2025 Proof of Concept funding

At the core of the Research Council of Finland’s activities is to provide funding for excellent scientific research. The research we fund is also expected to have high scientific and societal impact and follow the principles of responsible science.

The Research Council of Finland’s Proof of Concept Funding is intended for demonstrating the feasibility of ideas on how to utilise research results of projects funded by the RCF and the Strategic Research Council (SRC) and for strengthening the versatile utilisation of research results based on these ideas.

The funding can be used to, for example:

• promote the effective use of research results and knowledge for the needs of society and increase the economic or other societal impact of research
• pilot or test research results in experimental or practical settings
• develop new models for industry, public administration or the third sector.

The funding will increase the competence of research organisations and researchers in utilising research and provide researchers with opportunities to diversify their collaboration networks and increase their expertise in business and stakeholder cooperation.

The funding complements Finnish national funding instruments to support cooperation between research organisations, businesses and other societal actors. Compared to the funding opportunities offered by Business Finland, the RCF Proof of Concept Funding is closer to scientific research.

The projects to be funded are expected to move from research towards commercialisation or other societal use of the research. At the end of the project, the solution sought by the project may still be in a pre-commercial phase or in a phase where it is being prepared for deployment for other uses.

Applications are invited from project PIs and subproject PIs of RCF- and SRC-funded research projects whose funding period ends between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025. The eligible funding schemes are: Academy Research Fellowship, Clinical Researcher, Academy Project, Targeted Academy Project, Academy Programme and SRC programme, as well as RCF international project funding.

The eligibility to apply is determined based on the closing date of the call, 14 May 2025. If the applicant has requested to extend the funding period due to pregnancy, maternity, paternity, parental or childcare leave, military or civilian service or long-term illness before the deadline, and the extended funding period ends after 31 December 2025, the applicant is not eligible to apply in this call. If the application to extend the funding period is submitted after the deadline, the extension will not affect the eligibility. If a project has been funded in two parts (e.g. 3 + 3 years), the funding period refers to the latter period.

The call is not open under the following schemes: Centre of Excellence funding, Flagship Programme funding, research infrastructure funding, Postdoctoral Researcher funding, PROFI funding, Proof of Concept funding, funding from EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and personal mobility grants.

Applications are invited from individual teams or consortia composed of two or more teams. The consortium parties may represent one or several research organisations. All subproject PIs in a consortium project must be eligible to apply.

A consortium application is an application built around a joint plan, where each party to the consortium applies for funding. The RCF treats a consortium application as a single application, although the funding is granted to each subproject separately. Consortium compositions cannot be changed after the call deadline. Read the guidelines for consortium applications.

In addition to a doctoral degree, the principal investigator (PI) of the proposed project must also have other significant scientific merits. Usually the PI is a researcher at the professor or docent (adjunct professor) level. These criteria also apply to subproject PIs in consortia. In addition, the applicant must have a close connection with Finland to support the implementation of a two-year project. This connection must be evident from the application.

The PI of the application cannot be changed while the application is being processed (after the call has closed but before the decision). The only exception to this is if the PI dies.

Special terms and restrictions

In this call, we will consider (process) only one application per applicant. If you submit more than one application to the call, only the first application to arrive will be considered (processed).

The PI’s salary costs may only under certain limitations and on justifiable grounds be incorporated into the total project costs. Read more in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.

Other special terms

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

We will not consider (process) an application by 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 consider (process) a funding application if the applicant has been found guilty of research misconduct in the three years preceding the year of the call.

If the application includes cooperation with Russia or Belarus, you must take into account our policies.

If you have not submitted a final report on a completed or ongoing RCF-funded project by the set deadline, we may decide not to consider (process) your application.

An application will not be considered (processed) if the applicant or the application does not meet the competence requirements or other key requirements set for the call, or if there are otherwise no conditions for processing the case.

A scientific council or another decision-making body may decide not to fund an application based on science policy objectives, or if it is apparent for some other reason that the applicant cannot receive funding with the submitted application. Read more about the circumstances that may cause us not to consider (process) an application.

