Academy of Finland to test funding scheme supporting research utilisation in autumn 2023

The Academy of Finland is readying a new funding opportunity that is designed to promote the utilisation and commercialisation of research and boost societal impact. To support the preparation, the Academy will open a pilot call for a targeted group of applicants. The Academy will continue to develop the new funding opportunity based on experiences gained from the pilot call. In the pilot call, applications are invited from principal investigators working with Centre of Excellence funding from the Academy and researchers selected by the Academy’s Finnish Flagships.

The Academy of Finland and Business Finland work closely together at the interface of research and innovation. The collaboration also extends to the preparation of the new funding opportunity and the pilot call. The objective is that the new scheme would tie in with Business Finland’s comparable funding instruments.

The Academy’s funding budget for the pilot call in 2023 is 10 million euros. The call text will be published in June 2023, and the call closes in September 2023. The funding decisions will be made in December, and the funded projects can start in January 2024.

According to the current plan for the pilot call, the funding may be applied for by principal investigators working with Centre of Excellence funding from the Academy and researchers selected by the Academy’s Finnish Flagships. The funding is intended to be used to advance the utilisation of research results produced by Centres of Excellence and Finnish Flagships.

The “Academy of Finland Proof of Concept Funding” call is designed to promote versatile utilisation of research results. The funding will encourage researchers to, for example, test their research results in practical settings or develop new approaches to address the needs of industry, public administration or the third sector. The benchmark for the scheme is the European Research Council’s Proof of Concept Grant. The Academy of Finland will continue to develop the new funding opportunity based on the results of the first call.

More details and the call text will be published on the Academy’s website in early June 2023. An online call info session will be organised on 12 June 2023 at 12.00. Register here.