2026 Finnish Centres of Excellence 2022–2029: mid-term evaluation and continued funding (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.

Centres of Excellence funded by the Research Council of Finland (RCF) are evaluated after the first four years of operation. This procedure is based on the principles underlying the CoE programme. The outcome of the evaluation will determine the level of funding for the last three years of the CoE term – the funding may increase, remain the same, or decrease. The RCF may also decide to cease funding entirely after the first five years, if the CoE has failed to achieve the objectives set in the research plan.

When preparing and making funding decisions for the period following the evaluation, the CoE’s plan for applying for EU funding and its plans for activities after the end of the funding period will also be considered when determining the level of funding.

The objective of the RCF's CoE programmes is to support particularly excellent scientific research that increases capacity for scientific renewal and whose results have extensive impact. A CoE is a research community that is striving for or already at the international cutting edge of research in its field. A CoE may consist of one or more prominent research teams working closely together under a joint research plan.

The CoEs selected for the 2022–2029 programme are scientifically first-rate research communities that have capacity for renewal and high societal impact. The CoE programmes contribute to the renewal of science by supplying new research topics, new methods and approaches, and new research teams. They are expected to be active in applying for and securing EU funding. Thanks to the long-term co-funding provided in collaboration with the CoEs’ sites of research, the funding instrument effectively works as an incentive for risk-taking and new initiatives in research.

The eight-year CoE term is split into two parts (5 + 3 years).

Applications for continued funding under the 2022–2029 CoE programme may be submitted by the following eleven CoEs:

• Centre of Excellence in High-Speed Electromechanical Energy Conversion Systems
• Centre of Excellence in Tree Biology
• Centre of Excellence in Biological Barrier Mechanics and Disease
• Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research
• Centre of Excellence in Quark Matter
• Centre of Excellence in Learning Dynamics and Intervention Research
• Centre of Excellence in Life-Inspired Hybrid Materials
• Centre of Excellence in Randomness and Structures
• Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain
• Centre of Excellence: Virtual Laboratory for Molecular-Level Atmospheric Transformations
• Multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence in Antimicrobial Resistance Research.

The CoEs apply for funding with a consortium application. 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.

As a rule, the composition of the CoE consortium in the last three-year period must be the same as in the consortium application that received funding for the first five-year period. The composition of the consortium can only be changed for a well-founded reason, and the reasons must be indicated in the application.

In addition to a doctoral degree, the principal investigator (PI) of the consortium must also have other significant scientific and project management 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 consortium or subproject 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 the present call, the RCF will consider (process) only one application (incl. consortium subproject) from the same applicant. If you submit more than one application (incl. consortium subproject), only the first application to be submitted will be considered (processed).

Other conditions for and obstacles to the granting of funding

The conditions for and obstacles to the granting of funding apply to each subproject’s applicant (consortium PI or subproject PI). If a prerequisite for granting funding is missing or there is an obstacle to the granting, the RCF will not consider (process) the entire consortium’s application.

We will not consider (process) an application by a person who has participated in the planning of the call to an extent likely to give them a comparative advantage over other applicants.

We will not consider (process) your application if you have been found guilty of a serious violation of research integrity in the previous three years.

RCF funding will not be granted to a recipient located in Russia or Belarus. In RCF-funded projects, cooperation with individual Russian or Belarusian researchers and research teams can only be carried out if the instructions of the site of research, the sanctions against Russia and Belarus, the export control provisions, the travel recommendations of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs or other guidelines by authorities do not prevent it. Funding shall be granted and used in a way that respects the equal treatment of researchers, regardless of nationality.

If you have failed to submit a final report on a completed or ongoing RCF-funded project by the set deadline, we will not consider (process) your application. The consortium must have submitted an interim report for the ongoing CoE project in accordance with the instructions given.

The application will not be considered (processed) if the applicant or the application does not meet the competence requirements or other key requirements set for the call, if the application does not belong to the call, or if there in some other respects are no conditions for processing the case. A scientific council or another decision-making body 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.

We will not consider (process) your application if you are a member of the RCF Board or scientific councils or the Strategic Research Council.

Funding can only be granted if the conditions set by the RCF for the funding are met. In addition to the eligibility criteria, another condition that must be met in order for the funding to be awarded is that the consortium application has identified and assessed the risks related to research security and, where necessary, presented an adequate risk management plan. The consortium must also describe in the research plan how good scientific practice will be followed in the implementation of the project, how gender equality and nondiscrimination will be promoted in the implementation of the project, and how the RCF’s guidelines on open access to research results and on the responsible management of research data will be followed in the project.

The RCF Board decides the principles for RCF funding decisions. The present call is governed by the principles adopted on 18 September 2025.

You must immediately notify us if you receive funding from other sources for the same purpose after you have submitted your application to us.

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

Plan the contents of your application

• Start drafting your research plan and CV. It is advisable to start preparing the research plan early. Use our templates for the plan and the CV. The appendix templates and guidelines are available under ‘Application parts in the online services’. You have access to the templates even before the call opens.
• Read the review guidelines and the review form. The research plan should be written in such a way that the reviewer can easily find answers to the review questions.

Plan the project’s funding

• The cost estimate shall be drafted according to the applicant organisation’s guidelines. Read the funding guidelines in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.
• If the application is funded, the applicant organisations undertake to follow the RCF's standard terms for funding. The present call is governed by the standard terms adopted on 22 September 2025.

