Funding for research post as Postdoctoral Researcher 2020, all research fields

When applying for funding for a research post as Postdoctoral Researcher, you apply for funding for your own salary for three years. You use the same application to apply for funding for your own research costs. The aim of the funding is to support the most talented researchers who have recently completed their doctoral degree in gaining competence for demanding researcher or expert positions. In the review of applications, particular attention will be paid to the international dimension of the research plan. Applicants are encouraged to take part in international mobility and cooperation.

We recommend that Postdoctoral Researchers provide (without separate compensation) supervision of thesis and dissertation writers in their own field and teaching associated with their field of expertise, covering 5% of annual working hours. However, no more than 10% of the annual working hours should be spent on teaching and other work not immediately associated with the researcher’s own research.

To be eligible to apply, you must be a researcher with up to four years of experience since PhD completion (degree certificate issued 30 Sep 2016–30 Sep 2020), or up to eight years if you have obtained the degree simultaneously with medical specialist training.

Applicants who have completed their doctoral degree more than four years ago can be considered only for special reasons (maternity, paternity, parental or childcare leave, military service or nonmilitary service, or long-term illness). If you plead these special reasons, justify them in the application under ‘Personal data’, ‘Degrees’, ‘Additional information’. If these reasons are confidential, get in touch with the call’s contact person named in the call text (see Contacts).

Mobility since completing their doctoral degree is required of applicants for funding for a research post as Postdoctoral Researcher (see Mobility requirement). If your application for funding for a research post as Postdoctoral Researcher concerns the same research environment where you worked while completing your doctoral degree, you must have at least six months of research experience from another research environment or research-supporting experience from another sector since PhD completion. The experience may have been gained over several spells; the two longest spells must equal at least six months. Deviations from this general rule are possible only on special grounds.

In the September 2020 call, we will take into account that the COVID-19 pandemic may have interrupted or cancelled a mobility period. If you have been unable to meet the mobility requirement due to COVID-19 (e.g. the foreign organisation has not been able to commit to acting as host), you must describe the reasons and be able to provide proof. Provide the reasons described above in the application under ‘Mobility’. After the call deadline, please provide relevant certificates (e.g. airline tickets or invitation) in the application’s additional information. Academy research funding is granted to Finnish sites of research.

‘Research environment’ refers to the research team or community in which the researcher works. The research environment is often located within a single organisation (i.e. the site of research), but it may also extend to several sites. The ‘mobility requirement’ mentioned above is automatically met in cases where the applicant applies for funding for a research post in a research environment other than the one in which they worked while completing their doctoral degree.

Read more in the detailed guidelines for meeting the mobility requirement.

Special terms and restrictions

In the September call, we will consider only one application per researcher if the application concerns Academy Project Funding (incl. a consortium subproject), Academy Research Fellow Funding, Postdoctoral Researcher Funding or Clinical Researcher Funding. If you do submit more than one application for any of these funding opportunities or apply for funding from more than one of them, we will only review the first application to arrive. Applications that are not reviewed will not be eligible for funding. An applicant for Postdoctoral Researcher funding may be named as a researcher in a concurrent application of another applicant.

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.

The research councils will update their science policies in May‒June. The funding decisions are based on the policies of each research council. The policies will be updated on our website before the call opens. Read the policies of the research council before submitting your application.

A person applying for post as a Postdoctoral Researcher may be granted funding for one three-year term only.

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.

A research post as Postdoctoral Researcher is intended for full-time research during a period of three years. The funding period is 1 September 2021–31 August 2024. The funding period may be changed only for special reasons (see ‘Who can apply’ in the call text).

The funding granted for a Postdoctoral Researcher post is intended for the researcher’s salary for 36 months. The salary costs are determined in accordance with the pay system of the site of research. Postdoctoral Researchers may be granted funding for personal costs arising from research and mobility.

The salary of a Postdoctoral Researcher may also be co-funded, where appropriate in terms of supporting the researcher’s career advancement. This requires that the externally funded salary part has been allocated to research tasks or other tasks in support of the researcher’s career, such as tasks that are part of the university’s tenure-track system. The guidance value for the Academy’s contribution to the researcher’s salary costs is 70 per cent, unless there are reasons for a higher contribution. The corresponding contribution to those funded through ERC schemes or Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions is up to 50 per cent. Although the Postdoctoral Researcher funding may come from other funding sources in addition to the Academy, the research work must continue to be full-time. The funding that is freed as a result of salary co-funding can be used for other, separately justified research costs, such as researcher mobility or exceptionally also recruitment of auxiliary personnel.

The Postdoctoral Researcher’s site of research is an organisation based in Finland through which the funding is paid. During the funding period, the Postdoctoral Researcher may work abroad for periods of varying durations, for example at foreign universities.

