Research utilisation gets major lift with RCF funding

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has awarded a total of 10 million euros to 32 projects, in all 39 subprojects, in the Proof of Concept call. The application success rate was 17 per cent.

RCF Proof of Concept (PoC) funding supports research projects in taking steps towards commercialisation and promoting other societal research impact.

The first call for applications under the PoC scheme was opened in 2023. This second application round built on the experiences of the pilot call and focused on the utilisation of research results from research projects that had been granted RCF Academy Project funding.

The PoC funding encourages 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.

Applicants showed considerable interest in this funding opportunity. The RCF received excellent applications from a wide range of disciplines.

The RCF monitors the impact of the research projects it funds. The new PoC projects will start on 1 January 2025 and run for two years.

This call attracted more and better applications than the previous call. In the best applications, applicants had developed a credible research utilisation pathway and defined their project objectives using technology readiness levels or societal readiness levels. They clearly described the intended long-term impact of the project and the research utilisation phase planned with the requested funding.

The best applications also clearly described the involvement of partners, stakeholders and end-users at the different stages of the project.

A total of 46 per cent of all applicants earned an excellent rating, scoring 5 or 6 in the review. Only slightly more than a third of the top-rated applications could be granted funding.

The RCF Subcommittee for Proof of Concept Funding encourages researchers from all disciplines to consider the utilisation of their research. Professor Klaus Elenius, the chair of the Subcommittee, said: “Good ideas for research utilisation can come from all fields. Several of the funded projects are based on long-term fundamental research in life sciences, medicine or education.”