When the call opens

• Log in to our 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.
• Read the consortium application guidelines before 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
• Consortium parties: In a consortium application, the consortium PI appoints the subproject PIs.
• General description: project title, keywords, research fields, details on the site of research
• 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: The CoE funding is primarily intended towards the salaries of researchers who work full-time on the project and for other research costs. Read more in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.
• Collaborators: List of collaborators. The collaboration is described in the research plan.
• Affiliation with research infrastructures and Finnish Flagships
• Brief data management plan
• Research ethics
• Progress report on all RCF-funded projects that have not yet submitted final reports. You need not report on the CoE funding on the ‘Progress report’ tab; referring to the interim report is enough. For the ongoing CoE project, an interim report must have been submitted; the RCF will include it as part of the application.
• Most relevant publications and other outputs: The consortium PI enters a total of up to ten jointly agreed most important project-relevant publications by the consortium members and a total of up to ten of the consortium members’ most relevant other research outputs, with justifications. Detailed instructions are available on the application form.

Appendices to be appended on dedicated tabs

• The research plan is a mandatory appendix. Use the template provided. The maximum length is eight pages.
• The curriculum vitae 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 consortium PI submits the appendix on behalf of the entire consortium.
• The full list of publications is a mandatory appendix.

Submitting the application in the online services

The application can be submitted when all necessary information has been filled in or attached. A red warning triangle tells you that there is an error or information missing.

The consortium PI submits the joint consortium application. They can submit the consortium application only after all subprojects have tagged their applications as complete.

A person can be authorised 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 Research Council of Finland is prepared to fund the selected CoEs with a total of approximately 39 million euros in the remaining three-year period. The funding to be distributed through this call depends on the Finnish Parliament’s decision to allocate the necessary funds in the 2026 and 2027 state budgets. The funding period for the last three years of the CoE programme is 1 January 2027–31 December 2029.

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

The consortium or subproject 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 contribution of the site of research to the funding of the project. 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’, provide the following information:

• cost estimate, including an estimate of the annual amount of funding needed, itemised by type of expenditure
  • the annual instalment costs are 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.

The cost estimate must be realistic and justified from the point of view of 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
• collaboration and mobility in Finland
• international collaboration 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 Centres of Excellence is primarily intended for the salaries of researchers working full-time on the projects and for other research costs.

As a rule, funding is not granted for the salary of the PI. The PI’s salary costs may only under certain limitations and on justifiable grounds be incorporated into the total project costs. For the salary costs to be eligible, the PI’s tasks must be clearly specified and justified. The salary is justified on the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’.

The salary costs must not be significant in relation to the project’s total costs. A three-year research project must not include more than 4.5 months (equivalent to 1.5 months/year) of the PI’s working hours for project management, doctoral thesis supervision and research work.

If the project includes salary costs for the PI, use the ‘Principal investigator’ category in the ‘Salaries’ section of the ‘Funding for the project’ tab in the RCF online services.

If the PI does not have an employment relationship

• If the consortium or subproject PI does not have an employment relationship for the entire funding period, for example at a university or research institute, the ‘Salary of principal investigator’ tab must explain how the salary will be arranged during the project's funding period.
• Retired researchers can be granted funding on the same grounds as other researchers.

Mobility aid

The mobility aid can be 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. 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, 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 before the start of the project. 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 must be 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 on VAT. 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: Guidelines for sites 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 3 June 2026 at 16.15 Finnish time.

The consortium PI submits the joint consortium application. 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’s subproject application to ‘incomplete’ status for supplementation.

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.

A submitted application can be edited and supplemented until the deadline. For example, you can change the appendices to the application. If the applicant notices that the application lacks important information after the deadline, they should immediately get in touch with us via our helpdesk, 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. The request for supplementation will be sent to you by email. If the application has not been supplemented 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 the applicant’s successful submission by sending an email to the address you have provided.

Publicity and data protection

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 secret information. This publicity is based on the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities.

The RCF complies with data protection legislation. 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 statement concerning the research funding process 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.

All applications for continued funding under the Centre of Excellence programme 2022–2029 will be reviewed by one international review panel. In addition to the application submitted by the applicant, the review material consists of the CoE’s four-year reporting (interim report), the reports by the Scientific Advisory Board as descriptors of the operating environment, and the original research plan.

A review by at least two experts will be requested on the material before the panel stage. The panel will examine all applications, and the panellists will prepare a summary report on each application.

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

Review factors

The factors considered in the review are as follows:

• Achievement of the objectives described in the original research plan and the objectives of the CoE programme in terms of research quality, scientific renewal, innovativeness and novelty value, impact and added value
• Quality of the plan in the application for continued funding, feasibility, the applicants’ complementary competence to implement the plans, quality of research collaboration and research environments, as well as equality and nondiscrimination aspects related to the composition of the research groups and other responsible science aspects
• Plan in the application for continued funding for applying for EU funding and plans for activities after the end of the funding period.

In addition, the review panels and individual reviewers may, to support decision-making, draw attention to factors such as the societal effects and impact of the project.

The research security appendix will not be peer-reviewed.

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

The present call is governed by the principles for RCF funding decisions adopted by the RCF Board on 18 September 2025.

The body making the funding decisions takes into account the entirety of the applications to be decided upon in the call in relation to the objectives of the call, and the funding promotes a wide variety of scientific research. The decisions are based on the review reports. 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 in research and the scientific community, promotes diversity in research and the scientific community as well as supports sustainable development.

A subcommittee appointed by the RCF Board will make the funding decisions in November 2026 and January 2027.

The applicant will receive an automatic email message after the decision has been made. After receiving the email, they can log in to the online services with their user ID to view the decision and its justifications. There they can also read the review report(s) on the application.

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 (section 1.2).

• Contact us primarily via the helpdesk (select ‘Application guidance, non-thematic calls) or by email at coe(at)aka.fi.
• 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.