Call for funding for international researcher mobility based on bilateral agreements

The Academy of Finland’s funding for bilateral research cooperation and researcher mobility supports the Academy’s general science policy objectives. With this funding opportunity, we promote the international interaction and contacts of Finnish researchers as well as the internationalisation of Finnish research environments. 

The mobility funding call is implemented with the following countries: India, Japan, China, (incl. Taiwan), Germany, and Russia.

The applicant is a researcher. The applicant is a researcher with at least a higher academic degree, but preference is given to researchers with a doctoral degree.  Mobility application cannot be written as a consortium application.

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.

The funding is intended for the researcher’s personal grant (incl. travel costs and costs of living), for inviting researchers to Finland and for arranging joint seminars (China, Japan). The more detailed funding conditions are determined in accordance with the relevant agreement.

The mobility funding is either a personal grant or a research grant (appropriation). Personal grants are paid directly to researchers, research grants via sites of research.  The funding does not cover insurances, so applicants must take out appropriate insurance for the grant period.

The grant duration is 7–360 days. The earliest start date for the funding period is 1 February 2020. Funding period, during which you can use the funding, is usually two years.  

The amount of the grant is based on the guideline table. It is assumed that the applicants will also receive other salary during their visit. Applicants must clearly state in their applications if they will not be receiving other salary during their visit, or if they will be receiving only partial salary, and that they have therefore calculated the monthly grants according to the highest categories. Full costing is not applied to personal grants.

In the case of China and India (DST), you apply for funding for travel costs only, since the Chinese funding agency and the DST cover the applicant’s costs of living.

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 mobility funding for India is based on the bilateral agreements with the Academy of Finland and India’s Department of Science and Technologyn (DST) and India’s Department of Biotechnologyn (DBT). 

From Finland to India 

The call to be chosen is ”Mobility from Finland”. Funding is granted for two purposes: 

• Grants are awarded together with the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) to researchers with a doctoral degree for short-term visits to conduct or prepare joint research at universities, research institutes and research centres in India during 2020. The Academy of Finland covers the applicant’s travel costs and DST covers accommodation costs and a grant. The recommended duration of the visit is between two weeks and three months.
• Grants are awarded for biotechnological research and preparation of such research at universities and research institutes in India. The Academy of Finland’s grant covers travel costs and costs of living in India. The grant duration is 7–360 days.   

From India to Finland 

The call to be chosen is ”Mobility to Finland”. Finnish researchers acting as hosts may apply for a grant to invite Indian researchers of biotechnology to Finland to conduct research. The Academy of Finland will cover the round trip from the place of residence in India to the destination in Finland and a grant. The maximum duration of the visit is one year. Applications must include a commitment by the site of research.

The mobility funding for Japan is based on the bilateral agreements with the Academy of Finland and Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciencen (JSPS).

From Finland to Japan

The call to be chosen is ”Mobility from Finland”. Funding is granted for two purposes:

• Grants are awarded for researchers with a doctoral degree for research at universities or research institutes in Japan. The grant covers travel costs and costs of living.
  
  
• JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships for 12–24 months to Japan. The Academy of Finland and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) have an agreement concerning JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship grants to Japan. Applications are submitted to the Academy so that the Academy will screen out the applicants and select a candidate for the JSPS. The JSPS will make the funding decision and be responsible for grant payment. The most important part of the application is the JSPS application form, which must be appended to the application under Research plan for mobility application in the online services.  Do not append any other research plans to the application. You can find JSPS’s application form (FY 2020  FORM 2, Standard) and the guidelines to filling it in (FY 2020) on the JSPS’s website.

Finnish–Japanese seminars

With the seminar funding, the Academy works to support Finnish researchers’ collaborative initiatives with Japanese researchers. The seminar dates must fall between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. In the Academy’s online services under Project title, clearly indicate that it is a Finnish-Japanese joint seminar. Please note that the seminar must have both a Finnish and a Japanese person responsible for the seminar, and both must submit an application to their own funding agency. The JSPS’s call for attending seminars held in Finland and for Japanese organisers of seminars held in Japan will end already 4 September 2019 (see www.jsps.go.jp/english). The Academy and the JSPS have agreed to fund no more than two joint seminars in Finland or Japan. The decisions will be made during spring 2020.

• Attending a seminar organised in Japan. The call to be chosen is ”Mobility from Finland”. The personal grants are awarded to cover costs related to participation in Finnish-Japanese seminars to be organised in Japan. Finnish researchers can apply for personal grants to cover travel costs and costs of living. Grants cannot be applied for to cover seminar participation fees.
• Seminar to be organised in Finland. The call to be chosen is ”Mobility to Finland”. Heads of Finnish research teams can apply for funding to cover reasonable costs of organising Finnish-Japanese joint seminars in Finland. Applications must include a commitment by the site of research. As a rule, the funding has covered basic seminar costs (e.g. rents, coffee serving, printing and mailing). The funding cannot be used to cover travel costs of foreign researchers.