We will not consider (process) an application if the applicant is a member of the RCF Board or scientific councils or the Strategic Research Council.

The RCF Board decides the criteria for the RCF's funding decisions.

The application consists of a form completed in the online services and its 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.

Before the call opens

Check your eligibility

• Read the section Who can apply? to see whether you meet the eligibility criteria.

Plan the contents of your application

• Start drafting your research utilisation plan and CV.
• Draft the above appendices on our templates (see ‘Application parts in the online services’). Read the instructions on using the templates. You have access to the templates even before the call opens.
• Read the review guidelines and review form. Also read the plan guidelines and the FAQ. Write your plan in such a way that reviewers can easily find the answer to the review questions.
• Contact your collaborators. Request letters of collaboration from national and international collaborators that are relevant to the implementation of the project. The letters must be appended to the application before the call deadline.

Plan the funding of your project

• Draft the budget in line with the guidelines of your organisation. Read more about the amount of funding and the terms and conditions in the call text under ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’.
• Contact your organisation’s support services now if you have any budget-related questions.
• Also read our funding terms and conditions. If you are granted funding, you are also bound by the terms and conditions.

When the call opens

• Sign up or log in to our online services. Check and update your personal details. Your up-to-date email address is important when we are in contact with you.
• Instructions on how to fill in the application form are available in the online services.
• If you are applying as part of a consortium, read the consortium application guidelines before you start drafting the application.

Application parts in the online services

The different parts of the application are listed below. A comprehensive A–Z index of application guidelines is available on our website. Instructions for filling in the application form are also on the tabs of the form.

• Personal details
• General description: topic, keywords and scientific disciplines of the project, details on the site of research
• Consortium parties: In the consortium application, the consortium PI names the subproject PIs.
• Abstract (follow instructions where applicable)
• Public project description (follow instructions where applicable)
• Research results utilised in the project: Applicants must describe the research results obtained in the project previously funded by the RCF or the SRC, which ends between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025 and on which the current project is based. Add the funding decision number of the eligible project on the same tab in the online services.
• Project’s funding and commitment by site of research. See section ‘Funding to be applied for and funding period’ in the call text.
• Salary costs of principal investigator
• Collaborators: list of collaborators. The collaboration is described in the research utilisation plan.
• Mobility: list of research visits (in Finland and abroad as well as between sectors)
• Affiliation with research infrastructures, Centres of Excellence and Finnish Flagships
• Short data management plan (follow the instructions where applicable, taking into account the call objectives)
• Research ethics
• Progress report on all RCF-funded projects that have not yet submitted final reports
• Most relevant publications and other outputs: up to ten publications and ten other research outputs that are most relevant to the project; The project or consortium PI enters a total of up to ten jointly agreed most important project-relevant publications by the team members and a total of up to ten of the team’s or consortium members’ most relevant own research outputs, with justifications. If the desired output type is not listed, select ‘Other, what?’ and enter the name of the output. The information is used to assess the competence of the applicant or consortium to carry out the project. Detailed instructions available on the application form.

Appendices to be appended on dedicated tabs:

You must use our templates for the following appendices:

• Research utilisation plan
• Curriculum vitae

We recommended that the utilisation plan describe the full utilisation path of the research results, from short- and medium-term effects to long-term impact, and indicate which stage of the process will be carried out with the requested two-year funding. See guidelines on describing the research utilisation path.

Other appendices

• List of publications, obligatory appendix (publications from the past five years)
• If necessary, append a letter of collaboration.

Submitting the application in the online services

You can submit the application when you have filled in or attached all the necessary information. A red warning triangle tells you that there is an error or information missing.

The joint consortium application is submitted by the consortium PI. They can submit the consortium application only after all subprojects have tagged their applications as complete.

You can authorise a person to edit or view the application on the tab ‘Authorisation’.

Submit your application in good time. You can supplement and edit the application and change appendices until the call deadline.

