The M-ERA.NET 3 call for 2023 has been open since the beginning of March. The international call in materials science and engineering invites researchers from various fields, such as chemists, physicists and medical researchers to apply.

In the M-ERA.NET 3 call, materials can be studied from different perspectives: you can examine their properties or their uses. The themes of the call both restrict the field of study and offer numerous opportunities. You may develop sustainable advanced materials for energy applications, create innovative solutions for surfaces, coatings and interfaces, or study high performance composites and functional materials. Your research may result in materials and technologies that are well-suited for advanced electronics or health applications.

Are you interested in the subjects and challenges within the scope of the call? You may want to work on them with a group rather than alone. 29 countries, seven of them outside Europe, participate in the call. According to the rules of the call, you need to prepare your application with at least two researchers from two foreign countries, one of which must be a European country. International collaboration can open new opportunities in many ways: differences in culture may lead to novel ideas or the project may result in researcher networks in other countries.

The M-ERA.NET network systematically studies the socio-ecological, ethical and political dimensions of materials research, development and use, which is why the M-ERA.NET 3 call requires responsible research and innovation. The researchers must assure the reviewers of their responsible practices. The call touches on topics that are socio-ecologically significant for the EU, and the research within it aims to answer important societal questions.

The Academy of Finland has allocated 1.25 million euros for the 2023 call. This time, the Academy participates in all themes. There will be no special terms for applying.

First call stage open 1 March–16 May 2023

The first stage of the call is open until 16 May. You should submit your application according to the M-ERA.NET guidelines. Business Finland is also participating in the call, which means that one of your partners may be a Finnish business. The call offers numerous opportunities concerning partners and subjects. The applications submitted at the first stage will be peer-reviewed. In previous M-ERA.NET calls, the first stage was reviewed by the funding agencies only.

Second stage ends 22 November 2023

The project teams will remain the same through both stages. The applications chosen for the second stage will be announced in late September or early October. The application submission process will be similar in both stages. Three experts will review each application. Based on the results, the funding agencies will decide on which applications will be granted funding. The Academy will request the funded applications to be submitted into its own system.

The Romulus Academy Programme

Each funded M-ERA.NET project receives the added bonus of being included in the Critical Materials in Circular Economy of Cities (Romulus) Academy Programme. It already includes five projects that succeeded in the M-ERA.NET 3 2021 call. Materials, circular economy and cities are intertwined in the eight research projects that received funding in the main call within the Romulus Programme. New calls, seminars and factory visits will be arranged as part of the Academy Programme to enable networking and information exchange between the researchers.