2026 Shared-use research infrastructures: National research infrastructures fostering innovation and ambitious R&D

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. Excellent research infrastructures are the foundation of high-impact research, development and innovation (RDI activities). By supporting them, the RCF aims at boosting the impact and international competitiveness of research environments, and at increasing the expertise of and interaction between RDI actors. The long-term plan for research infrastructures 2030 (PDF), decided by the RCF Board outlines the objectives of infrastructure activities. In this call, the RCF will only fund research infrastructures that are primarily intended for R&D use.

One of the policies in the multiannual plan for the use of government research and development funding is to increase R&D funding to maintain the level of internationally high-quality and shared-use research and technology infrastructures in areas of strength. This will promote the shared use of research and technology infrastructures, the formation of internationally attractive competence clusters, and a higher level of research and know-how. Shared use enhances the impact of investments made in research and technology infrastructures and strengthens the utilisation of research results and expertise, as well as cooperation between industry, research organisations and other actors.

Objectives of this call

The aim of the call is to strengthen internationally high-quality RDI by directing funding to shared-use research infrastructures that serve a wide variety of users in the RDI system. The aim of the call is in particular to enlarge and diversify the user base of research infrastructures and to ensure that the funded components operate as part of national and international competence clusters or RDI ecosystems, such as the Finnish Flagships or the leading companies and ecosystems. The aim is also to strengthen the attraction and retention power of research infrastructures.

The aim of the funded projects is to improve access to research infrastructures and cooperation between RDI actors, and to create conditions for innovations and the societal utilisation of R&D. The funding supports the establishment and upgrading of infrastructures and the test beds they contain, the improvement of accessibility and the promotion of open and shared use. The objective is that, at the end of the project, the research infrastructure will offer at least one new service for a user group of RDI actors beyond academia. The service shall also have a maintenance plan in place. In addition, the project can also develop services for the research community, as long as the service package supports the role of the infrastructure as part of national and international RDI ecosystems and strengthens its attractiveness.

The funding applied for must be used for R&D activities that are in the public domain. R&D is innovative, creative, uncertain, systematic and transferable and/or replicable in terms of the results. Its aim is to increase knowledge and make good use of it in new applications, creating something substantially new. R&D covers fundamental research, applied research and development. R&D expenditure includes salary costs allocated to R&D, purchased services, other operating expenses and acquisition costs. In this call, the RCF will only fund research infrastructures that are primarily intended for R&D use or whose primary purpose is R&D.

Applicant organisations must commit to maintaining the research infrastructure after the development project. All data produced must be as open as possible and as closed as necessary.

Key concepts

Research infrastructures refer to research instruments, data and related services that strengthen the impact and increase the international attraction of the Finnish RDI system. Research infrastructure services enable R&D activity, support researcher training and education, and maintain and develop research and innovation capacity, thus promoting the quality, renewal and competitiveness of research, strengthening the versatile impact of research environments and enhancing national and international cooperation.

Research infrastructures are research-relevant equipment, information networks, databases, multidisciplinary research centres, research stations, collections, libraries and other memory organisations, as well as services related to their use. They may be based at a single location (single-sited), scattered across several sites (distributed), or provided via a virtual platform (virtual). They can also form mutually complementary wholes and networks. Large scientific research infrastructures are often shared and international, offering opportunities for cooperation for both domestic and foreign researchers and other actors.

R&D test beds are parts of the research infrastructure that support RDI activities and create experimental environments for new user groups, such as companies. Test beds can be used to test and develop new technologies or processes before they are widely deployed, and to carry out R&D for pre-commercial products and services. They may include physical spaces such as laboratories or virtual environments where innovations can be tested safely and efficiently.

RCF funding cannot be used for economic activity, but it can be used for pre-commercial applied research and development. The economic use of a research infrastructure can only be of an ancillary nature. See also the standard terms for RCF funding.

RDI or innovation ecosystem refers to a system in which companies, research institutes, the public sector, higher education institutions, funders, consumers and other actors work together to advance knowledge, expertise and innovation. The ecosystem is based on interaction and cooperation between the actors, with a view to facilitating technological development and innovation. The RDI ecosystem includes links between material resources (such as funding and infrastructure), institutional communities (such as universities, research organisations and businesses) and policymakers and funders at different levels.

The applicant is an individual research organisation, such as a university, a government research institute, a university of applied sciences or some other research organisation, or a consortium formed by them. The research organisation shall select the person responsible for the application, who will be responsible for the development project and the application and who will submit the application. We recommend that the research infrastructure’s director is the person responsible for the application.

