2026 Call for research into social work, invitation-only

At the core of the Research Council of Finland’s activities is to provide funding for excellent scientific research. The research we fund is also expected to have high scientific and societal impact and follow the principles of responsible science.

In accordance with a decision taken by the Finnish Government, the RCF is allocating funding to research into social work. The aim of this call is to promote the wellbeing of the population through high-quality and high-impact social work research focused on the healthcare and social welfare system, to enhance the impact of social welfare services and to support an evidence-based approach to social welfare.

The research shall focus on the following areas:

• impact, quality and client safety in social work
• life situations and service needs of vulnerable clients
• preventive and structural social work, and innovations in social work
• client participation and agency in social welfare
• social work personnel, expertise and work structures
• evaluation studies of research projects funded under section 60c of the Social Welfare Act.

A research project may fall within one or more of these focus areas.

Applications are invited from researchers whose applications to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s 2026 call for university-level social work research projects were rated highly (scored at least 96 points) but did not receive funding. The RCF has contacted the researchers in question before opening the invitation-only call and has provided instructions on how to submit the application.

Applications are invited from individual research teams and consortia composed of two or more teams. The consortium parties may represent one or several research organisations.

A consortium application is an application built around a joint research plan, where each party to the consortium applies for funding. The RCF treats a consortium application as a single application, although the funding is granted to each subproject separately. Consortium compositions cannot be changed after the call deadline. Read the guidelines for consortium applications.

The PI of the application cannot be changed while the application is being processed (after the call has closed but before the decision). The only exception to this is if the PI dies.

Other conditions for and obstacles to the granting of funding

Funding may only be granted if the conditions laid down for the granting are met and if there is no obstacle to the granting. Provisions on the general conditions and obstacles to the granting of government grants are laid down in the Finnish Act on Discretionary Government Grants (688/2001). In addition, the funding is granted subject to the specific conditions and restrictions concerning RCF funding and the call in question.

The conditions and obstacles to granting apply to all consortium subprojects. If a condition is not met or an obstacle arises, the entire consortium application is declared inadmissible or is rejected.

The application or consortium application is declared inadmissible or rejected in the following cases:

• The application is late.
• The application is substantially incomplete, or the application has not been supplemented as requested by the deadline. The RCF will request supplementation if the incompleteness can be corrected so that the application can be considered. However, the possibility of supplementation does not apply to research or action plans. An application may be dismissed without a request for supplementation if the incompleteness cannot be corrected by providing additional information.
• The site of research does not commit to the application by the deadline.
• The applicant is not eligible. Eligibility is defined in this call text.
• The applicant has submitted more than one application in the call. In that case, only the first application will be considered.
• The applicant has been found guilty of a serious violation of research integrity within the past three years.
• The applicant has not submitted a report on a completed or ongoing RCF-funded project according to the guidelines and by the deadline.
• The applicant is a member of the Board of the RCF, one of its scientific councils or the Strategic Research Council (SRC) during the period in which the call or funding decision process is being conducted.
• The applicant has participated in the planning of the call to an extent likely to give them a comparative advantage over other applicants.
• In the application, the applicant has not identified and assessed the risks related to research security as instructed and, where necessary, has not presented an adequate risk management plan.
• The applicant has not described in the application, in accordance with the guidelines, how good scientific practice will be followed in the implementation of the project.
• The applicant has not described in the application, in accordance with the guidelines, how gender equality and nondiscrimination will be promoted in the implementation of the project.
• The applicant has not described in the application, in accordance with the guidelines, how the project complies with RCF guidelines on the implementation of open access to research outputs and, in the case of research data, on responsible data management.
• The funding has been applied for to a site of research that is not located in Finland, or the applicant does not have a close connection to Finland to implement a multi-year project. The connection must be indicated in the application.
• The funding has been applied for in such a way that the final beneficiary is an organisation located in Russia or Belarus, or that cooperation with Russian or Belarusian researchers or research teams violates the instructions or regulations of the site of research or the authorities. RCF funding shall be granted and used in a way that respects the equal treatment of researchers regardless of nationality.
• The applicant or the application does not meet the competence or other key requirements set for the call, the application does not belong to the call in question, there are in some other respects no conditions for processing the case, or it is apparent that the applicant for some other reason cannot receive funding with the submitted application.

