Strategic research programme: Information literacy and evidence-informed decision-making (LITERACY), call for invited applicants

The Research Programme will seek solutions to how information can be used critically and constructively to support both individual and societal decision-making and actions.

Information provides a solid and constructive foundation for dialogue among people, for the individual’s choice-making and more broadly for decision-making in society. A key challenge with regard to the relationship between science and decision-making concerns the reliability and comprehensibility of information and scientific knowledge. In society, there’s a need for new ways of processing information – information literacy. Essentially, how does information gain broad enough acceptance to serve as a basis for the individual’s actions and decision-making in society? The increasing amount, fragmentation and diversity of information are challenging people’s skills and ways of filtering and assimilating information. Some people may be selective in their information use and hold onto their own views even in the face of evidence that speaks against those views. Individual differences in ways of assimilating information also come into play. Accelerating technological development needs to be supported by information processing skills and an understanding of the nature of information and knowledge.

Society and individuals need to master the challenges of the information environment and to develop new ways of forming evidence-informed views and information processing skills for purposes of their decision-making. All this relates to the conditions and structures of assimilating, disseminating and using information and knowledge in all areas of society, and covers the various dimensions of human life and the relationship of humans with their environment. The challenges are often manifested on the local level, whereas the solutions may call for a global viewpoint.

The solutions will require addressing the mutual relations of different genres of information and an understanding of the ever-faster-paced decision-making processes. Furthermore, research is needed into the ways and tools with which information and data are produced and presented. It is essential that the solutions proposed are wholly inclusive and do not in any way lead to exclusion from information or create inequalities.

The cross-cutting priority for the research programme is communality which is intended to emphasise that every individual acts also as part of society.

The commitment of researchers and other involved partners to the principles of inclusive co-creation must be universally reflected in all projects, from the earliest stages of project planning and goal setting. It is crucial that in all its interactions the research maintains an open, inclusive and responsive relationship with the surrounding society and its many and diverse actors.

Programme questions

A. Which challenges are the project’s main focus and how do these challenges come together in an integrated whole?

B. How do the proposed research and its interactions contribute to a deeper understanding of the challenges of evidence-informed decision-making, and how do they support the critical and constructive use of information for purposes of decision-making?

C. How can the proposed research and its interactions provide concrete conditions for supporting evidence-informed decision-making and actions?

D. How does the proposed combination of research fields and network of interaction partners support the achievement of the solutions aimed for in the programme?

E. How is the cross-cutting priority integrated in the project so that the principles of inclusive co-creation permeate all research and interactions within the consortium from the earliest stages of project planning and goal setting?

Strategic research funding may only be applied for by consortia. The consortia funded by the Strategic Research Council – SRC consortia – are structurally different from consortia funded by the Academy of Finland, for example, under the Academy Project and Academy Programme funding schemes.

Each consortium must have a PI, a deputy PI, an interaction coordinator and work package leaders. In the full application, each subproject must have a named subproject PI, who is responsible for the subproject's funding and submitting the application at the site of research.

Principal investigators (PIs), deputy PIs and WP leaders of SRC consortia must have a doctoral degree, a title of docent or research experience at the docent level. The interaction coordinator must be qualified in their own field, but they are not required to have a doctoral degree.

Read the guidelines for consortium applications

An example of a possible structure for an SRC consortium:                       

SRC consortia must be based on true collaboration The research work must not rely too heavily on a single site of research, research team or scientific discipline. This will require sufficient resources for managing and coordinating the consortium operations and for carrying out the consortium's interaction activities. The consortia should work towards a balanced gender composition.

A subproject PI must be competent to lead the subproject. As a rule, they also should hold a doctoral degree. The application must give and account of how the salary of the subproject PI is arranged during the funding period.

The SRC’s funding for strategic research benefits the scientific community in Finland as well as Finnish society at large. SRC consortia may also include foreign sites of research, but their proportions of the total funding must not be significant.

The funding is not granted to support economic activity (i.e. all activity where goods or services are offered on an open market). If the funding is applied for by an organisation other than a university, a university of applied sciences or a research institute, the applicant must confirm their eligibility and the funding conditions from the programme’s contact person in good time before submitting the application. Failure to do so will jeopardise the processing of the entire consortium application.

Strategic research funding is not granted to sole-proprietor businesses.

