2026 Second funding period (2026–2029) for SRC programmes JUST ENERGY and JUST TRANSITION, invitation-only call

In this call, the six-year projects funded under the SRC programmes JUST ENERGY and JUST TRANSITION in 2023 can apply for funding for their second three-year term.

The funding can be applied for by consortia funded in 2023 under the SRC programmes JUST ENERGY and JUST TRANSITION.

Other conditions for and obstacles to granting 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 the applicant has failed to submit a report on a completed or ongoing RCF-funded project (incl. SRC-funded project) by the set deadline, we will not consider (process) the application.

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: Eligibility.

We will not consider (process) your application if you are a member of the RCF Board or scientific councils or the Strategic Research Council. Furthermore, the application will not be considered if a member of the above-mentioned bodies is a work package leader in the SRC consortium.

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 describe in the application's research and interaction sections 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. The SRC decides its own funding principles. The present call is governed by the funding principles adopted on 27 October 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 RCF online services and, case by case, of PDF appendices to the application. You have the right to submit your application in Finnish, Swedish or English. However, we ask that you submit your application in Finnish.

Before the call opens

Check your eligibility

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

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.

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 data

• Personal details
• Degrees (most recent one first); parental leaves etc. may be filled in under ‘Additional information’.
• Titles of docent and professorships

SRC consortium parties

• Subproject PIs (site of research receiving the funding)
• Details on each party (name, email address, organisation and country)

General information

• Details on the site of research
• Title of research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• Research fields (at least three, no more than five). See the research field classification.

• Keywords in English and Finnish/Swedish

Abstract

• Maximum length 2,500 characters including spaces
• Brief overview of scientific and societal objectives, research methods and data as well as expected research results and impact; if necessary, update the abstract used for the first funding period
• Read more: Abstract

SRC call for invited applicants: research and interaction

In the online application, fill in the following free-text fields: Please fill in sections A–D in Finnish. NB: A requirement for a positive funding decision is that responsible science is taken into account in the application. For both the research plan (A) and the interaction plan (B), describe in item b how the principles of responsible science (equality and nondiscrimination, open science, good scientific practice and sustainable development) are taken into account in the implementation of the project’s second funding period. Read more: Responsible science.

A. A description of (a) how the objectives set out in the consortium’s original research plan have been reached or promoted and (b) the research objectives for the second funding period. (max.12,000 characters)

• In item a, make use of the consortium’s follow-up data (interim report). Focus on highlighting key results, outputs and achievements.
• In item b, include any changes in target-setting and implementation, their justifications and effects on the consortium’s activities (personnel, structure of work packages, procurements, etc.). Be sure to include the principles of responsible science for the second funding period.

B. A description of (a) how the objectives set out in the consortium’s original interaction plan have been reached or promoted and (b) the interaction objectives for the second funding period (max. 12,000 characters)

• In item a, make use of the consortium’s follow-up data (interim report, incl. impact stories). Focus on highlighting key activities, outputs and achievements.
• In item b, include any changes in target-setting and implementation, their justifications and effects on the consortium’s activities (collaborators and stakeholders, means of interaction, procurement, communications, etc.). Be sure to include the principles of responsible science for the second funding period.

C. A description of the consortium’s role in the programme’s joint activities and in promoting joint objectives (a) thus far and (b) for the second period. (max. 10,000 characters)

D. A summary of the above points (summary of the consortium’s achievements during the first funding period; the main objectives for the second funding period and any changes to the original research and interaction plan, with justifications). (max. 2,500 characters)

SRC call for invited applicants: Collaborators

• Specify the new collaborators of the project (name, organisation, country, brief description of goals/benefits of the collaboration)
• Remember to append the new letters of collaboration on the tab ‘Appendices’.
• Read more: Letter of collaboration

Research ethics

• Preliminary ethical review for project and/or animal testing permit (yes/no)
• Guilty of serious violation of research integrity (yes/no). We will not consider (process) a funding application if the applicant has been found guilty of a serious violation of research integrity in the previous three years.
• Guilty of illegal employment within the meaning referred to in section 7(2) of the Act on Discretionary Government Grants (yes/no)
• Read more: Responsible science.