Individual projects may be granted a maximum of 300,000 euros. In consortia, the maximum project size is 450,000 euros. The funding period starts on 1 January 2026 and ends on 31 December 2027.

The funding is primarily intended towards the salaries of persons who work full-time on the project and for other project costs.

The PI of the funded project must have a close connection with Finland. However, during the funding period, persons hired to the project can work abroad for periods of varying lengths.

The funding is granted to a Finnish site of research (usually a university or research institute) through which the funding is paid.

Funding plan

As a rule, funding granted by the Research Council of Finland is co-funding. The RCF’s contribution to the funding is up to 70 per cent of the total costs, and the applicant’s site of research (host organisation) will cover at least 30 per cent of the total costs. Before submitting the application, you must agree with the administration at your organisation on the contribution of the site of research to the funding of the project. You must check with your organisation whether the funding planned as the own funding contribution suits this purpose.

On the tab ‘Funding for the project’, provide the following information:

• cost estimate including an estimate of the annual amount of funding needed, itemised by type of expenditure.
• the annual instalment costs are spread equally (e.g. 70%/30%) over all funding years
• all funding granted for the project as well as funding that will be provided by the site of research if the project is launched.

Only costs that pass through the books of the site of the research must be included in the total costs.

Pay particular attention to ensuring that the cost estimate is realistic and justified for the implementation of the research project. Justify the most significant costs by type of expenditure in the free-text field.

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

• 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.

In this call, applicants can also apply for funding, for instance, for the following direct costs of promoting research utilisation (provided they do not arise from economic activity):

• costs of carrying out the research utilisation plan
• costs of making research data available (open access)
• market or patent surveys, other equivalent proof-of-concept activities
• experimentation and pilot projects
• protection of IPRs (not maintenance fees)
• commercialisation preparation (not actual commercialisation or commercialisation activities that will benefit only one company).

Our funding cannot be used for economic activity. Read more about the eligibility of economic operators.

Only for compelling reasons can government grants be awarded to cover salary costs in cases where the applicant has obstacles related to illegal employment, as referred to in section 7(2) of the Finnish Act on Discretionary Government Grants.

Team salaries

As a rule, staff hired with RCF research funding must have an employment relationship. We recommend that they be hired for the entire funding period, unless a shorter contract is necessary for special reasons dictated by the implementation of the project. Short-term research, studies or other assignments (max. duration six months) may also be carried out in the form of outsourced services.

Salary costs of principal investigator

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

As a rule, funding is not granted for the PI’s salary. The PI’s salary costs may only under certain limitations and on justifiable grounds (see below) be incorporated into the total project costs. In order for the salary costs to be eligible, the PI’s tasks must be clearly specified and motivated. Under ‘Salaries’ on the tab ‘Funding for the project’, choose the purpose for which funding for the PI’s salary is sought. Justify the salary on the tab ‘Salary of principal investigator’.

You can apply for funding to cover the PI’s salary costs for the following purposes:

For project management

• The salary costs must not be significant in relation to the project’s total costs. A two-year project can include up to three months of the PI’s work to manage the project. This funding scheme does not provide funding for the supervision of doctoral dissertations.

For carrying out research

• The RCF 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 our funding terms and conditions.
• The funding cannot be used for this purpose unless it is mentioned in the special conditions accompanying the funding decision.

If the PI does not have an employment relationship

• If the PI does not have an employment relationship with, for example, a university or research institute for the duration of the funding period, they must explain how their salary will be covered during the funding period.
• Retired researchers can be granted funding on the same grounds as other researchers.

Mobility aid

Mobility aid can be applied for as costs related to the implementation of the research utilisation plan. The aid is applied for in accordance with the practices of the site of research. 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 expenses’. The mobility aid must be justified. Read more about the mobility aid in the funding terms and conditions.

What is required from the site of research?

The site of research is a Finnish research organisation such as a university, research institute or research organisation.

