Updates to Academy of Finland’s funding terms and conditions for 2021
The Academy of Finland’s funding calls that will open between January and August 2021 follow the funding terms and conditions adopted on 2 November 2020. The same terms and conditions also apply to funding decisions concerning such calls. The changes that have been made to the funding terms are based on the Academy’s latest criteria for funding decisions, adopted by the Academy Board on 23 September 2020. See the latest version of the funding terms and conditions (PDF).
The biggest changes in the terms and conditions concern publishing, data and open science. These are found in sections 1.2, 3, 6.2, 6.2.1, 6.2.2, 9.2, 14, 15.1 and 17.5. From the perspective of the various funding schemes, the biggest change is the possibility of combining Academy Research Fellow or Postdoctoral Researcher funding with a permanent professorship or other similar task (applicable as of September 2021 call). These changes are described in sections 10.1 and 10.2 of the terms and conditions and in items 10 and 12 of Appendix 1.
Below is a summary describing what’s new in the funding terms and conditions.
1.2 Receiving and confirming receipt of funding decision, notifying application for advance payment
Clarification: As a rule, the full data management plan (or equivalent) shall be appended to the application before receipt of funding is confirmed. In some funding opportunities, the data management plan (or equivalent) shall be appended already at the application stage.
6.2 Publishing, data and open science (also sections 6.2.1 and 6.2.2)
Selected changes:
The Academy is a member of cOAlition S, which promotes open access to scientific publications, and requires actions under Plan S from Academy-funded projects. The Academy requires Academy-funded researchers and research projects to make peer-reviewed articles wholly or partially produced with Academy funding available to the public immediately after publication. We also urge researchers to publish scientific books and monographs with open access.
The costs of making peer-reviewed, Plan-S-compliant articles immediately available are included in the overheads of the sites of research and thus form part of the costs of the basic facilities they provide. The costs should therefore be taken into account when calculating the overheads percentage.
Peer-reviewed scientific articles shall be published under a global licence that guarantees immediate access free of charge. The licence must also guarantee the free redistribution and reproduction of the contents of the article.
The implementation of open access to peer-reviewed scientific articles will be monitored from the research reports. The publication data included in the final report must contain persistent identifiers, which help in confirming the open access. If necessary, the Academy will require that a peer-reviewed article published behind a paywall be made available in accordance with Academy’s practices guaranteeing open access to research publications.
Research data shall be managed and made available following the FAIR principles (F = findable, A = accessible, I = interoperable and R = reusable; see www.go-fair.org/fair-principles).
9.2 Eligible project costs
Clarification: Funding may be used to cover costs related to the research plan or action plan (or equivalent).
10.1 Funding for research post as Academy Professor or Academy Research Fellow (also item 10 in Appendix 1)
Selected changes:
The salary of an Academy Research Fellow may also be co-funded, where appropriate in terms of supporting the researcher’s career advancement. This requires that the externally funded salary part has been allocated to research tasks or other tasks in support of the researcher’s career, such as tasks that are part of the university’s tenure-track system (entails that the university will – based on a review – commit to offering the researcher a permanent position after they have reached a certain career stage). The guidance value for the Academy’s contribution to the researcher’s salary costs is 70%, unless there are reasons for a higher contribution. The corresponding contribution to those funded through ERC schemes or Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions is up to 50%. Based on the co-financing of a full professorship or a similar other task, the Academy’s funding contribution may differ from the contributions mentioned above.
If an Academy Research Fellow receives a full professorship or similar post, they do not have to give up their post as Academy Research Fellow. This requires that the Academy Research Fellow can continue their full term without any obligations related to the new position.
10.2 Funding for research post as Postdoctoral Researcher (also item 12 in Appendix 1)
Selected changes:
The salary of a Postdoctoral Researcher may also be co-funded, where appropriate in terms of supporting the researcher’s career advancement. This requires that the externally funded salary part has been allocated to research tasks or other tasks in support of the researcher’s career, such as tasks that are part of the university’s tenure-track system. The guidance value for the Academy’s contribution to the researcher’s salary costs is 70%, unless there are reasons for a higher contribution. The corresponding contribution to those funded through ERC schemes or Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions is up to 50%. Based on the co-financing of a full professorship or a similar other task, the Academy’s funding contribution may differ from the contributions mentioned above.
If a Postdoctoral Researcher receives a full professorship or similar post, they do not have to give up their post as Postdoctoral Researcher. This requires that the Postdoctoral Researcher can continue their full term without any obligations related to the new position.
13 Control, discontinuation and clawback of funding (also section 16.4 ‘Returning government transfer to the Academy’)
Clarification: The instructions on the funding recipient’s obligation to repay the funding if the Academy cancels the funding decision have been clarified.
Deletion: The Academy’s bank account details have been removed. The funding recipient must contact the Academy of Finland before the funds are returned.
15.1 Reports on research
Addition: A funding application submitted to the Academy will only be processed if the applicant has submitted final reports on their completed Academy-funded projects.
16.1 Advance payments
Clarification: The Academy does not pay advances to business companies or government accounting entities such as government research institutes. As a rule, the one-off advance accounts for 10% of the Academy’s funding contribution.
