costs’. Thus, the types of expenditure should not be itemised (salaries, indirect costs, overheads, travel, etc.). The cost estimate must be realistic.

In the full application, each subproject will draft its own cost estimate, itemised by type of expenditure.

The full application must include (under the tab ‘Funding for the project’) a cost estimate for the first funding period, showing an estimate of the annual amount of funding needed by the SRC consortium. The cost estimate must be realistic. Changes in the funding plan between the letter of intent stage and the full application stage will only be approved in exceptional cases.

The cost estimate must be justified in the full application’s research and interaction plan, which also includes a cost estimate for the entire duration of the project (first and second funding period). The cost estimate for the entire project is drawn up so that the costs of the second funding period may come to no more than 100% of the cost estimate for the first period.

In the full application, all research costs must be justified in the free-text field in the online services on the tab ‘Funding for the project’.

Account of salary when PI does not have an employment relationship

If the PI does not have an employment relationship with, for example, a university or research institute for the duration of the funding period, they must explain in the free-text fields (the tab ‘Funding for the project’) how their salary will be covered during the funding period. Retired researchers can be granted funding on the same grounds as other researchers.

Mobility aid in research projects

The researcher mobility carried out in SRC-funded projects must be goal-oriented. It should support project implementation, reinforce the international networks of the researchers involved, and create new knowledge and know-how. Mobility plans are not necessary in the letters of intent. In the full application, the applicant must enter their subproject’s mobility plan on the application form in the online services.

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 order to obtain further information, you should contact the personnel and financial administration 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.

What is required from the site of research?

We require that the site of research (i.e. the applicant’s host organisation, e.g. a university, research institute or other research organisation) 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. Only exceptionally and for justified reasons can they be accepted as research costs to be covered by Research Council of Finland 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. After a positive funding decision, the site of research will also approve the data management plan of the project. Read more in the guidelines on the commitment by the 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 maintains these percentages in the online services under the site’s details. The information is provided as percentages.

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 funding may also cover VAT costs, but only on certain conditions (see Value added tax and read more in the funding terms and conditions).

How to submit and supplement the application

The deadline is non-negotiable. We will not consider (process) an application that has not been submitted by deadline. The first call stage (letters of intent) closes on 21 March 2024 at 16.15 Finnish time. The second call stage (full applications) closes on 29 August 2024 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 applicant is responsible for ensuring that the content of the application appendices is correct. The joint letter of intent for the SRC consortium is submitted only by the PI.

The joint full application for the SRC consortium is submitted by the consortium PI. The person 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 if it is possible in view of the review and decision-making process.

We may ask you to supplement the application. The request for supplementation will be sent to you by email. If you do not supplement the application by the given deadline, or if the application is substantially incomplete even after a request for supplementary information, we may decide to dismiss it (i.e. it will not be processed). You must make sure that your contact details (email address) are up to date.

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 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.

If you fail to submit a final report on a completed or ongoing project according to our guidelines, we may decide not to process your new 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.

The SRC 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 us not to process or review an application.

Publicity and data protection

Except for the research and interaction plan, plan of intent and abstract, 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.

We are committed to following regulations on data protection. The applicant is responsible for the disclosure of the personal data contained in the application and, where appropriate, for requesting the consent of the parties concerned.

The GDPR-compliant privacy statement concerning the research funding process is available on the Research Council of Finland’s website under Data protection (Privacy notice for strategic research).

The letter of intent submitted at the first call stage consists of forms completed in the 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.

The consortium PI is responsible for drafting and submitting the letter of intent in the online services. To minimise the administrative burden on the process, the letter of intent is drafted as an individual application. Consortium PIs must check the eligibility of each WP leader and that they are participating in only one application per programme. The WP leaders and interaction coordinators must be named in the application.

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

CV and list of publications

• Drafted on a template, submitted as a PDF appendix on a dedicated tab (read more about the structure)
• Maximum length three pages (CV 2 pages, list of publications 1 page)
• The list of publications contains the ten most project-relevant publications by the applicant.