Restrictions

PIs and/or deputy PIs of SRC consortia can have this role only in one consortium funded by the SRC. An exception to this rule is the PIs and deputy PIs of the following SRC programmes that will be completed in 2021, as funding periods overlap only slightly: These programmes are A Climate-Neutral and Resource-Scarce Finland (PIHI), Equality in Society (EQUA) and Disruptive Technologies and Changing Institutions (TECH).

The same person may be a subproject PI and/or WP leader in only one application per each SRC programme. Consortium PIs must check the eligibility of each subproject PI and WP leader and that they are participating in only one application per programme.

If a person acts as a consortium PI or WP leader in more than one application, that person will be removed from all applications before the start of the review. In such cases, the applications concerned will proceed to the review without the person’s details, CV and list of publications.

As the SRC consortia are expansive, leading one requires a considerable amount of work. The SRC requires that consortium PIs commit themselves with a sufficient level of input to heading the consortium. Therefore the directors and subproject PIs (team leaders) of the Academy of Finland’s Centres of Excellence cannot act as PIs or deputy PIs for SRC consortia.

Members of the Academy Board, the Academy’s research councils and the SRC will not be granted SRC funding during their terms.

SRC funding cannot be applied for by a person who has participated in the planning of the concerned programme to an extent likely to give them a comparative advantage over other applicants.

Changing consortium compositions between first and second call stage

SRC consortium PIs or WP leaders named in the letter of intent may be changed only for very compelling reasons. The composition of an SRC consortium may be supplemented after the first call stage only if the supplementation has been suggested in the first-stage review report. The contents of the research and interaction plan must remain essentially unchanged. Consortium parties cannot be removed.

Any changes to consortium compositions made for the above reasons must be justified in the research and interaction plan of the full application. In addition, in such cases, applicants must get in touch with the programme’s contact person before they submit their full application.

The project duration in the programmes open for application is six years. The research and interaction plan included in the application must be drafted to cover the entire six-year period. However, the funding will be granted in two parts (3+3 years).

The SRC is prepared to fund a total of 8–12 projects within the current programme calls. The calls’ funding budget for the projects’ first three years has been set at a total of 34 million euros. The cost estimate for the projects must be realistic.

The first funding decision will cover the period 1 October 2020–30 September 2023. The progress of the projects will be reviewed at midterm, after which the SRC will decide on the continuation of funding for the period 1 October 2023–30 September 2026. It is not possible to transfer funding from one funding period to another. The cost estimate for an SRC consortium’s six-year term must be drafted so that the funding for the second three-year funding period is approximately 70% of the funding for the first funding period.

Salary costs

The SRC requires that consortium PIs commit themselves with a sufficient level of input to heading the consortium. Funding awarded for strategic research can also be used to cover the salaries of consortium PIs and possible coordinators for the entire duration of the funding period. However, the salary funding must not overlap with salary paid from other funding by the Academy of Finland.

Staff to be hired with SRC funding must have an employment relationship with their site of research. With regard to research personnel, the funding is primarily intended for the salaries of researchers with doctoral degrees.

Other eligible costs

SRC funding is granted for research and related interaction activities. The funding is not granted to support economic activity.

In SRC calls, funding can be applied for to cover the salary and other costs arising from the implementation of the research and interaction plans.

Other eligible costs include the following:

• costs of implementing the interaction plan
• research costs
• travel expenses
• costs of collaboration and mobility in Finland and abroad (of key significance to the goals of the project)
• costs of preparing international projects
• publishing costs (e.g. costs of open-access publishing).
• auditing costs.

The funding cannot be used to pay for acquisition of significant infrastructures.

All acquisitions must be made in accordance with the Finnish Act on Public Contracts. Where necessary, the acquisitions must be put out to tender in compliance with the practices stipulated in the Act.

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.

The overhead for the site of research, indirect employee costs and coefficient for effective working hours are also included in the full application.

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

The application must include a cost estimate for the first funding period, showing an estimate of the annual amount of funding needed by the SRC consortium. The cost estimate must be realistic The cost estimate is justified in the full application’s research and interaction plan, which also includes a cost estimate for the entire duration of the project (first and second funding period). The cost estimate for the entire project is allocated so that the costs of the second funding period may go up to no more than 70% of the cost estimate for the first funding period.

