Academy Research Fellow reform

The Research Council of Finland previously had three funding opportunities for early-career researchers: funding for research posts as Postdoctoral Researcher, funding for research posts as Academy Research Fellow and Academy Project funding targeted at early-career researchers. These three funding opportunities will no longer be opened for application. Instead, the Research council will launch a new Academy Research Fellowships scheme as of autumn 2022.

An Academy Research Fellow is a talented early-career researcher. An Academy Research Fellowship supports early-career researchers on fast career tracks. The aim is to support the researchers so that they can make significant career progress towards more demanding research positions and achieve an established position in the national and international research community. Academy Research Fellows produce high-quality, high-impact research that stimulates the renewal of science.

The applicants for Academy Research Fellowships will be evaluated with special reference to their postdoctoral research and scientific collaborations in relation to their career stage.

In addition, the previous eligibility criterion that aimed to ensure mobility will be abandoned in the new funding scheme, and the focus will shift to a broader assessment of the applicant’s career progress.

Applications for Academy Research Fellowships may be submitted by researchers who at the application deadline have completed their first doctorate at least two years but no more than seven years ago. During this career phase, applicants will be in the position to demonstrate the postdoctoral career progress required for an Academy Research Fellowship and during the funding period to gain significant qualifications towards tenure track and other demanding research positions. NB! In the first call in autumn 2022, however, applications may be submitted by researchers who at the application deadline (month) have completed their first doctorate at least two but no more than nine years ago. As of the Winter 2024 call, the eligibility period will be 2–7 years since the first doctorate. Because of the new call schedule, eligible applicants in the Winter 2024 call are those whose doctoral degree certificate is dated between 30 September 2016 and 31 January 2022.

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