General information

• Details on the site of research
• Title of research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• Research fields (at least three, 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.

SRC consortium composition

• Information on the WP leaders and interaction coordinator (name, email, organisation and country)
• Choose the person’s role from the drop-down menu. In the case of WP leaders, add the WP number in the accompanying text field.
• A WP may have only one leader.
• Read the guidelines for SRC consortium applications.

Plan of intent

• Maximum length six pages
• Submit the research plan as a PDF appendix on a separate tab in the online services.

• See our guidelines on the structure of the research plan. You must follow the given structure. Please use the headings provided. Use the template to draft the plan of intent.
• The application cannot be submitted if the system detects an error in the page configuration or the structure.

• See the how-to guides for the online services.

Most relevant publications and other key outputs

• The consortium PI enters a total of up to ten jointly agreed most project-relevant publications by the consortium members (incl. consortium PI) and a total of up to ten of the consortium members’ most relevant own research outputs, with justifications.
• You can retrieve publication details from the VIRTA publication information service. Also see the How-to guides for the online services.
• There are separate fields for selected publications and other research outputs. If the desired output type is not listed, select ‘Other, what?’ and enter the name of the output.
• 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 show in the PDF version of the application).
• The information is used to assess the competence of the applicant or consortium to carry out the project.

Research ethics

• Preliminary ethical review for project and/or animal testing permit (yes/no)
• Found guilty of research misconduct (yes/no). We will not consider (process) a funding application if the applicant has been found guilty of research misconduct in the three years preceding the year of the call.
• Guilty of illegal employment within the meaning referred to in section 7(2) of the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (yes/no)
• The research-ethical issues are described in the research plan as part of the implementation.
• See the ethical guidelines.

Funding for the project

• The project’s funding follows the full cost model. The Research Council of Finland’s funding contribution to the research costs comes to 100%.
• Enter the funding period as it is given in the call text (1 Dec 2024–30 Nov 2027).
• In the first call stage, the estimated total costs of the project are entered only as an annual total (incl. all costs of all subprojects, incl. salaries) under ‘Other costs’.
• The estimate must be realistic and based on the implementation of the research and interaction plan. Changes in the cost estimate between the letter of intent stage and the full application stage will only be approved in exceptional cases.
• 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 the site of research.
• The consortium PI is responsible for ensuring that all consortium parties are eligible to apply for and receive funding.

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 communication about the research project. It is important that the public description is written for a general audience. The description will also be stored at fi, a service that makes available information on scientific research conducted in Finland.
• Read the guidelines on 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 an account in our 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

Append only the requested appendices to the application and make sure to draft them in line with our guidelines. Also make sure not to exceed the maximum lengths indicated in the call text. Please name each document clearly (e.g. CV + Publications [N.N.]), as this will make the reviewers’ work easier. Draft the appendices in English and append them to the application in PDF format.

Obligatory appendices

• CVs and lists of publications of WP leaders and interaction coordinator (max. 3 pages), drafted on SRC template. The template contains a CV section (2 pages) and a list of the person’s ten most project-relevant publications (1 page).
• Only one CV and list of publications (3 pages in total) should be submitted for each person, even if they hold several positions in the consortium.
• Do not combine CVs and lists of publications of several persons into a single file.

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 and edit 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 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.

The second stage of the SRC call, for full applications, opens in the online services on 1 June 2024 at the earliest. The second stage is open to invited applicants and closes on 29 August 2024 at 16.15 Finnish time. The deadline is non-negotiable.

Full applications for SRC funding are drafted as consortium applications. The applications and appendices of consortium subprojects will be joined together with the consortium PI’s application. The consortium application can be submitted 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 consortium PI must include the details, abstract and public description for the PI’s own subproject as well as the whole consortium’s joint research and interaction plan and the CVs and lists of publications for the WP leaders and interaction coordinator (if they are not subproject PIs).

