Academy of Finland to investigate reform of funding opportunities targeted at early-career researchers

The Academy of Finland has launched a project to look into a possible reform of the funding opportunities available to early-career researchers. The aim is to identify what kind of funding scheme would best serve the research and careers of early-career researchers. Another aim is to assess how this type of reform could streamline the application process and the use of funding and also ease the administrative work of research organisations.

The Academy of Finland currently has three funding opportunities for early-career researchers: funding for research posts as Postdoctoral Researcher, funding for research posts as Academy Research Fellow and Academy Project funding targeted at early-career researchers. The funding opportunities have been introduced at different times and have been developed in a scheme-centric manner.

At the same time, research practices and career systems have changed over the years, and research cooperation, for example, has taken new forms. The needs of different research fields as regards supporting research careers also vary. Based on feedback the Academy of Finland has received, there is a need to simplify the application process and the use of funding, and the Academy now wants to address this issue.

Because of changes that have taken place in the operating environment, the Academy believes that the function of these funding schemes must be examined from new perspectives. The aim is therefore to examine whether the current three schemes serve the research work of early-career researchers in the best possible way.

The project to investigate a possible reform was launched in September. In autumn 2021, the Academy will open surveys and organise stakeholder discussions to collect views, observations and wishes from researchers and research organisations.

The Academy of Finland regards the promotion of the research careers of early-career researchers as a key science policy objective. Revamping the funding opportunities is one way of achieving this objective. Providing funding to early-career researchers is also important to ensure the renewal of science and the quality of research.

The survey for researchers is open until 23 October 2021. Have your say and provide valuable feedback!