2027 Call under Academy Programme for Sport Science and Physical Activity (ACTIVE)

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.

Background

Under the Finnish Act on the Promotion of Sports and Physical Activity, the state budget shall include an annual appropriation for the purpose of granting aid and stipends for research and development in the field of sport and health sciences. For this purpose, the RCF has launched the Academy Programme for Sport Science and Physical Activity (ACTIVE).

The RCF and the Ministry will continue to cooperate in funding sport science research within the framework of the programme. The Ministry sets out the thematic areas and criteria for sport science research supported with government grants for the years to come in the Strategy Document for Research in Sports Science (PDF) (in Finnish, abstracts in English and Swedish).

Objectives

The aim of the Academy Programme for Sport Science and Physical Activity (ACTIVE) is to advance the quality, innovativeness and impact of research on sport and physical activity. The research-based knowledge created through the programme contributes to increasing understanding and creating solutions to societal and public health challenges related to physical activity, exercise and sport.

In addition to a high scientific standard, research funded under the programme should demonstrate novelty value and innovativeness as well as scientific and societal impact. Additionally, the research should have applicability value for planning and decision-making on physical activity, exercise and sport as well as on the promotion of physical activity in practice, either in the short or long term. The applicability may be demonstrated at different levels of society or in communities.

The key objective of the programme is to promote impact, accountability and sustainable development in sport science research targeting different population groups and various forms of sport and physical activity at both amateur and professional levels. The aims of the programme also include building up competence and multifaceted cooperation in sport science research. In order to achieve these objectives, the programme will pay particular attention to the following viewpoints:

• added value created by a multidisciplinary research design for understanding complex sport science phenomena and solving challenges
• added value created by cooperation within sport science and with other disciplines nationally and internationally
• significance of a changing society and importance of drivers of change, including societal, political, environmental, economic or technological drivers, in sport science research
• interaction with actors who play a key role in using research findings at different stages of the research project lifecycle to improve the feasibility and quality of research.

Thematic areas of projects to be funded

In the Strategy Document for Research in Sports Science, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture defines thematic areas for the funding of sport science research. These thematic areas have been derived from the societal impact goals set for the sport sector.

The thematic areas for funding research projects are:

1. physically active lifestyle and physical fitness as well as the effects and impact mechanisms of exercise and physical activity
2. equitable access to sports, physical activity and exercise, inclusion, sense of community, accountability and environmental sustainability
3. results and ethics in competitive and elite sports.

Research projects funded under the ACTIVE programme are expected to address one or several of these thematic areas. Applicants must justify the theme of the research and describe what new knowledge the project will generate to promote the theme.

Read the programme memorandum for a more detailed description of the ACTIVE programme.

The funded projects shall participate in joint ACTIVE programme activities, such as joint events and data compilations.

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.

The consortium has a joint research plan that it implements together with a view to achieving more extensive added value than through normal cooperation. The added value must be described in the plan. Each consortium subproject applies for funding to implement the plan as part of the joint consortium application.

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.

In addition to a doctoral degree, the principal investigator (PI) of the proposed project must also have other significant scientific merits. Usually, the PI is a researcher at the professor or docent (adjunct professor) level. These criteria also apply to subproject PIs in consortia. In addition, the applicant must have a close connection with Finland to support the implementation of a multi-year project. This connection must be evident from the application.

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.

Restrictions

In this ACTIVE call, we will consider (process) only one application per applicant (incl. consortium subproject).

A research project cannot receive simultaneous funding for the same purpose from two separate funding schemes of the Research Council of Finland. Nevertheless, if you apply for funding for different parts of a large-scale project simultaneously from both the Academy Programme for Sport Science and Physical Activity and another RCF funding scheme, you must submit the applications to both calls and with different research plans.

If you submit more than one application to the programme call, or two or more identical applications to two or more different RCF calls closing in November 2026, only the first application to be submitted will be considered (processed).

If you are the principal investigator of an ongoing research project (incl. consortium subproject) under the ACTIVE programme, we will not consider (process) your application to the same programme.

Conditions 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 subprojects in the consortium application. 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, 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.

If, after the application has been submitted, funding is received for the same purpose from another call or from another funder, notify the RCF of this without delay.

The application consists of a form 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.

Before the call opens

Check your eligibility

• Read the section Who can apply? to see whether you meet the eligibility criteria.

Plan the contents of your application

• Start drafting your research plan, CV and self-assessment of research security. Prepare them on our templates, see section ‘Application parts in the online services’. Read the instructions on using the templates. You have access to the templates even before the call opens.
• Read the review guidelines and the review form. Write your research plan in such a way that reviewers can easily find the answer to the review questions.
• Contact your collaborators. Request letters of collaboration from national and international collaborators that are relevant in terms of project implementation. The letters must be appended to the application before the call deadline.

Plan the funding of your project

• Draft the budget in line with the guidelines of your organisation. Read more about the amount and conditions of the funding in section ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.
• Contact your organisation’s support services now if you have any budget-related questions.
• Also read our standard terms for funding. The present call is governed by the standard terms adopted on 15 September 2026. If you are granted funding, you are also bound by the terms.

