Finnish Centres of Excellence in Research 2022–2029 (two-stage call, invited applicants)

A Centre of Excellence (CoE) is a research community that is already at or striving for the international cutting edge of research in its field. CoEs may consist of one or more research teams working closely together under a joint research plan.

The units selected as CoEs are scientifically first-rate research communities that have capacity for renewal and high societal impact. The CoE programmes contribute to the renewal of science by, for example, supplying new research topics, new methods and approaches, and new research teams. Thanks to the long-term funding provided in collaboration with CoE host organisations, the funding instrument effectively works as an incentive for risk-taking and new initiatives in research.

The Academy of Finland selects CoEs to be funded based on international reviews and science policy objectives. The CoE term is eight years. In terms of the research plan, there are three primary review criteria: scientific quality, contribution to science renewal, and scientific impact. The eight-year CoE term is split into two parts (5 + 3 years).

The funding can be applied for by consortia composed of research teams. The consortium parties may represent one or several research organisations.

A consortium application is an application built around a joint research plan, where each party to the consortium applies for funding. The Academy treats the consortium application as a single application, although the funding is granted to each subproject separately. Read the guidelines for consortium applications.

In addition to a doctorate, the CoE director and team leaders must have other significant scientific merits. Usually the CoE director is a researcher at the professor or docent (adjunct professor) level. In addition, the applicant must have a close connection with Finland to support the implementation of a multi-year project. This connection must be described in the application.

Special terms and restrictions

CoE funding is primarily intended towards the salaries of researchers who work full-time on the project and for other project costs. The CoE director’s salary costs may, under certain limitations, be incorporated into the total project costs. Read more in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.

If you have ongoing Academy funding, you must draw up an interim report in the online services on each ongoing project (incl. consortium subproject) before the call deadline. Read the guidelines on drafting the interim report.

Members of the Board, research councils and the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland will not be granted Academy funding during their terms.

Funding cannot be granted to a person who has participated in the planning of the call to an extent likely to give them a comparative advantage over other applicants.

We will not process an application if the applicant has been found guilty of research misconduct in the three years preceding the year of the call.

In the present call, funding will not be granted to directors, deputy directors or team leaders of Centres of Excellence that are included in the 2018–2025 CoE Programme, or to directors of Finnish Flagships. Funding may be granted to principal investigators of consortia funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC), provided that they will not have overlapping funding after 31 December 2022.

CoE directors, deputy directors or team leaders named in the letter of intent may be changed between the first and second stage only for very compelling reasons.

The Academy of Finland is prepared to fund the selected CoEs with a total of approximately 65 million euros in the first five-year period. The funding to be distributed through this call depends on the Finnish Parliament’s decision to allocate the necessary funds to the Academy.

The CoE programme funding period starts on 1 January 2022. As a rule, and based on the review, funding will be granted for eight years. The first funding decision will cover the period 1 January 2022–31 December 2026. The progress of the CoE will be assessed after four years of operation, and the possible extension will cover the period 1 January 2027–31 December 2029. It is not possible to transfer funding from one funding period to another.

Academy research funding is granted to Finnish sites of research (usually universities or research institutes), unless there are special reasons for not doing so. The funded researchers may, however, spend time working abroad during their funding period.

The application must contain a funding plan drafted in line with the full cost model (learn more in the funding terms and conditions), including the funding to be applied for from the Academy (up to 70% of the total project costs). Read more about the full cost model.

You can apply for Academy funding to cover, for example, the following direct research costs:

• research team salaries
• PI’s salary costs (under certain limitations)
• salaries of researchers returning to Finland
• essential implementation costs
• travel expenses
• collaboration and mobility in Finland
• international collaboration and mobility
• preparation of international projects
• publishing costs (e.g. costs of open-access publishing).

Academy funding cannot be used for economic activity.

Research team salaries

As a rule, staff hired with Academy research funding must have an employment relationship. We recommend that they be hired for a period of employment no shorter than the funding period, unless a shorter contract is necessary for special reasons dictated by the implementation of the research project. Short-term research, study or other assignments may also be carried out in the form of outsourced services, if it is determined to be necessary for the project.

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. When accepting the funding, the site of research is responsible for ensuring that necessary statements and permits from ethics committees have been obtained before the start of the project. The site of research also commits to ensuring that the data management plan can be implemented at the site of research, and that the measures to be taken comply with good data management practice. Read more in the guidelines on the commitment by site of research.

The application must also include the overheads percentage, indirect employee costs and coefficient for effective working hours of the site of research. The site of research maintains these percentages in the online services under the site’s details.

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).