Mobility funding for China and Taiwan is based on the bilateral agreements with the Academy of Finland and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Chinese Academy of Sciencesin (CAS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciencesin (CASS) and Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technologyn (MoST). 

From Finland to China 

The call to be chosen is ”Mobility from Finland”. Travel funding can be applied for three destinations in 2020: 

• Grants are awarded for travel costs related to research in life, natural and engineering sciences (incl. medicine) at universities and research institutes in China. The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) covers the costs in China, so the applicant must make sure that the Chinese inviting party has an ongoing NSFC basic research grant during the visit. When planning the dates of the visit, please take into account that the Chinese inviting party must apply for a hosting grant from the NSFC to cover the applicant’s accommodation costs and grant. The application must be submitted at least three months before the intended visit. The Academy of Finland’s grant duration is no more than twelve months in total. This can be divided among several researchers.
• Grants are awarded for travel costs related to research in natural and engineering sciences at institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). CAS covers the applicant’s costs in China, so the applicant must make sure that the Chinese host has an ongoing CAS project during the visit. When planning the dates of the visit, please take into account that the Chinese inviting party must apply for a hosting grant from the CAS to cover the applicant’s accommodation costs and grant. The application must be submitted at least three months before the intended visit. The Academy of Finland’s grant duration is no more than twelve months in total. This can be divided among several researchers. Those who will work in libraries and archives will also need an invitation letter from the Chinese host.
• Grants are awarded for travel costs related to research in the humanities, culture studies, law, economics and social sciences at institutions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). The CASS covers the applicant’s costs in China. The Academy of Finland’s grant duration is no more than three months in total. This can be divided among several researchers. Those who will work in libraries and archives will also need an invitation letter from the Chinese host. 

Finnish–Chinese seminars 

With the seminar funding, the Academy works to support Finnish researchers’ collaborative initiatives with Chinese researchers. In the Academy’s online services under Project title, clearly indicate that it is a Finnish-Chinese joint seminar.

• Attending a seminar organised in China in 2020. The call to be chosen is ”Mobility from Finland”. The personal grants are awarded for participation in Finnish-Chinese seminars to be organised in China. Finnish researchers can apply for personal grants to cover travel costs and costs of living. Grants cannot be applied for to cover seminar participation fees.
• A seminar organised in Finland in 2020. The call to be chosen is ”Mobility to Finland”. Heads of Finnish research teams can apply for funding to cover reasonable costs of organising Finnish-Chinese joint seminars in Finland. Applications must include a commitment by the site of research. As a rule, the funding has covered basic seminar costs (e.g. rents, coffee serving, printing and mailing). The funding cannot be used to cover travel costs of foreign researchers.

From Finland to Taiwan

The call to be chosen is ”Mobility from Finland”. Grants are awarded for research at research institutes and universities in Taiwan. The Academy of Finland’s personal grant covers travel costs and costs of living in Taiwan. The grant duration is 7–360 days.

From Taiwan to Finland

The call to be chosen is ”Mobility to Finland”. Finnish researchers acting as hosts may apply for a grant to invite Taiwanese researchers to Finland to conduct research. The Academy of Finland will cover the round trip from the place of residence in Taiwan to the destination in Finland and a grant. The maximum duration of the visit is one year. Applications must include a commitment by the site of research.

Mobility funding for Germany is based on the bilateral agreements with the Academy of Finland and German’s Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienstin (DAAD). 

From Finland to Germany 

The call to be chosen is ”Mobility from Finland”. The research grants to support project cooperation between Finnish and German researchers are intended for Finnish research teams’ travel costs and costs of living in Germany. Please note that the project must have both a Finnish and a Germany responsible person, both of whom must submit an application to their own funding agency. Funding is available for 2020 and 2021. The call deadline is different for DAAD than for the Academy. The Academy of Finland and DAAD cover the travel costs and costs of living of the participating researchers of their own country in accordance with their own funding conditions. The Academy will cover the costs of living according to its own grant calculation model. Travel costs can also be funded. The funding cannot be used for research costs or seminars. 

The collaborators whose two-year funding period ends 1 February 2020 at the latest may apply for an extension period of three years, provided that there are justifiable grounds. They may also apply for a new two-year funding provided that they have a new perspective on their subject or a completely new research subject. 

It is recommended that the same number of researchers from institutions of both countries participate in the project. The duration of visits may be one week or a few months at a time. The Finnish and German research teams will draft a joint research plan.   

Guidelines on filling in the application form:

• The project PI is the applicant.
• Append to the application both your own CV and list of publications and the CV and list of publications of the German PI.
• Append to the application the CVs of those Finnish researcher for whose travel costs the funding will be used. You may combine the CVs into a single file together with the German PI’s CV.
• Under the tab Mobility, list the Finnish researchers (enter N.N. if necessary) who will use the funding for travel.
• Append to the application a joint Finnish-German research plan that indicates the schedules of the visits as well as the name, institution and contact details of the German applicant. 