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.
• Theme drop-down list, from which you can select one or several of the call’s themes
• 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.
• Salary costs of principal investigator
• Collaborators: List of collaborators. The collaboration is described in the research plan.
• Mobility: list of researcher visits
• Affiliation with research infrastructures, Centres of Excellence and Finnish Flagships
• Brief data management plan
• Research ethics
• Most relevant publications and other outputs: up to ten publications and up to ten other research outputs that are most relevant to the project Detailed instructions are available on the application form.

Appendices to be appended on dedicated tabs

• The curriculum vitae is a mandatory appendix. Use the template provided.
• The research plan is a mandatory appendix. Use the template provided.

Other appendices

• The research security assessment is a mandatory appendix. Use the template provided. Read more: Research security.
• The full list of publications is a mandatory appendix.
• If necessary, append a letter of collaboration.

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 tagged 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 RCF’s total funding budget for this call within the ACTIVE programme comes to a maximum of 2.45 million euros. The funding to be distributed through this call depends on the Finnish Parliament’s decision to allocate the necessary funds in the 2027 state budget.

The funding amounts to up to 450,000 euros for an individual research project and up to 650,000 euros for a consortium for a period of 36 months. The funding period is 1 September 2027–31 August 2030.

The funding is primarily intended towards the salaries of researchers who work full-time on the project and for other project costs.

The funding is granted to a Finnish site of research (usually a university or institute institute) through which the funding is paid. The project PI must have a close connection with Finland to support the implementation of a multi-year project. The funded researchers may, however, spend time working abroad during their funding period.

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
• funding granted for the project as well as funding that will be provided by the site of research if the project is launched

The annual instalment costs must be spread equally (e.g. 70%/30%) over all funding years.

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

Pay particular attention to ensuring that the cost estimate is realistic and justified for the implementation of the research project. Justify the most significant research costs by type of expenditure in the free-text field.

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 projects funded under the ACTIVE programme, the PI’s salary costs, including indirect employee costs and overheads, may not exceed half of the funding applied for from the RCF. For the salary costs to be eligible, the PI’s tasks must be clearly specified and justified. 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 will be obtained as appropriate. The site of research shall also make sure that the applicant has not been found guilty of any serious 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).

Read more on the commitment by the site of research.

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 applications is 18 November 2026 at 23.59 Finnish time. Applications submitted in paper form must arrive at the RCF by 18 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 tagged 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. After this, if you run into problems in the online services that prevent you from submitting the application, please notify 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 (select ‘Application guidance, thematic calls’) so that the application can be reopened for supplementation. However, the possibility of supplementation does not apply to the research plan. Once the review process has started, supplementations can no longer be taken into account. Typically, the application review begins 1–2 weeks after the call has closed.

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.

RCF funding is granted based on peer review. We mainly use foreign experts as reviewers, and they make up the review panels.

The review of applications follows a two-stage process. In the first stage, experts are asked to give at least two individual reviews on the application. If at least one expert has given an overall rating of 4, 5 or 6, the application will advance to the panel review. Applications that receive an overall rating of 4, 5 or 6 from the review panel will be ranked. All applications submitted to the ACTIVE programme’s call will be reviewed in the same panel.

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

Review factors

• Compatibility of the research described in the research plan with the special objectives of the ACTIVE programme (incl. societal impact)
• Scientific quality, innovativeness and novelty value of the proposed research as well as its impact within the scientific community
• Feasibility of the research plan (incl. responsible science)
• Competence of applicant/research team in terms of project implementation, possible researcher training
• Quality of research environment and collaboration networks (incl. possible researcher mobility)

The research security appendix will not be reviewed.

See the review questions and instructions on our website. The review instructions, forms and principles are only available in English.

After the scientific review, the steering group of the Academy Programme will examine the applications and the results of the review and prepare a proposal on projects to be funded.

The subcommittee making the funding decisions consists of representatives of RCF decision-making bodies who are members of the programme’s steering group. In its consideration, the subcommittee will take into account the entirety of the applications to be decided upon in the call in relation to the objectives of the call set out in the programme memorandum. The funding will promote a wide variety of scientific research. The decisions are based on the review reports and the rankings made by the panels.

If there are applications of equal merit, priority is given to the application that the decision-making body considers best advances the dismantling of gender stereotypes, promotes diversity in research and the scientific community as well as supports sustainable development.

The Subcommittee for Academy Programme for Sport Science and Physical Activity will make the funding decisions in April–May 2027.

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. In the online services, you will also find the review report (or reports) on the application, which may include the panel ranking (given to the most successful applications).

How to receive the funding

A positive funding decision is accompanied by the standard terms for funding. They contain instructions on how to receive the funding. In this call, the funding must be accepted within six weeks of the decision date.

• 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’). Also see our how-to guides for the online services.
• Our telephone number (switchboard) is +358 295 335 000.
• You can contact us via the helpdesk and by telephone on the closing date until the end of office hours at 16.15 Finnish time. After this, if you run into problems in the online services that prevent you from submitting the application on time, please notify the RCF Registrar's Office by email at kirjaamo@aka.fi before the deadline.
• Also see the FAQ page.