The subproject PIs 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.

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

CV and list of publications

• Drafted on a template, submitted as a PDF appendix on a dedicated tab (read more about the structure)
• Maximum length three pages (CV 2 pages, list of publications 1 page)
• The list of publications contains the ten most project-relevant publications by the applicant.

Consortium parties

• Subproject PIs (site of research that will receive the funds)
• Details on each party (name, email address, organisation and country)
• The subprojects PIs must have an account in the Research Council of Finland’s online services (SARA) so that they can be entered as parties to the consortium.
• Read the guidelines for SRC consortium applications.

SRC consortium composition

• Information on the WP leaders and interaction coordinator (name, email, organisation and country)
• These persons must be the same as in the letter of intent. They may be changed only for exceptional reasons.
• Choose the person’s role from the drop-down menu. In the case of WP leaders, add the WP number in the accompanying text field.
• A WP may have only one leader.
• Read the guidelines for SRC consortium applications.

General information

• Details on the site of research
• Title of research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• Research fields (at least three, 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 teams

• Team members and their tasks (only persons who are paid salary from the project)
• Team members’ effective working hours (in relation to the funding to be applied for)

Research and interaction plan

• Maximum length 19 pages

• Submit the research plan as a PDF appendix on a separate tab in the online services.

• See our guidelines on the structure of the research plan. You must follow the given structure. Please use the headings provided. Use the template to draft the plan.
• The application cannot be submitted if the system detects an error in the page configuration or the structure.
• See the how-to guides for the online services.

Most relevant publications and other key outputs

• The consortium PI enters a total of up to ten jointly agreed most project-relevant publications by the consortium members (incl. consortium PI) and a total of up to ten of the consortium members’ most relevant own research outputs, with justifications.
• You can retrieve publication details from the VIRTA publication information service. Also see the How-to guides for the online services.
• There are separate fields for selected publications and other research outputs. If the desired output type is not listed, select ‘Other, what?’ and enter the name of the output.
• 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 show in the PDF version of the application).
• The information is used to assess the competence of the applicant or consortium to carry out the project.

Collaborators

• Specify the key collaborators of the project (name, organisation, country, brief description goals/benefits of the collaboration)
• We recommend that applicants append a letter of collaboration to the application. Read more about the letter.
• As applications are reviewed by international experts, we recommended that you write the letters of collaboration in English.

Mobility

• Enter information on planned national and international mobility within the project, itemised by person.
• See more information on mobility.
• We recommend that applicants append a letter of collaboration to the application. Read more about the letter.
• As applications are reviewed by international experts, we recommended that you write the letters of collaboration in English.

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

• Preliminary ethical review for project and/or animal testing permit (yes/no)
• Found guilty of research misconduct (yes/no). We will not consider (process) a funding application if the applicant has been found guilty of research misconduct in the three years preceding the year of the call.
• Guilty of illegal employment within the meaning referred to in section 7(2) of the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (yes/no)
• The research ethics description is entered under section 3 of the research plan.
• See the ethical guidelines.

Funding for the project

• The project’s funding follows the full cost model. The Research Council of Finland’s funding contribution to the research costs comes to 100%.
• 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. The information is provided as percentages.
• Enter the funding period (1 December 2024–30 November 2027).
• Enter salaries and other costs.
• Justify the funding to be applied for in the free-text field. The cost estimate must be realistic. Changes in the funding plan between the letter of intent stage and the full application stage will only be approved in exceptional cases.
• If the PI does not have a permanent employment relationship for the duration of the funding period, include in the free-text field a salary plan for the PI covering the entire funding period.
• 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 on the commitment by the site of research.
• The consortium PI is responsible for ensuring that all consortium parties are eligible to apply for and receive funding.