If the research infrastructure is maintained by more than one research organisation, they may form a consortium. A consortium application is an application built around a joint action 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 consortium application guidelines. Each organisation participating in the consortium shall select a person responsible for the subproject who will be responsible for the development project and the application for that organisation. We recommend that the designated person of the lead party of the consortium also be the director of the research infrastructure, who is responsible for the consortium application in full and for submitting it (i.e. the person responsible for the consortium application).

Restrictions

The RCF will consider (process) only one application from the same research infrastructure, either for the 2026 Shared-use research infrastructures call or for the 2026 Thematic research infrastructures call, which is open simultaneously. This restriction applies to a single-sited research infrastructure, a part of a distributed research infrastructure or a subproject of a consortium-based research infrastructure . If the research infrastructure or part of it participates in both calls, only the first application or consortium application will be considered (processed).

A research infrastructure included in the roadmap of national research infrastructures 2025–2028 (PDF) cannot apply for funding to organisations other than those listed as the host organisations in the 2024 roadmap application.

RCF will not consider (process) an application or consortium application from research infrastructures that received funding from the 2025 call for thematic research infrastructures.

If you apply for funding for a research infrastructure that  received, or a part of which received, funding from the 2025 thematic research infrastructures call, the RCF will not consider (process) the application.

Both infrastructures included in the Finnish research infrastructure roadmap and research infrastructures outside the roadmap can apply for funding in this call. The research infrastructure will submit a progress report as an appendix to the application. The report briefly describes the progress of the ongoing project and how the project differs from the planned development project.

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 (the responsible person for consortium or subproject). 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.

RCF will not consider (process) an application or a consortium application where the responsible person has participated in the planning of the call to an extent likely to give a comparative advantage over other applicants.

RCF will not consider (process) the application if the responsible person has 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.

The application or consortium application will not be considered (processed) if the research infrastructure in question is linked to current or completed RCF-funded research infrastructure projects that have not submitted required reports in accordance with the guidelines by the deadline.

The application or consortium 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 or consortium 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: Eligibility.

RCF will not consider (process) the application (or consortium application) if the person responsible for the application is 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 for the funding to be awarded is that you have in your application identified and assessed the risks related to research security and, where necessary, presented an adequate risk management plan. The applicant must also describe in the research plan how research integrity will be maintained 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

Check eligibility

• The eligibility conditions are listed under Who can apply.

Plan contents of application

• The objectives of the call include a description of the types of national research infrastructures for which the funding is intended and a description of the definitions of R&D activities presented for the operation of the research infrastructure.
• Plan for which new user groups the research infrastructure can provide R&D services and consider whether they can be maintained in the long term.
• Request letters of collaboration from RDI ecosystem partners that are important for the research infrastructure. The letters must be appended to the application before the call deadline. The letter shall be written in English.
• Read the review instructions and the review form The review form also shows how the function and quality of the research infrastructure will be assessed. The action plan should be written in such a way that the reviewer can easily find answers to the review questions.
• It is worthwhile to start drawing up the action plan on time. Write the plan on our template. 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.
• The data management policy is prepared with DMPTuuli or in accordance with the guidelines found on the RCF’s website.
• Present a long-term financial plan for the entire research infrastructure, even if funding is applied for only for some of the organisations. When drawing up the long-term financial plan for the research infrastructure, you can use the template found under Appendices to be appended on separate tabs. You have access to the template even before the call opens.
• The lifecycle stages of research infrastructures and related expectations are described the document ‘Research infrastructure lifecycle categories’.

Plan the project’s funding

• The budget 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

• The person responsible for the application must sign up or log in to our online services. Check and update your personal details. An up-to-date email address is important when we are in contact with you.
• The online services contain instructions for filling in the form.
• The consortium application shall be prepared by the person responsible for the consortium application. All research organisations acting as consortium parties must demonstrate their commitment to the application in the RCF’s online services. Read more: Commitment by site of research. Please note that only the person appointed by the research organisation is entitled to give the commitment by the site of research. Consortium application guidelines.

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 of the person responsible for the application
• Consortium parties: The person responsible for the consortium application shall appoint the persons responsible for the subprojects.
• General description: Research infrastructure details, keywords, research fields, details on the site of research. Also indicate whether the research infrastructure is 1) in the planning, construction and/or implementation stage, or 2) in the operation and/or dismantling stage.
• Abstract
• Public project description
• Affiliation with research infrastructures, Centres of Excellence and Finnish Flagships
• Research ethics
• Most relevant publications and other outputs: In total up to ten key publications produced with the research infrastructure and up to ten other key outputs, with justifications
  • You can search publications in 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.
  • Publications can also be entered directly. Obligatory information: author(s), title, year of publication, name of series/journal, type of publication (will not show in the PDF version of the application)
• Project's funding and commitment by site of research. The commitment must be given within 14 days of call's closing date, or the application or consortium application may be considered to be inadmissible. See section ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’ in the call text.
• Collaborators: A list of collaborators not only during the project but also in infrastructure activities more generally. Please note that the cooperation specifically related to the development project is described in the action plan, and the letter(s) of collaboration will be appended to the application. (See ‘Other appendices’.)