The RCF Board decides the principles for RCF funding decisions, that is, the guidelines that outline the special conditions and other criteria for the RCF's funding decisions. The present call is governed by the principles adopted on 18 September 2025.

When the call opens

• Sign up or log in to the online services. Check and update your personal details. Your up-to-date email address is important when we are in contact with you.
• The online services contain instructions for filling in the form.
• If you are applying as part of a consortium, read the consortium application guidelines before you start drafting the application.

Application parts in the online services

The different parts of the application are listed below. A comprehensive A–Z index of application guidelines is available on our website. Instructions for filling in the application form are also on the tabs of the form.

• Personal details
• General description: topic, keywords and scientific disciplines of the project, details on the site of research
• Consortium parties: In a consortium application, the consortium PI appoints the subproject PIs.
• Abstract
• Public project description
• Project's funding and commitment by site of research. The commitment must be given within 14 days of the call's closing date, or the application may be inadmissible. See section ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’ in the call text.
• Description of principal investigator's salary arrangements
• Collaborators: List of collaborators
• Mobility: list of researcher visits
• Affiliation with research infrastructures, Centres of Excellence and Finnish Flagships
• Brief data management plan
• Research ethics

Appendices with dedicated templates

• The research security assessment is a mandatory appendix. Use the template provided. In the case of a consortium application, the appendix is submitted by the consortium PI. Submit the appendix in PDF format. Read more about research security.

Other appendices

• The original research plan submitted to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s 2026 call for university-level social work research projects is a mandatory appendix. In the case of a consortium application, the appendix is submitted by the consortium PI. Submit the appendix in PDF format.
• The description of the implementation of responsible science is an obligatory appendix. In a free-form appendix of approximately one page, describe all the points below. In the case of a consortium application, the appendix is submitted by the consortium PI. Submit the appendix in PDF format. Read more: Responsible science.
  • Describe how gender equality and nondiscrimination aspects have been taken into account in the research plan (e.g. project objectives, methods, analyses and research utilisation). If the aspects are not relevant to the research, justify why not.
  • Describe how equality and nondiscrimination will be promoted in the composition of the research team and in the research cooperation.
  • Describe how the project follows good scientific practice.
  • Explain how open access to research publications and research data will be ensured.
  • Describe how sustainable development goals are taken into account in the project.

Submitting the application in the online services

You can submit the application when you have filled in or attached all the necessary information. A red warning triangle tells you that there is an error or information missing.

The joint consortium application is submitted by the consortium PI. They can submit the consortium application only after all subprojects have marked their applications as complete.

You can authorise a person to edit or view the application on the tab ‘Authorisation’.

Submit your application in good time. You can supplement and edit the application and change appendices until the call deadline.

The funding period must start in 2027, and the maximum project duration is 48 months. The RCF has separately instructed the eligible applicants to draft a cost estimate in the application to this call. The funding to be distributed through this call depends on the Finnish Parliament’s decision to allocate the necessary funds in the 2026 supplementary budget.

Funding plan

As a rule, research funding granted by the RCF is co-funding. The RCF’s contribution to the funding is up to 70% of the total costs, and the site of research (host organisation) will cover at least 30% of the total costs.

Before submitting the application, you must agree with the administration at your organisation on the funding contribution of the site of research. You must check with your organisation whether the funding planned as the own funding contribution suits this purpose.

On the tab ‘Funding for the project’, enter the following information:

• cost estimate, including an estimate of the annual amount of funding needed, itemised by type of expenditure; the annual instalment costs must be spread equally (e.g. 70%/30%) over all funding years
• funding granted for the project as well as funding that will be provided by the site of research if the project is launched

Only costs that pass through the books of the site of the research must be included in the total costs.

You can apply for 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
• necessary costs arising from implementation of research
• travel expenses
• cooperation and mobility in Finland
• international cooperation and mobility
• preparation of international projects.

RCF funding cannot be used for economic activity. Read more: Economic operator.

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 Grants.

Research team salaries

As a rule, staff hired with RCF 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, the duration of which, as a general rule, shall not exceed six months.

Instructions on job titles at different stages of the research career

Salary costs of principal investigator

RCF funding for research projects is primarily intended for the salaries of researchers working full-time on the projects and for other research costs. In the present call, the PI’s salary costs may be included in the total costs of the project, provided that the duties of the PI are clearly specified and justified.