The application must contain a funding plan drafted in line with the full cost model, 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:

• essential implementation costs
• travel expenses
• collaboration and mobility in Finland
• international collaboration and mobility
• publishing costs (e.g. costs of open-access publishing).

Academy funding cannot be used for economic activity.

Research team salaries

Funding will not be granted for hiring staff.

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 the 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 will see to that this information is kept up to date in the online services.

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. As the total project costs must not include any costs that do not pass through the books of the site of research, you must check with your 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. The cost estimate must be realistic.

When drafting the cost estimate, you must consider the research council policies that concern the granted funding (the policies will be updated in May–June).

The applicant and the site of research must agree on the Postdoctoral Researcher’s salary in advance. The monthly salary applied for from the Academy is primarily determined according to job grade 5 of the pay scale of teaching and research staff, which means about 3,100–4,400 euros/month, depending on the researcher’s experience and the pay level at the site of research.

All research costs must be justified in the free-text field in the online services under ‘Project funding’.

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 order to obtain further information, you should contact the personnel and financial administration 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.

Research at EUI or IIASA

If you apply for Postdoctoral Researcher funding, you can also apply to do research at the European University Institute (EUI) in Italy as part of the Postdoctoral Researcher term. The EUI can receive up to two Academy-funded Postdoctoral Researchers at a time to carry out research at the EUI for 1–2 years. You need not append a separate invitation from the EUI to your application or contact the EUI. However, please read about EUI research before applying and contact the Academy’s EUI contact person (see Contacts) when drafting your application.

During the Academy funding period, Postdoctoral Researchers can also visit the multidisciplinary International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, which focuses on global issues that require broad-based, multidisciplinary research cooperation. IIASA develops and utilises methods of systems analysis, but the applicant is not required to have knowledge of these methods. If your research is linked to one of IIASA’s research projects, you can agree on the visit with IIASA and append IIASA’s invitation to your application for Postdoctoral Researcher funding. You should also contact the Academy’s IIASA contact person for more details (see Contacts).

How to submit and supplement the application

The deadline is non-negotiable. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2020 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.

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 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 that you to submit it in English to facilitate the international review.

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

The online 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

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 12 pages
• See the guidelines on the structure of the research plan.
• See the how-to guides for the online services.

Most relevant publications

• Up to ten of your most important project-relevant publications
• You can retrieve publication details from the VIRTA publication information service. Also see our how-to guide 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)

Mobility

• Mobility requirement: You must have at least six months of national or international mobility after PhD completion, which must be justified in the application. Alternatively, you have changed research environments. Read more about the mobility requirement.
• Reasons for possible deviations from the mobility requirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic A document of proof for the deviation shall be appended under the application’s additional information after the call has closed.
• Other period of mobility after doctorate
• Mobility period planned for the project and how it supports the implementation of the research
• See more information on mobility.

Collaborators

• Project collaborators, itemised by collaborator (name, organisation, country)
• 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 permit 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.
• 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.

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

• Appendices must be PDF files.

Obligatory appendices

• Complete list of publications. Read the guidelines on the structure of the list of publications.
• Finnish doctoral degree certificate or English-language doctoral degree certificate of a degree obtained abroad; please do not append any transcripts

Case-specific appendices

• Invitation letter for research visit. Invitation by host organisation (e.g. university or research institute), if the work or part of it will be conducted at a place other than the site of research mentioned in the application; please do not append any letters of recommendation Read the guidelines on the invitation letter.
• Letter of commitment: See the guidelines on the letter of commitment.
• Research plan following the template (no more than 12 pages); append only if the research plan has not been filled in on the tab ‘Research plan’ See the guidelines on the structure of the research plan.

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 contact persons listed in the call text.

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.

The applications are primarily reviewed in international panels. The panel drafts one review report on each application. At least two individual reviews are requested for applications with a subject that does not fit into any of the panels.

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
• researcher mobility and researcher training.

Read the review questions that will be used in the review: review form for Postdoctoral Researchers and review guidelines. 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 research councils will update their science policies in May‒June. The funding decisions are based on the policies of each research council. The policies will be updated on our website before the call opens. Read the policies of the research council before submitting your application.

The research council will make the funding decisions in two stages in spring 2021. At the first stage, applications that have received rating 1–4 in the review will receive a negative decision at the discretion of the research council concerned. The rest of the applications will be processed at the second stage (mainly applications that received a rating of 5–6). The second-stage funding decisions may be either positive or negative.

You will receive an email notification 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. A positive funding decision will be accompanied by the terms and conditions of funding. In the online services, you will also have access to the review report, which may include the panel ranking (panels rank the best applications).

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.