RCF preparing call for universities to invite foreign researchers to Finland

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) is planning a new funding call to help universities recruit international experts to Finland. The call would be part of the RCF funding scheme that strengthens university research profiles, the so-called Profi funding, which has been part of the RCF’s competitive funding portfolio since 2015.

The funding is designed to contribute to raising the level of research in fields chosen by the universities. Recruiting international researchers is one way to boost and improve the quality of research in Finland.

The call has a preliminary total budget of 50 million euros, which will be granted for recruitment supporting the research profiling of Finnish universities between 2026 and 2030. According to the preliminary plans, the funding can be used to recruit researchers from outside Finland, for example from the United States, to Finnish universities.

Finland’s research and development spending will increase steadily and significantly going forward to 2030. The aim is to create framework conditions for growth based on a high level of skills and knowledge in Finland. Additional funding will be directed towards scientific research, research organisations and academia-industry collaboration. Funding will also be allocated to strengthening high-level research and technology infrastructures. In particular, strengthening RDI activities requires skilled research staff.

The overall aim of the RCF’s Profi funding scheme is to support and speed up the strategic profiling of Finnish universities in order to improve the quality of research.