Funding plan

In the application, provide a cost estimate including an estimate of the annual amount of funding needed, itemised by type of expenditure. Also include a funding plan that shows all funding granted for the project as well as funding that will be provided by the site of research if the project is launched. Before submitting your application, you must agree with the administration at your own organisation on the contribution of the site of research to the funding of the project. Only costs that pass through the books of the site of the research must be included in the total costs. Applicants must check with their own organisation whether the funding planned as the own funding contribution suits this purpose. The funding applied for from the Academy must not exceed 70% of the total project costs.

In the letter of intent, each subproject will draft its own cost estimate, itemised by type of expenditure, on the tab Funding for the project.

In the full application, each subproject will draft its own cost estimate, itemised by type of expenditure. The application must include a cost estimate for the first funding period, showing an estimate of the annual amount of funding needed by the CoE. The cost estimate must be realistic. The cost estimate is justified in the full application’s research plan, which also includes a cost estimate for the entire duration of the project (first and second funding period). All research costs must be justified in the free-text field in the online services under ‘Funding for the project’.

Salary costs of principal investigator

Academy funding for research projects is primarily intended for the salaries of full-time researchers working on the projects and for other research costs.

The PI’s salary costs may, under certain limitations, be incorporated into the total project costs. The PI’s salary is entered under ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services.

Including PI’s salary (for project management) in total project costs

The PI’s salary costs may be incorporated into the total project costs in accordance with what is stated under the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services. In order for the salary costs to be eligible, the PI’s tasks must be clearly specified.

The salary costs must not be significant in relation to the project’s total costs. For example, a four-year research project must not include more than six months of the PI’s effective working hours. This is equivalent to approximately 1.5 months a year.

Applying for funding for PI’s salary (for research)

The Academy may grant funding for the PI’s salary for no more than a year for well-justified reasons, such as working abroad, returning to Finland or transferring to another research organisation or a company in Finland. Possible business collaboration must fulfil the terms set out in the Academy’s funding terms and conditions.

A condition is that the research-related reasons and the PI’s tasks must be clearly presented on the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services. The funding cannot be used for this purpose unless it is mentioned in the conditions accompanying the funding decision.

Granting salary funding to PI with no employment relationship

If the PI does not have an employment relationship with, for example, a university or research institute, they must explain how their salary will be covered during the funding period under the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services.

Retired researchers can be granted funding on the same grounds as other researchers.

Mobility aid in research projects

Mobility aid is applied for as research costs related to the implementation of the research plan. The aid is applied for in accordance with the practices of the site of research.

In the online services, the aid is applied for on the tab ‘Funding for the project’ under ‘Travel costs’. The mobility aid must be justified. Read more about the mobility aid in the funding terms and conditions.

How to submit and supplement the application

The non-negotiable call deadline also applies to consortia. The call for letters of intent (first stage) closes on 28 October 2020 at 16.15 Finnish time. The call for full applications (second stage) closes on 15 June 2021 at 16.15 Finnish time.

Make sure to submit the application in good time before the deadline. The system will only accept applications that contain all obligatory information. The joint consortium application is submitted by the consortium PI. The PI can submit the consortium application only after all subprojects have tagged their applications as complete.

You can edit and supplement the application until the deadline. You can make changes to a submitted application (e.g. change appendices), but you must make them before the deadline. If you notice that your application lacks important information after the deadline, immediately get in touch with the call’s contact person, so that they can reopen the application for you. 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. We may ask you to supplement the application. If you do not supplement the application by the given deadline, we may decide not to process it. You must make sure that your contact details (email address) are up to date.

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 you have provided.

Publicity and data protection

Except for the research plan, plan of intent, abstract and interim report, which are primarily confidential, the application and its appendices are public documents. For example, the CV is a public document and as such must not include any confidential information. This publicity is based on the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities. 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 letter of intent submitted at the first call stage consists of forms completed in the Academy’s online services and PDF appendices. As an applicant, you have the right to submit your application in Finnish or Swedish, but we ask that you to submit it in English to facilitate the international review.

CoE applicants draft and submit their letters of intent as consortium applications in the Academy’s online services.

Most of the links below take you to the A–Z index of application guidelines on our website.

The letter of intent contains the following parts

Personal data

• Personal details
• Degrees (most recent one first); parental leaves etc. may be filled in under ‘Additional information’
• Titles of docent and professorships

CV

• CV following the template, no more than two pages

Consortium parties

• Details on each party (name, email address, organisation and country)
• Read the guidelines for consortium applications.

