Academy of Finland selects 11 new Centres of Excellence

The Academy of Finland has selected eleven Centres of Excellence (CoE) for the period 2022‒2029. The new Finnish Centre of Excellence Programme includes research teams from eleven universities or research institutes. The new CoEs will study, among other things, antimicrobial resistance, electromechanical energy conversion and transfer, and learning dynamics and interventions.

The call for Finnish Centres of Excellence attracted a total of 184 letters of intent. Of these, 34 applications were invited to the second call stage. The full applications were reviewed by international expert panels. The reviewers also interviewed representatives of the research teams invited to the second stage.

The final decisions on the units selected to the 2022–2029 CoE Programme were taken by the Academy of Finland’s General Subcommittee at its meeting on 11 October 2021, based on a proposal from a working group of members of the Academy’s decision-making bodies.

Johanna Myllyharju, Chair of the Board of the Academy of Finland, said: “The selected CoEs combine in a very interesting way different scientific perspectives, and the potential for significant scientific renewal is high.”

Excellence, high impact and capacity for renewal

In selecting the CoEs for the new programme, focus was placed on the international review, the interviews and the objectives of the programme. The decision-makers in particular examined that the research team applying for CoE status conducts excellent science and breakthrough research and contributes to scientific renewal. Emphasis was also placed on the possibilities of the team to rise to or stay at the international forefront in the field. Among the key selection criteria were also the impact of research beyond the scientific community and that the researchers and subjects of the CoE candidate can reinvigorate Finnish science.

Riitta Maijala, Vice President for Research at the Academy of Finland, said: “The compositions of the new CoEs complement each other and thus enable completely new approaches in highly topical and interesting research topics.”

A Centre of Excellence is a research community that is already at or striving for the international cutting edge of research in its field. CoEs may consist of one or more research teams working closely together under one joint research plan.

The aim of the Finnish Centre of Excellence Programme is to strengthen Finnish research by raising its level, contributing to its regeneration and promoting its societal impact. The CoE Programmes often contribute to the renewal of science by supplying new research topics, new methods and approaches, and new research teams, developing creative research environments, paving the way for innovations and training new talented researchers for the Finnish research and business sectors.

CoEs are jointly funded by the Academy of Finland, universities and research institutes. Funding is also made available through other sources. The Academy of Finland has funded Centres of Excellence since 1995. Thanks to the long-term funding provided by the Academy in collaboration with CoE host organisations, the funding instrument effectively facilitates risk-taking and new initiatives in research. The CoE funding period is eight years.

In the next phase, financial negotiations will be held with the CoEs selected for the new programme. The CoEs will go through a full scientific evaluation after the first four years. The outcome of the evaluation will determine the level of funding for the remaining period – the funding may increase, decrease or cease entirely.

• List of Centres of Excellence selected to the 2022–2029 Finnish Centre of Excellence Programme (PDF)