Funding to NSF Graduate Fellows for Research in Finland – Call for invited applicants

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) awards Graduate Research Fellow (GRF) grants to talented US researchers working on their doctoral thesis. The funding is meant for research periods in Finland or some other country included in the Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) programme. Funding can be applied for from the Academy for grants to be paid to NSF-approved Graduate Research Fellows coming to Finland.

The GROW programme encourages US researchers working on their doctoral thesis in the Graduate Research Fellows (GRF) programme to spend research periods of 3–12 months in Finland or some other country included in the Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) programme. The aim is to promote international research collaborations at early stages of the research career. The research collaboration should be mutually beneficial.

The applicant is the Finnish host receiving the Graduate Research Fellow. The host applies for an appropriation to cover the grant of the Graduate Research Fellow.Graduate Research Fellows may be hosted by Academy-funded Centres of Excellence, Academy Professors, Academy Research Fellows, Academy Projects, SRC consortia or projects funded under Academy Programmes.

The funding comes to a maximum of 1,700 euros a month. The site of research will allocate the funding as a grant to cover the Graduate Research Fellow’s accommodation and other living costs in Finland. The funding does not include any overheads.

Grants can be awarded for a maximum of twelve months over a two-year period. The funding period will start on 1 June 2019 at the earliest and no later than 1 December 2019.

The Finnish unit acting as host will cover the Fellows’ accommodation and research costs and take care of other practical arrangements, while the NSF will cover their salary.

The funding is paid via a site of research (usually a university or research institute) based in Finland.

Funding is not granted for salary costs of other persons.

What is required from the site of research?

We require that the site of research (e.g. university) provides the research project with all necessary basic facilities. These are determined based on the nature of the research and are the same as those available to other research staff at the site: office and laboratory premises, equipment (incl. computer equipment), and telecommunications, telephone, mailing, copying and library services, etc.

When the site of research is a university or a research institute, as a rule, the funding must be applied for VAT included. Consult the financial administration at the site of research for more information. The Academy’s funding may also cover VAT costs, but only on certain conditions (see Value added tax and read more in the funding terms and conditions).

How to submit and supplement the application

The deadline is non-negotiable.

Make sure to submit the application in good time before the deadline. The system will only accept applications that contain all obligatory information.

You can edit and supplement the application until the deadline expires. You can make changes (e.g. change appendices) in an application you have submitted to the Academy, but you must make them before the deadline expires. If you notice that your application lacks important information after the deadline has expired, immediately get in touch with the call’s contact person, so that the application can be reopened for your supplementary additions. Make sure to re-submit the application after you have supplemented it. We will consider the additions insofar as it is possible in view of the review and decision-making process. An important addition is, for instance, an invitation by a foreign university.

How the application becomes pending

According to section 17 of the Finnish Administrative Procedure Act and section 8 of the Act on Electronic Services and Communication in the Public Sector, the sender is responsible for the application arriving by the set deadline. An application becomes pending at the Academy when the online application and the obligatory appendices have been submitted in the online services. The system will confirm a successful submission by sending an email to the address provided by the applicant.

Publicity and data protection

Under the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities, an application and its appendices are public information; confidential documents such as research plans, plans of intent, abstracts and progress reports, however, are not. For example, the CV is a public document and as such must not include any confidential information. The Academy is committed to following regulations on data protection. The GDPR-compliant privacy statement concerning the research funding process is available on our website under Data protection.

The application consists of forms completed in the online services and PDF appendices. As an applicant, you have the right to submit your application in Finnish or Swedish, but we ask you to submit it in English.

The online application consists of the following parts:

Personal data/CV

• Personal details
• Degrees (most recent one first); parental leaves etc. may be filled in under Additional information
• Titles of docent and professorships
• CV appendix following the template structure, no more than two pages

General information

• Details on the site of research
• Title of research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• Research fields (at least one, no more than five)
• Keywords in English and Finnish/Swedish

Abstract

• Maximum length 2,500 characters
• Brief overview of scientific and societal objectives, research methods and data as well as expected results and impact of the research
• Read more about the Abstract

Collaborators

• Specify the collaborators of the project (name, organisation, country, brief description of the collaboration)

Mobility guidelines

• Period of mobility planned for the project

Affiliations

• ESFRI roadmap research infrastructures

Other research infrastructures

• Centres of Excellence
• Projects funded under the Flagship Programme

Ethical aspects

• Ethical permission for project (yes/no)
• Found guilty of research misconduct (yes/no)
• We will not process a funding application if the applicant has been found guilty of research misconduct in the three years preceding the year of the call.

Funding for the project – Grant

• The funding period is usually a two-year period when the funding is available.
• Grant
• Other expences
• Commitment by site of research. Make sure you have a commitment from your site of research (usually a university or research institute) to supporting the project.

Public project description

• Maximum length 1,000 characters
  • reader-friendly and popular description of the research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
  • The public description helps the Academy to disseminate information on the research project.
  • Read more about the Public description

• the topic of the  research and the rationale
• the data and research methods to be used (interviews, statistical data, archive materials, etc.)
• the site of research
• the significance and objectives of the research from the perspective of society and science
• any other interesting aspects
• if relevant, a link to the researcher’s website, if it contains more information on the topic
• If relevant, references to previous publications that are readily available at public libraries or on the internet.

Appendices

• Appendices must be pdf files

Obligatory appendices:

• CV is appended under Personal data/CV, no more than two pages
• GRF research plan jointly drafted by the Graduate Research Fellow and the Finnish host
• Host’s invitation to the Graduate Research Fellow
• Graduate Research Fellow’s CV (free-form)
• Data management plan: write the plan with help from DMPTuuli or according to the guidelines found on the Academy’s website
• Progress report on all Academy-funded projects headed by the applicant that have not submitted final reports

Case-specific appendices:

• Statement by ethics committee or animal care committee, if relevant.

Submit application

• You can submit the application when you have filled in or attached all the necessary information.
• A red warning triangle on the tab tells you that information is missing.
• You can supplement the application until the deadline expires. Resaving will replace the earlier version.
• If you want to supplement the application after the deadline has expired, please get in touch with the Academy’s contact persons listed in the call text.

The applications will be
reviewed internally by the Academy of Finland.The presenting official will
check that the application fulfills the necessary technical and formal
requirements, and that it is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding
between the Academy and the NSF.The scientific review is carried out by the NSF.

We aim to make the funding decisions during June 2019.

Applicants will receive an automatic email message after the decision has been made. After receiving this message, you can log in to the online services with your user ID to view the decision and its justifications. You can also read the funding conditions, if the decision has been favourable.

How to receive the funding

After being granted funding, you must check and accept it in the online services without delay. Make sure to check and, if necessary, update the public project description before you accept the funding. The system will then send a notification to the commitment issuer at the site of research. That person must also accept the granted funding.

The funds can be paid only after both the applicant and the representative of the site of research have accepted them as received. The system will then notify the funding to the finance administration of the site of research, whereupon the funds will be ready to use.