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). See the research field classification.
• Keywords in English and Finnish/Swedish

Abstract

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

Letter of intent

• Maximum length 6 pages
• Read the guidelines on the CoE letter of intent.
• See the how-to guides for the online services

Most relevant publications

• Up to 20 of the consortium’s most important project-relevant publications
• You can retrieve publication details from 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)

Research ethics

• 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 under section 4.1 of the research plan.
• See the ethical guidelines.

Funding for the project

• The project’s funding follows the full cost model. The Academy’s funding contribution to the research costs comes to no more than 70%.
• Before you can fill in the cost estimate, you must first select the site of research on the tab ‘General information’.
• The site of research maintains the following percentages: effective working hours, indirect employee costs, overheads percentage and VAT
• The estimate must be realistic and based on the implementation of the research plan.
• 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. Read more in the guidelines on the commitment by site of research.

Research costs

• Fill in the funding sources of all parties to the CoE candidate for the entire CoE term 1 January 2022–31 December 2029.

Public project description

• Maximum length 1,000 characters including spaces
• Popular and reader-friendly description of the research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• The public description helps the Academy to disseminate information on the research project. The project description is also stored in the National Research Information Hub, which will make available information on research conducted in Finland.
• Read the guidelines on the public project description.

Authorisation

• You can authorise another person to supplement or view your application.
• Start by entering the person’s name in the field.
• The person must have 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.
• See technical instructions on the authorisation process in the how-to guides for the online services.

Appendices

Append only the requested appendices to the application and make sure to draft them in line with our guidelines. Also make sure not to exceed the maximum lengths indicated in the guidelines. Draft the appendices in English and append them to the application in PDF format.

Obligatory appendices

• Complete list of publications. Read the guidelines on the structure of the list of publications.

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 some information is missing.
• You can supplement the application until the deadline. Resaving will replace the earlier version.
• If you want to supplement the application after the deadline, please get in touch with the call’s contact person.

The full application submitted at the second call stage consists of forms completed in the Academy’s online services and PDF appendices. As an applicant, you have the right to submit your application in Finnish or Swedish, but we ask that you to submit it in English to facilitate the international review.

The second stage of the CoE call, for full applications, opens in the Academy’s online services on 4 May 2021 at the earliest. The second stage deadline for applications is 15 June 2021 at 16.15 Finnish time. The deadline is non-negotiable.

The CoE full application is a consortium application. The applications and appendices of consortium subprojects will be joined together with the consortium PI’s application. The joint consortium application is submitted by the consortium PI. The PI can submit the consortium application only after all subprojects have tagged their applications as complete. Consortium PIs must follow the completion of the consortium application in the online services to make sure that the application is submitted on time.

The application submitted by the CoE director includes the details on the director’s own subproject, the abstract and public description of the CoE as well as the consortium’s joint research plan.

The team leaders/subproject PIs will complete their own applications, filling in their own subproject’s cost estimate and funding plan as well as all other required fields.

Most of the links below take you to the A–Z index of application guidelines on our website.

The full application contains the following parts:

Personal data

• Personal details
• Degrees (most recent one first); parental leaves etc. may be filled in under ‘Additional information’
• Titles of docent and professorships

CV

• CV following the template, no more than two pages

Consortium parties

• Details on each party (name, email address, organisation and country)
• Read the guidelines for consortium applications.

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). See the research field classification.
• Keywords in English and Finnish/Swedish

Abstract

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

Research plan

• Maximum length 20 pages
• See the guidelines on the structure of the CoE research plan.
• See the how-to guides for the online services.

Most relevant publications

• Up to 20 of the consortium’s most important project-relevant publications.
• You can retrieve publication details from the VIRTA publication information service. Also 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)
• Describe the collaborators’ project-relevant merits and provide justifications for choosing them in section 3.2 of the research plan.
• If necessary, append a letter of commitment. See the guidelines on the letter of commitment.

Affiliations

• Research infrastructures: Indicate what kinds of equipment, resources or data reserves provided by national or international research infrastructures the project plans to use. The menu includes infrastructures included in Finland’s national roadmap and/or ESFRI’s roadmap. Other possible infrastructures are entered in a free-text field. Read more about research infrastructures.
• Centres of Excellence in Research: Read more about Centres of Excellence.
• Finnish Flagships: Read more about the Finnish Flagship Programme.

Research ethics

• 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 under section 4.1 of the research plan.
• See the ethical guidelines.