In the review of the DAAD applications, focus will be placed on the following:

• the scientific quality of the project
• the scientific merits of the research teams
• the way in which the teams complement each other
• the added value of the cooperation
• participation of early-career researchers.

From Finland to Russia 

The call to be chosen is ”Mobility from Finland”. Grants are awarded for research at institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences and at universities in Russia. Applicants must have an invitation from the host institution (except in the case of archive and library work). The minimum duration of the visit is one week; the maximum duration is twelve months (over a 24-month period). The grant covers travel costs and costs of living. 

From Russia to Finland 

The call to be chosen is ”Mobility to Finland”. Grants are awarded for inviting Russian researchers to Finland. Finnish researchers can apply for funds to invite Russian researchers to Finland to do research. The minimum duration of the visit is one week; the maximum duration is one year. The invitee is required to have earned at least a bachelor's degree in science. The invitation grant covers a round trip from Russia to Finland, travel costs in Finland related to the scientific programme of the visit and a grant for costs of living.

The online application consists of the following parts:

The application consists of forms completed in the online services and PDF appendices. 

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

Most relevant publications

• No more than ten of your most important publications for the project
• Search for publications in the VIRTA publication information service. See the how-to guides for the online services
• Details on publications may also be entered manually. Obligatory information: author(s), title, year of publication, name of series/journal, type of publication (will not show in the PDF version of the application) 

Collaborators

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

Mobility

• International mobility funding applied for Affiliations

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.
• The research ethics description is entered in the research plan 

Funding for the project

• The funding period is usually a two-year period when the funding is available. In the free-form research plan enter the planned dates of the visit (7-360 days).
• Grant
• Other expences
• Commitment by site of research in the Mobility to Finland call. 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 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.
• The public description helps the Academy to disseminate information on the research project
• Read more about the Public description.

Authorisation

• You can authorise another person to to supplement or view your application.
• Start by entering the person’s name in the field.
• The person must have set up an account in the Academy’s online services (SARA).
• You cannot authorise more than one person at a time to edit a field in your application, and you cannot edit that same field while the authorisation is active.
• Do not authorise yourself.
• Technical instructions on the authorisation process are available in the how-to guides for the online services. 

Appendices

• Appendices must be pdf files
• CV is appended under Personal data/CV, no more than two pages 

   Personal travel

• Invitation by the institution to be visited (no invitation letter is required from those who will do library and archive work, except in China)
• List of publications
• A free-form research plan including a visiting plan, no more than five pages in total
• Progress report on all Academy-funded projects headed by the applicant that have not submitted final reports. 

   Grants for invitees

• Curriculum vitae for the invitee, indicating date of birth, highest academic degree and previous visits to Finland on grants or other funding
• The invitees’ list of publications
• The inviting person’s list of publications
• A free-form research plan including a visiting plan, no more than five pages in total  
• Progress report on all Academy-funded projects headed by the applicant that have not submitted final reports. 

   Arranging seminars

• List of publications
• A free-form research plan, including a short description of the research behind the seminar and an account of how the seminar ties in with the present research; the plan includes a preliminary programme for the seminar, the attendees and the itemised budget (e.g. conference room rent, refreshments, printing and mailing expenses) 

   Participating in seminars

• List of publications
• A free-form research plan, including a short description of the research behind the seminar and an account of how the seminar ties in with the present research; the plan includes a preliminary programme for the seminar, the attendees and a description of the applicant’s role in the seminar (invited speaker, other performer, attendee). 

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 review of mobility applications will focus on the following aspects:

• How does the applicant justify why and for what purposes the funding is applied for?
• How does the applicant take into account the objective of promoting the international interaction and contacts of Finnish researchers as well as the internationalisation of Finnish research environments?
• What is the quality, the scope and the necessity of the proposed research collaboration?
• Is it a new research initiative or a new collaboration initiative?
• Does the theme match the themes decided on by the Academy Board or those determined in the Strategic Research Council programmes?
• Does the project involve use of necessary research infrastructure?
• Has the applicant been granted any other funding for the same purpose? The funding is intended for new, thoroughly justified collaboration initiatives.
• The funding for mobility from Finland is especially designed to support      early-career researchers with a doctorate.
• The funding for mobility to Finland takes into account the significance of the invitee to the research of the host or the host’s institution.
• JSPS will also review the Finnish–Japanese joint seminar applications.            

• DAAD will also review the Finnish–German joint seminar applications. In the review of the DAAD applications, focus will be placed on the following:
  • the scientific quality of the project
  • the scientific merits of the research groups
  • the way in which the teams complement each other
  • the added value of the cooperation
  • participation of early-career researchers.

The funding decision will be made at the beginning of 2020.

You will receive an email after the funding decision has been made. After receiving the email, 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. In addition, you will have access to read the expert reviews on your application.

How to receive the funding

A personal grant will be considered accepted when you send a payment request form to the Academy’s Registrar’s Office or to the presenting official. A research grant will be considered accepted when you start using the funding and the host organisation invoices the Academy.