The letter of intent includes the cost estimate as estimated totals costs (all subprojects together) per year. The estimate is entered in the online serviceson the tab Funding for the project under Other expenses.

In the full applications (second call stage), each subproject will present their own cost estimates, itemised by type of expenditure.

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

Mobility allowance in research projects

The researcher mobility carried out in SRC-funded projects must support the goals of the programme concerned. It should also support project implementation, reinforce the international networks of the researchers involved, and create new knowledge and know-how. Mobility plans are not necessary in the letters of intent. In the full application, the applicant must describe the mobility plan in the online services’ application form.

The mobility allowance in research projects depends neither on the target country nor on the duration of the stay. It is a taxable benefit and indirect employee costs will be deducted from it:

• for a researcher with no dependants:  1,050 euros/month
• for a researcher with dependants: 1,500 euros/month

The mobility allowance is applied for as research costs for implementing the research plan and as part of the original application of the research project. The recommended amount should be enough to cover the costs of higher living expenses from living abroad.

Mobility allowance is applied for on the tab Funding for the project under Other expenses. Ticket costs for travel abroad are entered separately under Travel costs. If researchers and their families stay abroad for at least six months, funding can also be applied for to cover family travel costs. You must justify the need for mobility allowance.

How to submit and supplement the application

The call deadlines are 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. The joint letter of intent for the SRC consortium is submitted only by the PI.

The joint full application for the SRC consortium 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 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.

You must immediately notify the Academy if you receive funding from other sources for the same purpose after your application to the Academy has been submitted.

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 full application submitted in 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 SRC call, for full applications, opens in the Academy of Finland’s online services on 11 March 2020 at the earliest. The second stage closes on 28 April 2020 at 16.15 local Finnish time. The deadline is non-negotiable.

Full applications for strategic research funding are drafted as consortium applications. The applications and appendices of consortium subprojects will be joined together with the consortium PI’s application. The consortium application can be submitted only after all subprojects have completed their applications (i.e. tagged them 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 consortium PI must include the details, abstract and public description for the PI’s own project as well as the whole consortium’s joint research and interaction plan and the CVs and lists of publications for the deputy PI and WP leaders (if they are not subproject PIs).

The 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.

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 

Consortium parties

• Subproject PIs (site of research that will receive funds)
• Details on each party (name, email address, organisation and country)
• Read the guidelines for SRC consortium applications 

SRC Consortium composition

• Information for the deputy PI, work package leaders and interaction coordinator (name, email, organisation and country)
• Choose the person’s role from the drop-down menu. If the person is a work package leader, add the number of the work package from the drop-down menu.
• Read the guidelines for SRC 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)
• 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

Research teams

• The role and members of the team
• Effective working hours for the team members

Research and interaction plan

• Maximum length 19 pages
• Read the guidelines for the structure of an SRC consortium research and interaction plan
• See the how-to guides for the online services

Most relevant publications

• No more than ten of the most important consortium publications for the project
• You can 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)
• Subproject PIs may add publications, but the total number of publications for the consortium must not exceed ten
• Do not use the Publication Forum classification (JUFO)

Collaborators

• Specify the collaborators of the project (name, organisation, country, the objective/benefit of the collaboration briefly)

Mobility

• Enter information on planned national and international mobility within the project, itemised by person
• Guidelines on the mobility allowance are available in the call text under Funding to be applied for and funding period.
• Read more about mobility (Academy Projects, Targeted Academy Projects and Academy Programmes)

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 under the section on research implementation in the research and interaction plan.

• Good scientific practice

Funding for the project – Following the Full cost model

• Funding period, effective working hours, indirect employee costs, overheads percentage and VAT
• Salaries and other costs
• Justifications for 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. 

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. 

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 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

• 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. Please name each document or part of a document clearly (e.g. CV [name], Publications [N.N.]) as this makes the reviewers’ work easier. Draft the appendices in English and append them to the application in PDF format under Appendices. An exception is the consortium PI’s and the subproject PIs’ CVs, which are appended under Personal data/CV. Only one CV and one list of publications should be submitted for each person, even if they hold several positions in the consortium. Do not use the Publication Forum classification (JUFO) for the list of publications.

Obligatory appendices

A consortium PI

• Give a clear title to each page of the document/s (e.g. if the document includes both the CV and the list of publications or information for different people).
  