Funding for the project

• The project’s funding follows the full cost model. The Academy’s funding contribution to the research costs comes to no more than 70%.
• Before you can fill in the cost estimate, you must first select the site of research on the tab ‘General information’.
• The site of research maintains the following percentages: effective working hours, indirect employee costs, overheads percentage and VAT.
• Enter the funding period.
• Enter salaries and other costs.
• Enter other funding sources and their funding contributions. You must immediately notify us if you receive funding from other sources for the same purpose after your application to the Academy has been submitted.
• Justify the funding to be applied for. The cost estimate must be realistic.
• The PI’s salary costs may, under certain limitations, be incorporated into the total project costs: for project management and/or research. The justifications are entered on the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’ in the online services.
• Consult the administration at your site of research when filling in budget details. Read more about the funding in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.
• 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. Read more in the guidelines on the commitment by site of research.

Research costs

• Fill in the funding sources of all parties to the CoE candidate for the entire CoE term 1 January 2022–31 December 2029.

Salary of principal investigator

• Justifications, if salary costs for the PI are included in the funding plan
• The PI’s salary costs may, under certain limitations, be incorporated into the total project costs: for project management and/or research.
• If the PI does not have a permanent employment relationship, include a salary plan for the PI covering the entire funding period
• Read more about the PI’s salary in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.

Public project description

• Maximum length 1,000 characters including spaces
• Popular and reader-friendly description of the research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• The public description helps the Academy to disseminate information on the research project. The project description is also stored in the National Research Information Hub, which will make available information on research conducted in Finland.
• Read the guidelines on the public project description.

Authorisation

• You can authorise another person to supplement or view your application.
• Start by entering the person’s name in the field.
• The person must have 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.
• See technical instructions on the authorisation process in the how-to guides for the online services.

Appendices

• Append only the requested appendices to the application and make sure to draft them in line with our guidelines. Also make sure not to exceed the maximum lengths indicated in the guidelines.
• Appendices must be PDF files.

Consortium PI and subproject PIs:

Obligatory appendices:

• Complete list of publications. Read the guidelines on the structure of the list of publications.

Case-specific appendices:

•  Letter of commitment: See the guidelines on the letter of commitment.

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 some information is missing.
• You can supplement the application until the deadline. Resaving will replace the earlier version.
• If you want to supplement the application after the deadline, please get in touch with the call’s contact person.

Interim report

• If you have ongoing Academy funding, you must draw up an interim report in the online services on each ongoing project (incl. consortium subproject) before the call deadline. Read the guidelines on drafting the interim report.
• Also see the How-to guides for the online services.

Academy of Finland funding is granted based on peer review. We mainly use foreign experts as reviewers.

Letters of intent are peer-reviewed by individual international experts. The experts assess the scientific quality of the CoE applicant, the feasibility of the plan, the capacity for renewal and the scientific added value. Additionally, the assess the researchers’ merits and the support provided by the host organisations.

The experts assess the application(s) assigned to them and prepare a written review report on each application. See the rating scale on our website.

The plans of intent and the review statements on the letters of intent are discussed in a preparatory group composed of members of the Academy’s research councils. After this discussion, the General Subcommittee appointed by the Academy Board decides which CoE applicants are invited to the second call stage based on the reviews and the views of the preparatory group and at their own discretion. Successful applicants will be asked to submit full applications.

The full applications are peer-reviewed by panels of experts. The panels will also interview the applicants. The panels will assess the application(s) assigned to them and prepare a written review report on each application. See the rating scale on our website.

The full applications and the review statements are discussed in a preparatory group composed of members of the Academy’s research councils. After this discussion, the General Subcommittee appointed by the Academy Board decides which CoE applicants are selected to the CoE programme based on the reviews and the views of the preparatory group and at their own discretion.

Review criteria:

• scientific quality, innovativeness and novelty value of the research as well as its impact within the scientific community
• competence of applicant/research team in terms of project implementation
• feasibility of research plan (incl. research ethics)
• quality of research environment and collaborative networks
• added value of collaboration between consortium parties.

Read the review questions that will be used in the review (1^st and 2^nd stage): CoE review form (pdf) and review guidelines (pdf). The Academy’s review guidelines and forms are only available in English.

Each panel will rank the applications that have received a rating of 5 or 6.

The decisions on the first call stage (letters of intent) will be made in April 2021. Those selected to the second stage will be asked to submit full applications in the Academy’s online services by 15 June 2021. The General Subcommittee will decide in October 2021 on the CoEs to be selected. The funding decisions will be made in December 2021 and January 2022.

The names and project titles of the funding recipients will be posted on the Academy of Finland’s website.

A consortium application is treated as one single application. When a consortium is granted funding, each subproject of that consortium receives a separate funding decision and the funding is allocated to each subproject’s site of research.

Once the General Subcommittee has selected the CoEs, it will enter into negotiations with the CoEs on their objectives before making the final funding decisions. The aim of the negotiations is to reach an agreement on joint objectives for the research and to nail down the final funding budget.