Appendices to be appended on dedicated tabs

• The action plan is a mandatory appendix to the application, appended by the person responsible for the consortium application.
• The long-term financial plan for the research infrastructure is a mandatory appendix to the application, appended by the person responsible for the consortium application. The information will be used to assess the sustainability of the infrastructure’s funding base and the commitment of the organisation(s). The national research infrastructures must have a sound and sustainable funding base and a long-term funding plan. The maintenance of research infrastructure cannot rely on competitive funding granted by the RCF.
  • The long-term financial plan appendix sets out the funding of the research infrastructure for 2024–2032. The table also includes information for all party organisations for 2024–2032. Fill in the information to the nearest 1,000 euros.
  • In addition to the table, the text shall briefly explain the expenditure and revenue of the research infrastructure, the principles used to produce the figures in the table, how expenditure and revenue are monitored, and the risk assessment associated with the long-term financial plan.
  • The total length of the appendix is four pages for the overall research infrastructure section, plus one page per partner organisation's funding contribution.

Other appendices

• The letter of collaboration is a mandatory appendix, appended to the application by the person responsible for the consortium application. The letter(s) of collaboration in accordance with the guidelines will be attached for a maximum of three RDI ecosystem partners most important from the point of view of the research infrastructure. In this call, the letter of collaboration concerns the objectives of the call, that is, cooperation with national or international competence clusters and RDI ecosystems. As international experts review the applications, we recommended that you write the letters of collaboration in English.
• The research security assessment is a mandatory appendix, appended to the consortium application by the person responsible for the consortium application. Use the template provided. Read more about research security.
• The data management policy is a mandatory appendix, appended to the consortium application by the person responsible for the consortium application.
• The progress report is a case-by-case appendix, appended to the consortium application by the person responsible for the consortium application. If the research infrastructure has ongoing RCF research infrastructure funding, a progress report shall be appended to the application.

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 joint application of the consortium shall be submitted by the person responsible for the 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 RCF is prepared to fund research infrastructures in the present call with a total of 70 million euros.

The recommended minimum amount for the RCF’s contribution to an individual application is 200,000 euros. The recommended minimum amount for the contribution to a consortium subproject is 100,000 euros, and 600,000 euros for the whole consortium.

The funding period for roadmap research infrastructures is 1 January 2027–31 December 2031. The funding period for non-roadmap research infrastructures is 1 January 2027–31 December 2029.

The funding applied for must be used for R&D activities that are in the public domain. R&D is innovative, creative, uncertain, systematic and transferable and/or replicable in terms of the results. Its aim is to increase knowledge and make good use of it in new applications, creating something substantially new. R&D covers fundamental research, applied research and development. R&D expenditure includes salary costs allocated to R&D, purchased services, other operating expenses and acquisition costs. In this call, the RCF will only fund research infrastructures that are primarily intended for R&D use or whose primary purpose is R&D.

The research infrastructures must have a sound and sustainable funding base and a long-term funding plan. The maintenance of research infrastructure cannot rely on competitive funding granted by the RCF. RCF funding is not intended for operating costs or permanent operating expenses. The application shall be accompanied by a long-term financial plan for the research infrastructure. It demonstrates the commitment of the organisation or organisations to maintaining the research infrastructure and other funding received for the operation of the research infrastructure.

In January 2025, the Finnish Research infrastructure Committee selected six lighthouse research infrastructures (PDF) from among the research infrastructures of the 2025–2028 roadmap. The lighthouses are pioneers that facilitate research, promote research cooperation and strengthen research and innovation capacity and expertise. In the present call, lighthouse research infrastructures can apply for funding for the hiring of an innovation and stakeholder cooperation expert, as well as for the goal-oriented development of the competence of permanent staff within the framework of the development project.

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

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. The applicant (responsible person) must check with their 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
  • annual instalment costs, 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. Justify the most significant costs by type of expenditure in the free-text field.

