RCF Proof of Concept Funding

The Proof of Concept funding scheme is designed to promote the effective and versatile utilisation of research results and research-based knowledge towards economic and other societal impact. The utilisation idea must arise from research previously funded by the Research Council.

The benchmark for the scheme is the European Research Council’s Proof of Concept Grant.

The 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.

The Proof of Concept funding scheme has been prepared through a pilot call and will be implemented using additional funding allocated by the Finnish Government for research and development. Ten million euros have been reserved for the 2024 call.

The Research Council of Finland decides annually the scope of the call. The pilot call in 2023 was targeted at Finnish Centres of Excellence and Finnish Flagships. The call resulted in funding for 20 two-year projects. In 2024, the call is open to principal investigators of Academy Projects whose funding period has ended or ends between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2024.

The funding complements Finnish national funding to support cooperation between research organisations, businesses and other societal actors.

The Research Council of Finland and Business Finland work closely together at the interface of research and innovation. The Research Council provides funding for the utilisation of research results from high-quality projects that engage in scientific research. At the end of the project, the solution sought by the project may still be in a pre-commercial phase or in a phase where it is being prepared for deployment for other uses. Business Finland, on the other hand, provides funding for research whose results can be utilised by companies in their export business. Explore Business Finland’s financial services that support the preparation of the commercialisation of research results and the cooperation between companies and research organisations: Cooperation between companies and research organisations.