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 communication about the research project. It is important that the public description is written for a general audience. The description will also be stored at fi, a service that makes available information on scientific research conducted in Finland.
• Read the guidelines on 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 an account in our 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

Append only the requested appendices to the application and make sure to draft them in line with our guidelines. Also make sure not to exceed the maximum lengths indicated in the call text. Please name each document clearly (e.g. CV + Publications [N.N.]), as this will make the reviewers’ work easier. Draft the appendices in English and append them to the application in PDF format under ‘Appendices’. Only one CV and list of publications should be submitted for each person, even if they hold several positions in the consortium.

Obligatory appendices:

Consortium PI:

• CVs and lists of publications of WP leaders and interaction coordinator (if they are not subproject PIs), drafted on SRC template. The template contains a CV section and a list of the person’s ten most project-relevant publications. Name the three-page appendices following the format [surname]_cv_and_pub.
• Only one CV and list of publications should be submitted for each person, even if they hold several positions in the consortium.
• Do not combine CVs and lists of publications of several persons into a single file.

Case-specific appendices:

Consortium and/or subproject PI

• Letter of collaboration (‘Collaborators’ and ‘Mobility’). Read more about the letter.
• Account of state aid received (organisations engaged in economic activity); the applicant is responsible for submitting the account in the online services

Submit application

• You can submit the application when you have filled in or attached all the necessary information.
• The joint consortium application is submitted by the consortium PI. The person can submit the consortium application only after all subprojects have tagged their applications as complete.
• 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.

Steps required of consortium parties in the online services:

Consortium PI

1. enters and checks their own personal details
2. appends their own CV and list of publications (template)
3. lists the SRC consortium parties (subproject PIs)
4. lists the persons responsible for the SCR consortium (WP leaders and interaction coordinator)
5. enters the general description of their own project (site of research, project name, research fields, keywords)
6. drafts the project’s joint abstract
7. lists the (salaried) members of their own research team and describes the team’s role in the project; estimates the effective working hours for each team member (in relation to the funding to be applied for)
8. appends the joint research and interaction plan (template)
9. fills in the consortium’s most project-relevant publications and other outputs A consortium may list up to ten publications and ten outputs.
10. enters the information on the collaborators for their own subproject
11. fills in the mobility plan for their part
12. indicates for their part the possible affiliations to research infrastructures, Centres of Excellence or Finnish Flagships
13. indicates the need for a statement by an ethics committee and answers the ethical questions for their part
14. drafts a cost estimate and funding plan for their own subproject
15. requests the commitment of their site of research
16. writes the joint public description for the project
17. enters the CV and list of publications (template) for the WP leaders (not subproject PIs) and interaction coordinator
18. appends possible letter of collaboration for a research visit for their own part
19. appends possible letter of collaboration (collaborators) for a research visit for their own part
20. appends the consortium’s joint data management plan after a positive funding decision

Subproject PI

1. enters and checks their own personal details
2. appends their own CV and list of publications (template)
3. enters the general description of their own project (site of research)
4. lists the (salaried) members of their own research team and describes the team’s role in the project estimates the effective working hours for each team member
5. enters the information on the collaborators for their own subproject
6. fills in the mobility plan for their part
7. indicates for their part the possible affiliations to research infrastructures, Centres of Excellence or Finnish Flagships
8. answers the ethical questions for their part
9. drafts a cost estimate and funding plan for their own subproject
10. requests the commitment of their site of research
11. appends possible letter of collaboration for a research visit for their own part
12. appends possible letter of collaboration (collaborators) for a research visit for their own part

SRC funding decisions are based on a review of the research and interaction plans and the merits of the applicants. The review puts particular emphasis on the added value generated by the consortium for the attainment of the objectives set for the programme concerned.

The fundamental principles of the review are transparency, integrity, equity, competence and diversity. Read more about responsible researcher evaluation.

The letters of intent will be peer-reviewed by a panel composed of Finnish and foreign experts in science and societal relevance. The review of letters of intent will focus on the following aspects:

• compatibility with the programme call
• scientific quality, incl. quality of multidisciplinary collaboration and interdisciplinary research
• societal relevance, interaction and impact.