Funding for the project

• The project’s funding the full cost model follows. The SRC’s funding contribution comes to 100%.
• Before you can fill in the cost estimate, you must first select the site of research on the tab ‘General information’.

• The site of research maintains the following percentages: effective working hours, indirect employee costs, overheads percentage and VAT.
• Enter the funding period (1 Oct 2026–30 Sep 2029).
• Enter salaries and other costs.

Public project description

• Maximum length 1,000 characters including spaces
• Popular and reader-friendly description of the research project in English and Finnish/Swedish Update the original description as needed.
• We use the project descriptions in our communications on funded projects. It is important that the public description is written for a general audience. The project description is also stored at research.fi, a service that makes available information on research conducted in Finland.

• Read more: Public project description.

Authorisation

• You can authorise another person to edit parts of the application for you or to view the application.
• Start by entering the person’s name in the field.
• The person must have an account in our online services (SARA).
• You cannot authorise more than one person at a time to edit a field in your application, and you cannot edit that same field while the authorisation is active.
• Do not authorise yourself.
• See technical instructions on the authorisation process in the how-to guides for the online services.

Appendices

Appendices must be PDF files.

Mandatory appendix (consortium PI)

1. Research security assessment. Use only the given template and read more about research security.

Case-specific appendices (subprojects):

1. If necessary: new letters of collaboration, if the consortium has new collaborators
2. If necessary: account of state aids received (applies to organisations engaging in economic activity).

NB. The interim report (see reporting guidelines (PDF)) must be submitted by 23 March 2026 in the RCF's online services before the application is submitted. The applicant will no later than 26 March 2026 receive information on the approval of the interim report, or a request to supplement it.

Changes to original plans

In the application for continued funding, consortia are encouraged to specify and if necessary update their research and interaction plans for the second period. All changes to the original research and interaction plan are described and justified on the application form (see above); the research and interaction plan itself must not be modified. The budgets of subprojects may differ from those set out in the original research and interaction plan, as long as the overall budget of the consortium is not exceeded (max. 90% of the funding for the first period).

In accordance with the original call text (JUST ENERGY, JUST TRANSITION), the cost estimate for the consortium’s entire term (six years) must have been drafted so that the funding for the second funding period comes to no more than 100% of the funding for the first period. For the second funding period, a consortium can apply for up to 90% of the first period’s award for work under the original research and interaction plan.

Funding plan

The SRC’s funding contribution comes to 100%. 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.

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.

What is required from the site of research?

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 are also 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 the standard terms for funding).

How to submit and supplement the application

The call deadline is non-negotiable and also applies to consortia. We will not consider (process) an application that has not been submitted by deadline. The deadline for applications is 01 April 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 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.

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

We may ask you to supplement the application. In that case, you will receive a supplementation request by email. If you do not supplement the application by the given deadline, or if the application is substantially incomplete even after a request for supplementary information, we may declare it inadmissible (i.e. it will not be processed). Make sure that your email address is up to date.

How the application becomes pending

According to section 17 of the Finnish Administrative Procedure Act and section 8 of the Act on Electronic Services and Communication in the Public Sector, the sender is responsible for the application arriving by the set deadline. An application becomes pending when the online application and the obligatory appendices have been submitted in the online services. The system will confirm a successful submission by sending an email to the address you have provided.

Publicity and data protection

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.

The applications for continued funding will not be peer-reviewed. The RCF Administration Office and the SRC will carry out a midterm review of the applications. The review will focus on the information presented in the application for continued funding and the interim report. The aim is to determine whether the research and interaction work carried out by the consortium has progressed as expected, that is, whether the work has been active and appropriate and whether the plan for the second period is up-to-date and justified.

The Strategic Research Council aims to make the decisions on the continued funding in June 2026. The decisions shall be based on the results of the midterm review.

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

How to receive the funding

A positive funding decision is accompanied by the standard terms for funding. They contain instructions 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.
• projects-src@aka.fi