RCF funding can be applied for to cover, for example, the following development costs for a new or existing research infrastructure:

• construction or substantial upgrading, for example, the purchase of equipment and systems
• development of data management
• development of new technologies and services, for example for pre-commercial testing and demonstration prior to deployment
• the formation of services for the needs of new user groups, such as companies, and the development of the necessary skills
• the improvement of accessibility and support for open access with increasing usage, an expanding user base and delivering high-quality R&D activities

In addition, funding may be applied for:

• in a limited and justified manner, salary costs when the job description of the employee is related to the activities of research infrastructure development in the development project. For the costs to be eligible, the employee’s tasks must be clearly specified on the budget tab and motivated in the action plan.
• the salary costs of the responsible person (in the case of the consortium, responsible persons) for a maximum of 1.5 months/year

Only lighthouses can apply for funding for the following:

• the hiring of an expert in innovation and stakeholder cooperation, such as the input of individuals such as industry liaison officer or knowledge broker, to develop shared use and cooperation, information exchange and partnerships between research infrastructures, companies and other stakeholders to achieve the objectives of the call. The person participates in the development work aimed at utilising the results of research or knowledge gained through practical experience to create new services, products, processes or methods or to substantially improve existing ones in cooperation with collaborators. The funding for this is granted for a period of up to twelve months. For the costs to be eligible, the employee’s tasks must be clearly specified on the budget tab and motivated in the action plan.
• the goal-oriented development of the competence of staff scientists or data scientists who maintain the operation of the research infrastructure. The person for whom funding is sought must be a permanent employee of the research infrastructure. To achieve the objectives of the research infrastructure development project, the person will participate in experimentation, launch, research or development in such a way that their competence develops in a goal-oriented manner during the project. For the costs to be eligible, the employee’s tasks must be clearly specified on the budget tab and motivated in the action plan.

Acquisitions must be incorporated into an existing or upcoming national or international research infrastructure that is open to use by RDI user groups. Wherever possible, so-called innovative procurement can be used.

RCF funding cannot be used for economic activity. Read more about economic operators and the economic activities of research infrastructures in the standard terms of funding. In this call, the RCF will only fund research infrastructures that are primarily intended for R&D use or whose primary purpose is R&D.

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.

What is required from the site of research?

The site of project is a Finnish research organisation such as a university, a government research institute, a university of applied sciences, 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 site of research also commits to ensuring that the data management policy can be implemented at the site of research, and that the measures to be taken comply with good data management practice. 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 are regarded as overheads for the infrastructure project’s site of research, but they may also be legitimately accepted as research costs to be covered with RCF funding. If the construction or significant upgrading of the research infrastructure and the formation of services are focused on the processing of large amounts of data, or if the processing of the project’s data requires exceptionally much work or time, the project may apply for funding for salary costs related to the data processing. In this case, a person whose working hours are spent on data management and processing may be hired to the project.

Any supplies, equipment and literature acquired with funding from the RCF will remain in the ownership and possession of the site of research. The parties can agree in writing on other procedures in the case of research infrastructures. In multi-site joint projects, the parties must conclude a written agreement on the use, ownership and location of the research infrastructure, even for the time after the funding period. The agreement is kept as part of the procurement documents. The agreement does not need to be submitted to the RCF.

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 is also responsible for ensuring that the responsible person has not been found guilty of a serious violation of research integrity in 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 on VAT. Our funding may also 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 or a consortium application that has not been submitted by the deadline. The deadline for applications is 29 April 2026 at 16.15 Finnish time.

The joint application of the consortium shall be submitted by the person responsible for the consortium application. They can submit the application only after all subproject responsible persons have tagged their applications as complete. While the call is open, the person responsible for the consortium application can return the consortium subproject application to be supplemented.

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 action 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.

RCF may ask the applicant to supplement the application. The request for supplementation will be sent to the person responsible for the application 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 a successful submission by sending an email to the address you have provided.

Publicity and data protection

Except for the action plan, abstract and progress report, 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 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. The reviewers are highly regarded representatives of various fields of research and development. Finnish experts may also be used.

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 5 or 6, the application will advance to the panel review stage. In the panel, applications with an overall rating of 5 or 6 are placed in ranked groups. Applications in the same group will not be placed in order of priority. The placement into groups shall be carried out on the same criteria as the review of applications.

The fundamental principles of the review are transparency, integrity, equity, competence and diversity.

Review factors

• How the described development project matches the objectives of the call (main criterion, see ‘Background and objectives’)
• Scientific relevance of the research infrastructure and the quality, innovativeness and novelty of the R&D activities it supports
• Feasibility of the development project described in the action plan
• Operation and quality of the research infrastructure (incl. ownership, long-term funding plan, services and users, digitalisation and data management, risk management and responsible science, incl. equality and nondiscrimination aspects)

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 decisions of the RCF's Scientific Council for Research Infrastructures are based on the review reports and the rankings produced by the panel.

The Scientific Council for Research Infrastructures takes into consideration all applications to be decided on in relation to the objectives of the call, and the funding is designed to promote a wide variety of scientific research.

If there are applications of equal merit, priority shall be given to the application that the Scientific Council considers best advances the dismantling of gender stereotypes, promotes diversity in research and the scientific community as well as supports sustainable development.

The Scientific Council will make the funding decisions in late 2026 and early 2027. The funded projects start on 1 January 2027.

The person responsible for the application 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, 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.