  
• CV is appended under Personal data/CV, no more than two pages, name following the format [surname]_cv
  
  
• List the ten most important publications, no more than one page (may include a link to a longer list of publications). Name the appendix following the format [surname]_pub.
  
  
• Data management plan: write the plan with help from DMPTuuli or according to the guidelines found on the Academy’s website (1–3 pages).
  
  
• CV for the work package leaders and interaction coordinator (max. two pages each) and a list of ten most important publications (max. one page) in the same document. Name the three-page appendices following the format [surname]_cv_and_pub.
  
  
• CV for the consortium deputy PI (max. two pages) and a list of ten most important publications (max. one page). Name the appendix following the format [surname]_cv_and_pub.

Subproject PI

• CV is appended under Personal data/CV, no more than two pages. Name the appendix following the format [surname]_cv..
  
  
• List the ten most important publications, no more than one page (may include a link to a longer list of publications). Name the appendix following the format [surname]_pub.

Case-specific appendices

Consortium and/or subproject PI

• Statement by ethics committee or animal care committee
• Invitation by foreign university or research institute, if the research or part of it will be conducted abroad; do not append any letters of recommendation
• Progress report on all Academy-funded projects headed by the applicant that have not submitted final reports.
• Letters of commitment from collaborators named in the application
• Account of state aids received (applies to organisations engaging in economic activity)

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 call’s contact person.

A summary of the tasks that are required of the consortium parties in the online services (SARA):

SRC funding decisions are based on a review of the merits of the research and interaction plans and the applicants. The review puts particular emphasis on the added value generated by the consortium for the attainment of the objectives set for the programme concerned.

The letters of intent will be peer-reviewed by panels composed of Finnish and foreign experts in science and societal relevance. The panels will consider how well the project matches the programme objectives and assess its societal relevance and impact as well as the quality of the research.

The review of letters of intent will focus on the following aspects:

• compatibility with the programme call
• scientific level
• societal relevance and impact.

The letters of intent will be reviewed by a panel composed of Finnish and foreign experts in various scientific disciplines, transdisciplinary approaches and research relevance. The applications must have high societal impact and be of a high scientific standard.

When reviewing the letters of intent, the panel will reflect on the answers to the following questions:

Guiding  questions:  

• Why and how does the proposed research match the programme?
  
• How significant is the contribution to policy or practice?
  
• To what extent do the research idea and the applied methodologies aim at scientific excellence?
  
• How does the research plan support multidisciplinary approach and what added value does the chosen approach bring?
  
• Is the consortium competent to execute the plan?
  
• Are the plans for interaction sufficient?

The panel will review all letters of intent assigned to it and issue a written review report on each application, based on draft reviews and the panel discussion. The panel will use the review scales for both societal relevance and scientific quality , but it will not give overall ratings. Instead, the panel will divide the letters of intent into three groups (A–C) according to how strongly it recommends that the application be invited to the second call stage.

The SRC will decide which consortia are invited to the second call stage based on the panel’s review reports and at its own discretion. Successful consortia will be asked to submit full applications.

The full applications will be peer-reviewed by two panels. The societal relevance and impact and scientific quality of the applications will be reviewed separately. Both panels use individual rating scales (1-6).

A relevance panel composed of Finnish and foreign experts will review the project for its societal relevance and impact. They will also consider how well the application matches the programme objectives.

An international scientific panel will review the scientific quality of the proposed research plans and the grounds for the research choices.

The SRC will select the projects to be funded based the reviews of the relevance panel and the scientific panel.

A list of the panels’ review questions for the second call stage as well as the review scales and scale descriptions can be found here.

For justified reasons, we may decide not to review or process an application. The reasons that are considered in these cases are presented on our website under Review criteria.

Projects going through to the second call stage will be selected in March 2020. Those selected to the second stage will be asked to submit full applications in the Academy’s online services by 28 April 2020. The SRC will make the funding decisions in September 2020 at the latest.

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

The 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 SRC has selected the consortia for the programmes, it will enter into negotiations with the consortia on their objectives. The final funding decisions will be made based on these negotiations. The aim of the negotiations is to reach an agreement on joint objectives for the research and interaction activities and to nail down the final funding budget. At the end of the negotiations, the representatives of the consortia undertake to fulfil the agreed objectives by signing a letter of undertaking.

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. In addition, you will have access to read the expert reviews on your application.

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.