Strategic research themes
The Strategic Research Council's (SRC) funding programmes are based on changing themes. Proposals on new themes are formulated annually through an interactive theme process. At the end of the process, the SRC submits a proposal to the Finnish Government on the next themes and priorities of strategic research. Through its decision on the themes, the Government steers high-quality and long-term research into solving major societal challenges.
The preparation of the theme proposal focuses proactively on major societal challenges and major changes in a long-term perspective. The interactive process in support of the SRC’s theme preparation to chart societal challenges consists, among other things, of an open online survey, theme workshops and an open consultation where the scientific community and knowledge users can discuss the proposed themes. At the end of the process, the SRC submits a proposal to the Government on next year’s themes and priorities. The SRC opens the research programmes for the following year and the related calls for applications based on the Government’s decision.
The premise for the SRC is to sift out the following types of themes:
- themes that are key challenges for the future of Finland
- themes that are sufficiently horizontal
- themes that extensively affect different sectors of society
- themes that are sufficiently distinct from each other
- themes that require new knowledge produced by multidisciplinary research.
