Background and objectives

At the core of the RCF’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.

The Academy Project applicant applies for funding to hire a research team and cover the costs incurred in the project.

The aim of the funding scheme is to produce high-quality and high-impact research, facilitate groundbreaking research initiatives and strengthen high-level expertise.

Objectives of funding scheme:

• build a versatile, multidisciplinary and high-impact funding scheme for research that is competitive at the highest international level
• facilitate ambitious new research ideas that create the conditions for scientific breakthroughs
• promote an overall package in which Finland is one of the leading countries of research-based knowledge internationally.

Objectives of individual projects:

1. High-quality and ground-breaking research

Within the project, this objective refers to research that

• is competitive at the highest international level
• produces knowledge that drives the development of science and research
• is based on clear research questions and uses the most effective approaches
• includes ambitious and ground-breaking research initiatives
  • Novelty value can arise from research topics, questions, new combinations of different fields or approaches, or the development of methods.
• includes the possibility of scientific breakthroughs.

2. Ambitious research design

Within the project, this objective refers to research implementation that

• is based on the most appropriate and scientifically sound methods
• can include innovative and demanding approaches that are planned and credible
• identifies the uncertainties associated with the implementation and demonstrates the ability to manage risks associated with the research
• is carried out responsibly
• is based on a research team with the expertise and potential to carry out demanding and also uncertain research
• builds on high-quality and relevant cooperation.

3. Strengthening research team’s competence and capacity for renewal

Within the project, this objective can be promoted, for example, by

• developing the scientific, methodological and other skills of the researchers in the research team
• providing active researcher training and mentoring at all career levels
• developing a research environment that supports creative, self-directed and solution-driven work even in demanding research settings
• investing in the recruitment of top-level researchers, also internationally.

The basic principle is that the project to be funded should serve Finnish research, society and international cooperation.

The funding is granted primarily to teams of researchers who are working on their doctoral thesis or who have obtained their doctoral degree.

We encourage researchers to engage in international mobility that will support the research, for example, so that researchers hired to the project work abroad for a fixed period. The project may also hire foreign researchers who already work or who will work in the Finnish scientific community. The funding may also be used to hire researchers returning to Finland.

Each year, the RCF earmarks funding in the research funding budget to strengthen doctoral education within Academy Projects. The funding serves to further strengthen researcher training in RCF-funded research projects. Increasing funding for doctoral education is linked to our strategic objective to strengthen high-level competence.