You will receive an email notification after the funding 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. In addition, you will have access to read the expert reviews on your application.

How to receive the funding

A positive funding decision is accompanied by the terms and conditions of funding. Make sure to check the decision and accept the funding and its terms in the online services without delay. This must be done via the Academy’s online services within eight weeks of the decision date, unless otherwise stated in the special conditions of the decision notification.

Before you accept the funding, update the popular project description (if necessary), make changes to the annual instalments (if necessary) and attach the data management plan (drafted according to the guidelines). Once you have accepted the funding, the system will 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 the applicant and the representative of the site of research have accepted them. The system will then notify the funding to the finance administration of the site of research, whereupon the funds will be ready to use.

Who can apply?

The funding can be applied for by consortia composed of research teams. The consortium parties may represent one or several research organisations.

A consortium application is an application built around a joint research plan, where each party to the consortium applies for funding. The Academy treats the consortium application as a single application, although the funding is granted to each subproject separately.

What is the average funding per CoE?

The funding amount varies depending on the field of research. The average funding is 1.1 million euros per year, but it ranges from 0.6 to 1.8 million euros depending on the research conducted.

Are there any restrictions?

In the present call, funding will not be granted to directors, deputy directors or team leaders of Centres of Excellence that are included in the 2018–2025 CoE Programme, or to directors of Finnish Flagships. Funding may be granted to principal investigators of consortia funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC), provided that they will not have overlapping funding after 31 December 2022.

The CoE director, deputy director and group leaders can have only one application in the 2022–2029 call. Thus, the directors, deputy directors and team leaders named in the letter of intent may be changed between the first and second stage only for very compelling reasons.

In addition, a CoE will not be granted other Academy funding during the first three years of the CoE period. This does not apply to Academy Programmes, Academy Professors, Academy Research Fellows, etc. It applies only to normal project grants.

What is meant by the following terms: director, vice director, PI, team leader, collaborator?

The director is the principal investigator (PI) of the consortium. The consortium PI bears the responsibility for the drafting and submission of the consortium application. The PI is also responsible for reporting on the research of the consortium. The vice director is the deputy PI of the consortium. Team leaders are consortium subproject PIs. Collaborators can be national or international researchers with key significance to project implementation.

Can I apply for funding in other Academy calls in 2020 if I’m part of a CoE application?

Yes, you may apply in other calls as well.

What are the due dates for the call?

The CoE call has two stages. At the first stage, applicants submit plans of intent with appendices. The first-stage call opens on 1 September 2020 and closes on 28 October 2020.

The second stage call is by invitation only. The selections to the second stage are based on the first-stage review. At the second stage, applicants submit full applications with appendices. The second-stage call opens in April/May 2021 and closes on 15 June 2021.

The funding decisions will be made in late 2021, and the funding period will start in January 2022.

Can a CoE have a partner organisation abroad? Can international partner salaries be funded by the CoE project?

As a rule, the Academy’s research funding is granted to Finnish sites of research. However, the CoE can engage in international cooperation through collaborators, or the funded researchers may spend time working abroad during their funding period (researcher exchange).

What’s the difference between the tabs ‘Funding for the project’ and ‘Research costs’ in the online services?

The tab ‘Funding for the project’ is where you fill in the funding to be applied for from the Academy and the funding provided by the host organisation with a 70/30 proportion. The funding period is the first five years, in other words from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2026.

The tab ‘Research costs’ is where you fill in the funding sources of all parties to the CoE candidate for the entire CoE term 1 January 2022–31 December 2029.

Must everyone submit an interim report on ongoing Academy funding already at the first call stage?

No. The interim report must be submitted before the second stage deadline. Read the guidelines on drafting the interim report.

How do I enter 20 publications for the CoE candidate?

There are two alternatives. Either the director enters all 20 publications in their own application, or each party enters the publications concerning the party’s research in their own application and the director sees to that the total number of publications does not exceed 20. Regardless of which alternative is used the publications will appear one below the other in the application (in the PDF version). 

How much funding is there available in the CoE call?

The Academy of Finland is prepared to fund the selected CoEs with a total of approximately 65 million euros in the first five-year period. The funding to be distributed depends on the Finnish Parliament’s decision to allocate the necessary funds to the Academy.

Can we use footnotes in the application?

No, all bibliographic references must be added directly into the text: (Author(s) Year).

How are the applications reviewed?

Academy of Finland funding is granted based on peer review. We mainly use foreign experts as reviewers.

The letters of intent will be peer-reviewed by individual international experts.

The full applications will be reviewed by panels of experts. The panels will assess the application(s) assigned to them and prepare a written review report on each application. Additionally, the panels will interview the applicants.