We require that the site of research 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 costs of ensuring immediate open access to peer-reviewed articles are included in the overheads of the site of research. The costs associated with storing and sharing research and other data are regarded as overheads for the project’s site of research. Only exceptionally and for justified reasons can they be accepted as costs to be covered with RCF research funding. 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. After a positive funding decision, the site of research will also approve the data management plan of the project.

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 is also responsible for ensuring that the applicant has not been found guilty of research misconduct in the last three years.

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

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. RCF funding may also cover VAT costs, but only on certain conditions (see Value added tax and read more in our funding terms and conditions).

Read more in the guidelines for sites of research.

How to submit and supplement the application

The non-negotiable call deadline also applies to consortia. We will not consider (process) an application that has not been submitted by deadline. The deadline for applications is 14 May 2025 at 16.15 Finnish time.

The joint consortium application is submitted by the consortium PI. The PI can submit the consortium application only after all subproject PIs have tagged their applications as complete. While the call is open, the consortium PI may return the consortium’s subproject application to ‘incomplete’ status for supplementation.

Make sure to submit the application in good time before the deadline. The system will only accept applications that contain all obligatory information. The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the content of the application appendices is correct.

You can edit and supplement the application until the deadline. For example, you can change the appendices to the application. If you notice that your application lacks important information after the deadline, immediately get in touch with us via our helpdesk, so that the application can be reopened for supplementation. Once the review process has started, supplementations can no longer be taken into account. Typically, the review of an application starts 1–2 weeks after the call has closed.

We may ask you to supplement the application. In that case, you will receive a supplementation request by email. If you do not supplement the application by the given deadline, or if the application is substantially incomplete even after a request for supplementary information, we may declare it inadmissible (i.e. it will not be processed). Make sure that your email address is 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 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 utilisation plan, the results of previous research presented in the application, the abstract and the progress report, which are primarily secret documents, the application and its appendices are public documents. For example, the CV is a public document and as such must not include any secret information. This publicity is based on the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities.

We are committed to following regulations on data protection. The applicant is responsible for the disclosure of the personal data contained in the application and, where appropriate, for requesting the consent of the parties concerned. The GDPR-compliant privacy notice concerning the research funding process is available on our website under Data protection.

RCF funding is granted based on peer review. We mainly use foreign experts as reviewers, and they make up the review panels.

The review of applications follows a two-stage process. In the first stage, experts are asked to give at least two individual reviews on the application. If at least one expert has given an overall rating of 5 or 6, the application will proceed to be reviewed by a panel. Applications that receive an overall rating of 5 or 6 from the review panel will be ranked.

The fundamental principles of the review are transparency, integrity, equity, competence and diversity. Read more: Responsible researcher evaluation

Review criteria

• Utilisation potential, impact and innovativeness of project idea
• Feasibility of project and innovativeness in implementation
• Quality, scope and relevance of stakeholders and user groups for project implementation

See the review questions and guidelines on our website. The review guidelines and forms and the review principles are only available in English.

The funding decisions are based on the review reports and panel rankings. One key consideration is to create a cluster of projects that is best placed to further the call’s overall objectives. Additionally, the decisions are prepared considering the RCF’s criteria for funding decisions and other guiding policies. Read about how funding decisions are made.

A subcommittee appointed the RCF Board will make the funding decisions in late 2025. 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. In the online services, you will also have access to the review report(s), which may include the panel ranking (panels rank the best applications).

How to receive the funding

A positive funding decision is accompanied by the funding terms and conditions. They include instructions on how to receive the funding (section 1.2).

If the project is funded, the funding must be accepted in the online services by 19 December 2025. The data management plan, as required by the site of research, must be attached to the ‘Additional information’ section of the project no later than the date specified in the special conditions of the decision. For consortium applications, only the consortium PI appends the data management plan.

• Contact us primarily via the helpdesk (select ‘Application guidance, thematic calls’).
• Technical issues with the online services? Contact us via the helpdesk (select ‘Online services and other technical questions’).
• Our telephone number (switchboard) is +358 295 335 000.
• See also: FAQ and guidelines on writing research utilisation plan
• Call webinar 19 March at 13.00–14.30.