Funding may be applied for to cover the PI's salary for research work and research team management. Under ‘Salaries’ on the tab ‘Funding for the project’, choose the purpose for which funding for the PI’s salary is sought. The salary is justified on the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’.

If the PI does not have an employment relationship

If the PI does not have an employment relationship with, for example, the university or research institute for the duration of the funding period, they must explain 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

Mobility aid can be applied for as research costs related to the implementation of the plan. The aid is applied for in accordance with the practices of the site of research. To obtain further information, 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 standard terms for funding.

What is required from the site of research?

The site of research is a Finnish research organisation such as a university, a research institute or some other research organisation.

We require that the site of research 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 costs of ensuring immediate open access to peer-reviewed articles are included in the overheads of the site of research. The costs associated with storing and sharing research data and material are regarded as overheads for the project’s site of research. They may only exceptionally and for justified reasons be accepted as research costs to be covered with RCF 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.

When accepting the funding, the site of research is responsible for ensuring that necessary statements and permits from ethics committees have been obtained as appropriate. The site of research shall also make sure that the applicant has not been found guilty of any violation of research integrity during the previous three years.

The overheads, indirect employee costs and coefficient for effective working hours of the site of research are entered in the application. 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 research institute, as a rule, the funding is applied for VAT included. Consult the financial administration at the site of research for more information. RCF funding may cover VAT costs, but only on certain conditions (see Value added tax, and read more in our standard terms for funding).

How to submit and supplement the application

The call deadline is non-negotiable and also applies to consortia. We will not consider (process) an application that has not been submitted by deadline. The deadline for submitting applications via the online services is 5 November 2026 at 23.59 Finnish time. Applications submitted in paper form must arrive at the RCF by 5 November 2026 at 16.15.

The joint consortium application is submitted by the consortium PI. They can submit the application only after all subproject PIs have marked their applications as complete. While the call is open, the consortium PI can return the consortium subproject application to be supplemented.

Call guidance (see section ‘Contacts’) will be available until 16.15 (Finnish time) on the closing date of the call. If you run into problems in the online services that prevent you from submitting the application, please contact the RCF Registrar's Office by email at kirjaamo@aka.fi before the deadline. In this case, the RCF will decide on a case-by-case basis how the application will be considered. Start drafting the application early enough so that you have time to contact us in case any issues arise.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to submit the application before the deadline expires. The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application contains all mandatory information and appendices and that they comply with the requirements set out in the instructions.

You can edit and supplement the application until the deadline. For example, you can change the appendices to the application. If you notice that your application lacks important information after the deadline, immediately get in touch with us via our helpdesk, so that the application can be reopened for supplementation.

We may ask you to supplement the application. In that case, you will receive a supplementation request 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 declare it inadmissible (i.e. it will not be processed). Make sure that your email address is 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.

Publicity and data protection

The RCF is committed to following regulations on data protection and openness. Except for research plans, plans of intent, abstracts and progress reports, which are primarily kept secret, the application and its appendices are public documents. For example, the CV is a public document and as such must not include any non-disclosable information. Other parts of the application may also contain non-disclosable information. This publicity is based on the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities.

Applications and decisions also contain personal data, so their processing is also subject to data protection legislation, in particular the EU General Data Protection Regulation and Finnish Data Protection Act. The applicant is responsible for the disclosure of any personal data contained in the application and, where appropriate, for requesting the consent of the parties concerned.

The GDPR-compliant privacy notice concerning the informing of data subjects is available on our website under Data protection.

The quality assessment of applications will draw on the peer reviews conducted for the previous call. No new peer review will be organised in this call.

A subcommittee appointed by the RCF Board will make the funding decisions in December 2026. Funding decisions will draw on the expert assessments produced during the application review process.

You will receive an email notification after the funding decision has been made. After receiving the email, you can log in to the online services with your user ID to view the funding decision and its justifications.

How to receive the funding

A positive funding decision is accompanied by the standard terms for funding. They contain instructions for accepting the funding.

• Contact us primarily via the helpdesk (select ‘Application guidance, thematic calls’).
• Technical issues with the online services? Contact us via the helpdesk (select ‘Online services and other technical questions’).
• Our telephone number (switchboard) is +358 295 335 000.