The applications must have high societal impact and be of a high scientific standard.

The panel will review the letters of intent focusing on the following questions:

Strategic research programme call: letter of intent review questions/Guiding questions:

• Why and how does the proposed research match the programme?
• How significant and plausible is the project’s expected contribution to achieving the solutions pursued by the programme?
• How does the research plan promote responsible science (Research ethics, Equality and non-discrimination, Open science, Sustainable development)?
• Are the research idea and the initial description of research questions, materials and applied methodologies feasible and do they aim at scientific excellence?
• How does the research plan support inter- or transdisciplinary approach, including integration or transformation of disciplinary perspectives, and what added value does the chosen approach bring?
• Is the consortium competent to execute the plan?
• Are the plans for societal interaction (goals, means, stakeholders and implementation) feasible, and do they aim at concrete steps towards improving policy or practice?

The panel will review all letters of intent assigned to it and issue a written (confidential) review report on each application, based on draft reviews and the panel discussion. The panel will use the review scale of the letter of intent stage (see review guidelines (PDF)), but it will not give overall ratings. Instead, the panel will divide the letters of intent into three groups (A–C) according to how strongly it recommends that the application be invited to the second call stage.

The SRC will decide which consortia are invited to the second call stage based on the panel’s review reports and at its own discretion. Successful consortia will be asked to submit full applications.

The full applications will be peer-reviewed by two panels. The societal relevance and impact and scientific quality of the applications will be reviewed separately. Both panels will use their own review scales in rating (1–6) the applications. Both panels draft one review report on each application. The review report is subject to professional secrecy.

A relevance panel composed of Finnish and foreign experts will review the project for its societal relevance and impact. They will also consider how well the application addresses the programme questions.

An international scientific panel will review the scientific quality of the proposed projects and research plans and the grounds for the research choices.

The SRC will select the projects to be funded based the reviews of the relevance panel and the scientific panel.

Review questions and scales, with descriptions, used in the second call stage: societal relevance panel (PDF) and scientific panel (PDF).

For justified reasons, we may decide not to review or process an application. The reasons that are considered in these cases are presented under Review and decision-making.

We recommend that applicants familiarise themselves with the review questions (1st and 2nd stages). The review guidelines and forms are only available in English.

The decisions on the letters of intent will be made in May 2024 (tentative schedule). Those selected to the second stage will be asked to submit full applications in the Research Council of Finland’s online services by 29 August 2024. The SRC will select the projects for the programmes in November 2024 (tentative schedule).

The names and project titles of the funding recipients will be posted on the Research Council of Finland’s website.

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.

Once the SRC has selected the consortia for the programmes, it will enter into negotiations with the consortia on their objectives. The final funding decisions will be made based on these negotiations. The aim of the negotiations is to reach an agreement on joint objectives for the research and interaction activities and to nail down the final funding budget. At the end of the negotiations, the representatives of the consortia undertake to fulfil the agreed objectives by signing a letter of undertaking.

You will receive an email notification after the funding decision has been made. After receiving this message, you can log in to the online services with your user ID to view the decision and its justifications. You can also read the funding conditions, if the decision has been favourable. In addition, you will have access to read the expert reviews on your application.

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 and its terms in the online services without delay. This must be done within eight weeks of the decision date, unless otherwise stated in the special conditions of the decision notice.

Before they accept the funding, the consortium PI must update the project description (if necessary) and attach the full data management plan (drafted according to the guidelines). It is important that the public description is written for a general audience. We will use the project description in our communication about the research project.

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. See the how-to guide: Decision notification, review reports and accepting 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.

• Contact us primarily via the helpdesk (Division of Strategic Research)
• Also get in touch via the helpdesk (Division of Information Management) if you encounter technical issues in the online services.
• Our telephone number (switchboard) is +358 295 335 000.
• projects-src@aka.fi
• Katri Huutoniemi, Science Adviser
• Katri Mäkinen-Rostedt, Science Adviser